Dharma in the 21st Century: “The Life of Tibetan Buddhist Nuns” Essay

Living in the 21st century connotes a busy and modern life, a life that is influenced by materialism, globalization and modern technology; a life with hardly any room for spirituality. This is the kind of life that is common in the Western world where everything is fast paced and humans have moved from relying on a greater being on to highly relying on gadgets everyday. We rely heavily on modern contraptions to make living easier for us – from a simple alarm clock in the bedroom to a high-powered microwave oven in the kitchen, from the multi-functional mobile phone in our pockets to our Internet-connected computers everywhere. From living based on religion, we now live based on technology. We cannot imagine life with out modern technology; we need it to cook our food, we need it to get to work, we need it to communicate; we just simply need it, or so we think? In this modern life of ours, we have become so engrossed with materialism and technology. We try to find ways to make things easier for us through technology but the more we use gadgets, the more complicated life seems, and as it gets complicated we forget about our inner being. We have forgotten what it is like to live simply and what it is like to be truly happy and be at peace without all the materialism. This is life with modernization but in places where materialism is not important and spirituality is highly upheld, all that we know and live by in the 21st century is absurdity for them. Theirs is a life of simplicity, meditation and seclusion; a life of being one with nature and their creator; a life of gaining wisdom and inner happiness. This is the life of Buddhism. Buddhism is not only a religion; it is a philosophy and a way of life (White 1). It is slowly growing in the Western world[1], where some try to look for peace in their everyday modern chaos (ibid). In the Orient, where Buddhism originated, modernization and a western way of life is slowly influencing the people due to economic reasons, such as in Thailand, but they still keep in touch with their spirituality, and monasteries where monks and nuns live still abound. In Tibet, Buddhism is their religion and politics; the Dalai Lama used to be both their religious and political leader (Simhanada Home page). With China taking over their country 50 years ago, the Tibetan government is in exile[2] and the more than 6,000 monasteries and nunneries in the Tibetan regions of U-Tsang, Dotà ¶ and Domey were damaged and destroyed by the Chinese (Office of Tibet 1). The Tibetan people and the few Tibetan monks and nuns in Tibet still seek spiritual guidance from the Dalai Lama in the North Eastern borders of India. With Tibetan monasteries built outside of Tibet after China’s invasion and with a few Tibetan monks and nuns still living in Tibet, it is of great interest how Tibetan Buddhist monastics, particularly the nuns, live like now and view the world especially with most of them in exile, with China as an economic tiger ruling over their land and with modernization happening all over the world. This paper will look into the lives of Tibetan Buddhist nuns in this present day and what has changed in their ways from the earlier times. A brief history of the Tibetan Buddhism will be given in order to understand the role of Tibetan nuns. Views on the role of women in Buddhism will be given and excerpts from the stories of different Tibetan nuns will also be shown in order to understand their belief and values system, and more importantly the condition of their life today. History of Tibetan Buddhism   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Generally, Buddhism is a love of wisdom and it has three paths: (1) to lead a moral life, (2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions and (3) to develop wisdom and understanding (White 1). It has four noble truths which are (1) suffering exists, (2) suffering arises from attachment to desires, (3) suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases and (4) freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the eightfold path, which is to have the right view, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and contemplation (Simhanada 1).