Women's Role In Buddhism Essay

Women in Buddhism

In a majority of ancient India, women were treated with the same amount of disregard and disdain that they were in most other areas in the world. Women were viewed as a thing in which the title of property could be attached to, and they were typically the accessory to men. For the most part, women were basically seen as inferior to men. Most religions at this time had the same views. Certain fanatical religious cults have also prevented women from reading religious scriptures. The punishment for doing so was to have their tongues cut out. They were also discouraged from entering places of worship. If they were allowed at all to participate in religious practices, such participation was confined to their own homes, by attending to household
Women still hold the same equality that they did previously, however, there are still some complex areas under discussion regarding women in Buddhism. While women are equally seen as capable of attaining spiritual goals, their ability to hold leadership roles remains up for debate. These narratives state that enlightenment is only possible for women if they gain good karma and are reborn as men beforehand. Others posit that as women edge closer to enlightenment, they will spontaneously transform into a male form as a prerequisite for attaining final awakening ( Holmes-Tagchungdarpa, 2015). There certain areas and groups in today’s society that reject that position without the immediate authority of the Buddha. Today several major monastic lineages in Sri Lanka, parts of Southeast Asia, and Tibetan cultural areas deny female renunciants full ordination, stating that the lineage of nuns was broken long ago and without the Buddha’s authority cannot be restarted ( Holmes-Tagchungdarpa, 2015). Alternative positions do exist that argue about the ability of women to achieve enlightenment, without