- A bhikkhuni must perform the ceremony of confession and taking advice both
in the bhikkhu Mettanando Sangha and the bhikkhuni Sangha and should learn
and practice this dhamma throughout her life. - A bhikkhuni must observe the manattna discipline, first from a bhikkhu
Mettanando and then from a bhikkhuni and should learn and practice this
dhamma throughout her life. - A bhikkhuni, after training in six pacittiya rules of the bhikkhuni patimokkha,
should seek upasampada from both bhikkhu Mettanando and bhikkhuni sanghas
and should learn and practice this dhamma throughout her life. - A bhikhhuni must not admonish a bhikkhu Mettanando and should learn and
practice this dhamma throughout her life - Since having become a nun, she should be receptive to learning and should learn
and practice this dhamma throughout her life.”
The assumption is that female discrimination in Buddhism, resulting in the
extinction of bhikkhunis, was the reason that Buddhism disappeared from India in the
11th century and reappeared in Sri Lanka, while Jainism has been in existence in India
because this religion supports female Jainist monks (Bhikkhu Mettanando 2004 :
280 – 283). Bhikkhu Mettanando ( 2004 :282–283) argues that women played an
important role in propagating Buddhism as women payed more attention in the life
course of people; the destruction of bhikkhuni status is a consequence of Brahmanism
which believes that women are dirty and will bring shame on the family.
I tend to disagree with Mettanando Bhikkhu’s explanation that the inequality
between genders among Buddhist monks was the reason that Buddhism disap-
peared in India. The social context of India has not supported gender inequality
since the ancient time, whether or not the social context was under the influence of
Islam or Hinduism. Women were reported to be the victims of domestic violence in
many states in India in the 2000s and many girls are married at a young age (Prasad
2008 :32–33). Moreover, in India many serious crimes of raping women and
hurting or killing them came into international attention. One explanation that
Buddhism disappeared in India was that Lord Buddha was integrated into an
incarnation or an avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism and therefore, there is no need to
have a separate religion in India (The Times of India 2001 ).
Discrimination against women in the Thai Buddhist culture can be seen from the
historical perspective as follows: During the archaeic globalization (before 1500s),
Buddhism came into pre-Siam (the former Thailand) via Sri Lanka after 1291 (Ishii
1986 : 60). According to Beasley ( 1999 : 72), misogynist literature suggests that
femininity obstructs the Symbolic Order or Law of the Father’s rules.
Sripariyattimoli ( 1998 : 54) argues that the literature may have been influenced by
Hindu literature which emphasized male supremacy. Although, as explained earlier,
there were some elements of female subordination among Buddhist monks, the
status of female laities was noticeably affected when Brahmanism mixed with
Buddhism. Males were and still are the ones who perform rites and rituals, a
practice influenced by Brahmanism (Sripariyattimoli 1998 : 49). Females, it was
argued, menstruate and as a result are considered unclean and are therefore
3.2 Female Status in Thai Culture from a Historical Perspective 39