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Buddhism was introduced in Tibet by Buddhists in India in 173 CE and it was gradually assimilated, disseminated and integrated into the Tibetan way of life due to the efforts of the religious kings of the country (Office of Tibet 1). Tibetan Buddhism as described on the Simhanada Tibetan Buddhism page is as follows: Tibetan Buddhism makes use of a wide variety of practices, i.e., the entire scope of Buddha’s teachings from the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayan levels. Tibetan Buddhism successfully preserved the Vajrayana tradition†¦it is based most directly on the view that appearances can be used and transformed in order to recognize one’s Buddha nature and the emptiness of the mind†¦emphasis on intense Calm-abiding and Insight Mediation is stressed, along with the gradual accumulation of merit and purifying of obstacles. Extensive study of scripture, astrology, medicine, math and debate are common for Tibetan practitioners. Meditation on enlightened deities†¦is a unique feature of the Vajrayana†¦it uses the technique of having the practitioner identify themselves with an enlightened deity —in order to realize the nature of enlightenment. The religion spread because gurus from India were invited into Tibet to teach the Buddhist scriptures and translate them for the people. The religious king Tri Ralpachen introduced a decree that every monk should be supported by seven households, and thousands of temples were constructed in his time. Unfortunately, the king’s successor did not support the Buddhist teachings and monks were made to disrobe and join the army (ibid). Buddhism entered into a dark age but was revived after some time when three monks escaped the Domey region of Tibet and established monastic lineages in other parts of Tibet and eventually revived it in central Tibet (Office of Tibet 1). In Western Tibet, the most vigorous revival of Buddhism was taking place care of Lha Lama Yeshe Ãâ€". He helped spread the doctrine through translation, teaching and establishing of monasteries with the help of the great translator Rinchen Zangpo and Legpai Sherab (ibid). Lha Lhama also composed the famous Buddhist test A Lamp on the Path to Enlightenment, which set the pattern for all graded path texts found in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition (ibid). Four schools of Tibetan Buddhism[3] were also established from the practices and the Buddhist gurus. These are the Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelugpa. Nyingma literally means â€Å"old school† (ibid)that places a great deal of emphasis on meditation to achieve merit and wisdom; Kagyu is the Oral Lineage that is concerned with the experiential dimension of meditation where there is single-minded contemplation exercises and meditative therapy to attain psychic good health. Milarepa, an eleventh century Tibetan mystic practiced this tradition and meditated for many years in caves prior to reaching enlightenment. Sakya represents the scholarly tradition and means â€Å"gray earth† (ibid), and the Gelugpa school translates into the â€Å"virtuous school† (ibid) where scholastics are emphasize highly and monks are encouraged to achieve the Geshe degree of the Doctor of Buddhist Philosophy where a student practices lamrim or the paths[4]. Meditation is encouraged as well, like in all Buddhist practices and development of compassion is an essential part of the teachings of this school, which is also the basis of Tibetan Buddhist schools. The special features of Tibetan Buddhism are the status of the teacher or â€Å"Lama†, preoccupation with relationship between life and death, important role of rituals and initiations, rich visual symbolism, element of Bà ¶n, the earlier Tibetan faith, and mantras and meditation practice (BBC 1). Role of Women in Tibetan Buddhism There are two sectors in the Tibetan community: the lay people and the monastics (Chodron Home Page). The monastics, which are the monks or bhikshus and the nuns or bhikshunis, chose to vow to a life of simplicity, â€Å"a life directly related to the preservation and dissemination of the Dharma[5] to benefit others† (Chodron Home Page). Though women have been admitted by Buddha himself into his Order thousands of years ago due to pressure that women had become nuns in the Jaina religion (King 40), women are belittled in the orders. There are sutras or teachings that say â€Å"women could never become Buddhas† (SGI 1), and for centuries this conception has persisted. It has been commonly believed that women would have to be reborn as men to attain Buddha-hood (ibid) because there is â€Å"absolute preference for a male body†¦no Buddhist in her right mind desires a female body† (Buddhist-Christian Studies 220). The book Himalayan Hermitess: The Life of a Tibetan Buddhist Nun (Buddhist-Christian Studies 221) the author wrote about the life of Orgyan Chokyi who is a Buddhist nun that had reached high levels of understanding by the end of her life. This was not common during her time since she was living in the late 17th century to the early 18th century, and during this time women in Buddhism were really inferior to the men. The book revealed and translated manuscripts of her life, and this was really rare because manuscripts of nuns were not written by the scholars during the early times since their stories are thought to be not worth recording (Buddhist-Christian Studies 222). It is said that Orgyan Chokyi laments to be a woman and female rebirth in general, and she prays often that no being should be subject to a female rebirth (ibid). This is clearly indicative of how sexist Buddhism was then. She became a significant figure because of her life ordeals- she was born to parents who mistreated her because they wanted a son and she would often weep and one day a monk observed her and told her that if she studied the Dharma, she would soon develop great compassion. Like other nuns she was required to do manual labor in the monastery and this was the time she laments her gender. After being a novice, she received meditation instructions form the master of the monastery and a senior nun; she was made to do Tibetan oral traditions and go on pilgrimages to sacred sites of Tibetan Buddhism. Despite these, she was still made to do manual labor for more years but she was filled with joy and she wrote songs about this. Later on, she changed her attitude about female rebirth and writes that â€Å"a woman’s body is a ground for samsara† (Buddhist-Christian Studies 223). In her death, she clearly defied what was believed then: that enlightenment cannot be achieved in a female body (ibid); her meditation master told her that she did not need to do more meditations because she had â€Å"fully protected her vows and commitments† (ibid). This meant total enlightenment and she laid the path for Buddhist nuns to achieve Buddha-hood as well and to call for equality from society. Some also say that women enter the nunneries because they cannot wait for a man to wed them, they are too old to marry or they are orphans or widows (King 41). This shouldn’t be so since Buddhism calls for equality as seen in the Lotus Sutra, which is also called the teaching of non-discrimination, reveals that â€Å"there is no difference between men and women in terms of their capacity to attain Buddha-hood† (Soka Gakkai International [SGI] 1). Guru Rinpoche, who taught the dharma in Tibet, even had a principal disciple that was a woman called Lady Yeshe Tsogyal (Simhanada 1). In these early years of Buddhism, it was recorded that â€Å"women engaged in learned debates with the Buddha himself† (King 40) and that there is a recording of more than 500 verses in the Therigatha created by Buddhist nuns in the ancient Pali Canon (ibid). This shows that they are as capable as the monks. Nuns have been seen as inferior due to traditions way before Buddhism came and due to the impositions of patriarchal and sexist values in societies where Buddhism flourished (Shih 1). For a woman to become nun means liberation, however, they are bound by rules â€Å"over and above those followed by monk[6]† (King 40). These rules may have been developed at a later time to restrict women’s freedom or to simply express the existing social inferiority of women (ibid). Though she gains some freedom, a nun receives little recognition of her status from society since â€Å"rituals performed by monks are considered more efficacious and meritorious than those performed by nuns† and the donations given to monks are greater because it is considered to produce more merit for the donor than when given to a nun† (Buddhist-Christian Studies 220). Education for nuns was also quite limited because they had to do manual labor or housework to earn money for their supplies or to build their cells; thus, opportunities for them to perform their religious practices were limited (ibid). Even if the nuns have completed the required number of mantra recitations, they have to call on a monk to perform the ï ¬ re puja or burnt-book offering to perform it on their behalf (ibid). The Dalai Lama says that â€Å"all Buddhist nuns have a unique role to play in the evolution of Buddhism where the universal principle of the equality of all human beings takes precedence† (Chodron Home Page). Other Tibetan religious leaders have also stated publicly in a faith international congress that â€Å"men and women have an equal capacity for enlightenment† (Buddhist-Christian Studies 221), thus erasing the traditional beliefs that nuns are of inferior status to monks and that a woman must be reincarnated as a man to achieve enlightenment. And even if the prophecy that the Dharma will cease to exist after 500 years of admitting women into the Buddhist order, since it has already been 2,500 years (Fitz-Gerald 1), some traditionalists are still disregarding this idea because nuns are proving themselves to be more capable than what traditional norms have been dictating for years. Tibetan Buddhist Nuns Today In the recent decades, equal treatment of nuns with monks are being called for and with conferences being held yearly for Buddhists and other faiths, the pressure is great. Buddhism was not inherently sexist, but with the male domination in India where the Tibetan Buddhism came from, it just came to be because of the culture at that time (Fitz-Gerald 1). And this culture is changing in the 21st century. The Venerable Chodron (Home Page) says that in these times, Buddhist nun have three levels of ordination: sramanerika or novice, siksamana or probationary, and bhikshuni or full. The bhikshuni, for the Tibetans, means that it is already possible for them to attain the geshe or Doctorate degree, some are already taking the Vinaya class[7] which entails that the first generation of geshe-mas nuns will be produced and will earn them the degree equal to the monks (ibid). Before 1953, the highest rank that a nun could attain was even lower than the lowest rank of the monks (Shih 1). The Dalai Lama even made a statement about this topic, saying that â€Å"This is the 21st Century. Everywhere we are talking about equality†¦Basically Buddhism needs equality†¦the key thing is the restoration of the bhikshuni vow† (ibid). In this modern world, women are challenging the male-dominated social structures and â€Å"Buddhists need not only to tolerate such change, but to actively support it both within the general social structure and within Buddhism itself. Not only is change along feminist lines not incompatible with the teachings of the Buddha, it will be necessary for the continued flourishing of the Dharma† (Fitz-Gerald 1) since the number of monks is decreasing while the number of nuns is increasing (Chodron Home Page). Also though times are changing and the Buddhist nuns are gaining respect, their monastic life is more difficult now than it was before; as Shih (1) states, â€Å"Monasteries are by no means harbourages for those who seek easy lives. Therefore, there would be no reason for one to take on the challenges of such a life with much more hardship unless it were for the sake of religious pursuit.† Women no longer want to become nuns just because they are widowed, orphaned, abandoned or could not be wed, they enter for spiritual and religious purposes, thus they should gain the respect of everyone. The access women now have to education has brought them the want for enlightenment. In a research conducted by Arai (Shih 1), in the past for forty years, the average age of nuns entering in the order was 16; they were either raised in a temple or entered it because of their parents requests. Recently, however, the age of nuns entering the nunneries has risen to 43 and are single or married, and have definitely had more life experiences that those who were entering the nunneries in the 1950s (ibid). This suggests that nuns are more competent now and are making a more conscious and mature decision to commit themselves to the religion and to the life of seclusion; they are more capable of fulfilling their social roles and responsibilities (ibid).   Aside from earning equal respect and treatment with monks, nuns are facing a bigger problem which all of Tibet is experiencing, and that is the occupation of China in their land. Tsultrim Doma, a Buddhist nun in Tibet, says â€Å"The Chinese want our land, but they don’t want the Tibetan people. The women in our village were called to be sterilized, one by one. Those who refused must pay a fine. They have no money, so they have no choice† (Vincanne 77). Tibetans are experiencing a cultural and physical genocide; the Chinese are forcing Tibetan women, even nuns, to marry and Chinese nationals and bear their children. Tibetan women are forced to abort their babies just to reduce the Tibetan population (ibid). The Chinese are torturing the nuns and monks because they are the bearers of Tibetan culture, which is heavily rooted in religion; the monks and nuns are the suspects of political criminality in Lhasa (Vincanne 80). Hundreds of nunneries and monasteries have moved out of Tibet since the Chinese occupation and into the countries of India, Thailand, Nepal, Australia and others. Though Chinese are also Buddhists, they are persecuting the Tibetan Buddhists and they are faced with the challenge of renewal and reformulation (Shih 1) not only with their ways in treating the Buddhist nuns but with their survival. A Tibetan nun said that â€Å"the strength of our devotion frightens them† (Vincanne 81) since it is their devotion and religion that may liberate them. Their Buddhist belief in peace and liberation from suffering is timely with what they are experiencing, and together with their belief in karma, this enables them to endure their torments[8] and fight a rather peaceful battle for liberation than the Chinese government’s choice of using artillery and blood shed. The values of tolerance, inner transformation and enlightenment also enable the Tibetan Buddhists to be patient with what China has been doing, however, with the recent news of riots being broken out in China by the Tibetans, where monastics are accused of heading it, we do not know until when the Tibetan Buddhists- monks, nuns and lay people, can tolerate the injustices of China. Conclusion Buddhism was introduced in Tibet by the Indians in Tibetan in 123 CE and it replaced the mystic religion of Tibetans which was Bà ¶n. This mystic religion, however shaped the beliefs of the Tibetan Buddhists and made them somewhat different from other Buddhist sects. Their specific features are their distinct belief in life and death, important role of rituals and initiations, rich visual symbolism, element of Bà ¶n, the earlier Tibetan faith, and mantras and meditation practice. The Buddhist nuns have gone a long way from being admitted into the order by Buddha 2,500 years ago and only attaining a rank that is lower than that of the lowest rank for monks, to being ordained as a bhikshuni or a full nun and allowing the possibility of earning a geshe-ma or doctorate degree for them that will make them equals with monks. Though they are facing opposition from traditional lay-persons and monastics, the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist sects are on their side, calling that now is the time for equality and that Buddha-hood can be achieved by both man and woman. This is so because it was believed that women cannot achieve enlightenment, only men can achieve Buddha-hood and women must be reincarnated to do so. Some say that though Buddhism teaches equality, the patriarchal society in which Buddhism spread into has caused such inequality among men and women, thus making the lives of Buddhist nuns much harder than their monk counterparts. Women entering the nunneries today are much older than the women who were entering in the 1950s; from the average age of 16 it has risen to 43 in the past 40 and more years, showing that women have a more conscious decision to commit themselves to the Dharma and the religious life and shedding the notion that they are entering it because of lack of choice. In this time and age, were equality is being called for in all sectors of society Buddhists are being pressured and as said the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist Leaders are supporting the Buddhist nuns. Also, another challenge is faced by the Tibetan Nuns and that is they are forced to be disrobed and be sterilized, that is marry into a Chinese national and give birth to a Chinese child. The nuns, together with the monks are the ultimate symbol of Tibetan culture since their culture is deeply rooted in religion, therefore they are the ones tortured by the Chinese government’s cleansing of Tibetan from their people. As one Tibetan nun said, the Chinese only want their land and not the people that is why they are being physically and culturally erased. Because of the Chinese occupation many nunneries in Tibet have been destroyed by the Chinese and the nunneries have moved out together with the government-in-exile of Tibet into India and other countries. Their belief in suffering, peace and karma allows them to endure the tortures they are receiving from the Chinese that are occupying their land. Tibetan nuns are not only fighting for their equality they are also the voice, together with the monks and the Dalai Lama that is calling for a peaceful fight for the liberation of their land. Works Cited BBC Religion & Ethics Web Site. 2008. BBC. 1 April 2008 . Buddhist Christian Studies Book Review. 8 October 2006. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press. 2 April 2008 King, Ursula. â€Å"World Religions, Women and Education†. Comparative Education, Special Number (10): Sex Differences in Education. 23.10. (1987): 35-49. 31 March 2008 Tibet Website. 10 November 1997. The Government of Tibet in Exile Family of Sites. 3 April 2008 . Shi, Juo-hsueh. â€Å"Buddhist Nuns from a Modern Perspective† and Fitz-Gerald, Kerry. â€Å"Buddhism Needs Feminism.† Sakyaditha Newsletter. 3.2 (2002). 2 April 2008 . Soka Gakkai International. â€Å"Enlightenment of Women.† SGI Quarterly Magazine. (April 2000). 2 April 2008 . Simhanada Family of Sites.2006. Simhanada Buddhists. 2 April 2008 . Venerable Thubten Chodron’s Web Site. (n.d.) Ven. Thubten Chodron. 2 April 2008 from . Vincanne, Adams. â€Å"Suffering the Winds of Lhasa: Politicized Bodies, Human Rights, Cultural Difference, and Humanism in Tibet.† Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 12.1. (1998): 74-102. 31 March 2008 White, Bryan. A 5 minute Introduction to Buddhism. 1993. Buddha Dharma Education Association Network. 2 April 2008 . [1] See online articles and publications of Buddha Dharma Education Association [BDEA] for more information on Buddhism in Western countries. [2] Refer to the official webpage of the Tibetan Government in Exile: http://www.tibet.com [3] The Tibetan Buddhist Canon discusses this more extensively and can be found at the BDEA Web page, as well as in the eSSortment Web page. [4] 3 Principles of the Path is the (1) intention leave cyclic existence, (2) generate the intent to free all sentient beings and 93) correct view of emptiness (Simhanada   1) [5]Dharma refers to the Buddhist teachings or the path to truth and enlightenment. [6] A nun is subject to eight basic rules while a monk is only to follow four; when fully ordained a nun must observe 311 daily rules and the monk only 227 (King 40) [7] Vinaya class is the last class taken prior to taking the geshe exam and is required for the geshe degree. [8] Refer to Vincanne’s article of Suffering the Winds of Lhasa for detailed accounts