Mahāpajāpati Gotami
accepted these eight points joyfully and so became the first Bhikkhunī. The fact
that she did so joyfully shows her humility. Her wisdom led her to accept these
points seeing that they would be helpful in Dhamma-training. This point should
be carefully noted. On this occasion, the Buddha pointed out to venerable Ananda
that since trouble could be expected when women were allowed to go forth, so he
had appointed the eight important points in advance to stem that. „As a man
might construct in advance an embankment so that the waters of a great reservoir
should not cause a flood, so I too have made known in advance these eight
important points for Bhikkhunīs not to be transgressed as long as life lasts“.
These eight important
points are compared by the Buddha to an embankment so we may ask what was the
flood that he sought to prevent by means of it. If we examine these points all
eight have one thing in common: they deal with various sorts of contact between
Bhikkhunīs and Bhikkhus, either as Sanghas or individually. The flood that the
Buddha tried to stem was probably unregulated contact between members of the two
Sanghas, which could easily give rise to gossip, and slander even when actions
were innocent of any wrongdoing. In fact the Vinaya gives many examples of
laypeople that were not Buddhists, exclaiming that the Bhikkhunīs were obviously
the Bhikkhus wives. This sort of misapprehension or slander, whichever it was,
had to be avoided at all cost for the good name of both Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunīs.
Opponents the world over of any religious movement have never hesitated to use
the smear of sexual relations as the most potent method of discrediting
celibates.
It appears too that part
of the flood was conceit. Then it may be asked whether women on the whole have
more conceit than man and whether they are more in need of humility.
Generalisations of this sort are difficult to make since some women have more
humility than others, but woman’s preoccupation with cultivating and preserving,
bodily beauty is evidence of conceit. Conceit, in a Buddhist sense means how one
conceives oneself, as superior to others, equal to them, or inferior. As far as
beauty is concerned women like to be at least equal or superior to other women,
an attitude which is rooted in attracting men and binding them by attachment.
This conceit cannot be allowed to manifest in a celibate order and there are
actually many rules laid down by the Buddha about Bhikkhunīs, that neither their
persons nor their robes should be adorned in any way. Perhaps such restraint is
more difficult for women than for men. A nun in Thailand in the present day has
declared that she believes that women require the rules, which are directed
against conceit as aids for their own training.
After these digressions we
should continue to follow the history of the Bhikkhunīs. Mahāpajāpati Gotami
became the first of them just by accepting the Eight Important Points. Her first
question to the Buddha was how the Sakiyan ladies who had accompanied her and
who included Princess Yasodharā,, the Buddha’s former wife, should be given the
Acceptance. The Buddha instructed that the Bhikkhu-Sangha should give them
Acceptance as Bhikkhunīs. We know that a large number of this first group of
Bhikkhunīs, including Mahāpajāpati Gotami and Yasodhara, became Arahants.
Later, when an applicant
was questioned by Bhikkhus during the Acceptance ceremony, she became shy and
the Buddha then said that the Bhikkhunī-Sangha should ordain the applicant
first, asking the usual questions, after which the Bhikkhu-Sangha should give
the Acceptance again without asking any questions. It seems likely that this
dual acceptance would make more difficult the entry of undesirable elements into
the Bhikkhunī-Sangha.
As time went on, unruly
elements in the Bhikkhunī-Sangha did things, which were unsuitable for the Holy
Life so that the Buddha had to lay down rules of training especially for the
Bhikkhunīs. Many of the Bhikkhus’ training rules applied to them as well but
they had also precepts, which had no application to Bhikkhus, amounting in all
to 311 training-rules compared with the 227 for Bhikkhus. These rules ware
recited at the Uposatha ceremony every lunar fortnight and constituted their
basic rule. Together with the stories of how they originated and their
elaboration, they constituted the second book of the Vinaya Basket, as we saw in
Chapter IV.
A senior Bhikkhunī or
Therī, that is one who had spent twelve Rains in the Sangha, was entitled to be
an ordaining teacher but it happened that young Bhikkhunīs were not trained
properly (which points out a lack of capacity for organisation at that time) so
that the Buddha had to limit Acceptance to one pupil every other year for each
Bhikkhus teacher. There was no limit in the Bhikkhu-Sangha. This meant that the
spread of the Bhikkhunīs was limited both by the above limitation and by their
more difficult disciplinary code. No Bhikkhunī could live or travel alone but
had to have, all the time, a Bhikkhunī companion. Even their living places had
to be limited to towns where they could be properly sheltered from molestation
by violent men. Forest-dwelling Bhikkhunīs existed only in the earliest days and
were later forbidden after the rape of the Arahant Therī Uppalavannā.[3]
She was one of the great Teachers in the Bhikkhunī-Sangha and was praised by the
Buddha as foremost in supernormal powers.
During the Buddha-time
many thousands of women became Bhikkhunīs from all levels of society. Here the
verses of just ten of them, with their stories in brief, will be presented. Some
of the verses of Kisagotami Theri have been quoted already, while those of the
Venerables Muttā and Rohini will be given below. To begin with, here is the
verse of the Arahant Dhammadinnā. She was born in a wealthy family and married
to Visākha, a leading citizen of Rājagaha. He heard the Buddha’s teaching and
attained the Fruit of Non-returning and so, having no sexual desire left at all,
gave Dhammadinnā the choice of remaining in the house and enjoying the wealth
there, or of returning to her own family, but she chose to become a Bhikkhunī
and soon reached Arahantship. Her verse was uttered before this, while she was
still a Non-returner striving in a solitary place. Later, she was praised by the
Buddha as „foremost (of the Bhikkhunīs) among the Dhamma-preachers“.
Next, Sakulā, born in a
Brahmin family. She was also married and acquired faith in the Buddha at the
time when he accepted the Jeta Grove as a monastery. One day she listened to the
teaching of an Arahant Bhikkhu and was deeply stirred at which she requested the
Going-forth. Later, as an Arahant, the Buddha assigned to her pre-eminence among
those with the Divine Eye.
Sonā was also born into a
good family and eventually became the mother of ten sons and daughters, so that
she was known as ‘the many-childrened’. After her husband had become a Bhikkhu,
she gave over the wealth of the family to her children, keeping nothing for
herself. But soon her children ceased to show her any respect, so she went forth
among the bhikkhunis, thinking, ‘I have gone forth in my old age, I must make
great efforts’. So she practised all night, every night and became known for her
energy. The Buddha one night projected a vision of himself and spoke these
words:
At these words, she
attained Arahantship. The Buddha One day declared her to be „foremost among
bhikkhunis who strive energetically“. Reflecting one day upon her experience she
spoke these verses:
Reborn in a brahmin
family, Somā’s father was officiating priest to King Bimbisāra. While still in
her own house she came to have confidence in the Buddha, and hearing Dhamma her
mind became deeply stirred so that she became a Bhikkhunī. Thus she did not
marry. After practising for some time she attained Arahantship. Then dwelling in
the bliss of Freedom she went one day after the alms round to the Dark Wood and
sat there in solitude. Then Māra (the personification of evil) poke these words
to her:
And she replied with these
verses showing how she could not be shaken:
(Samy.
Nikāya Collection Section with Verses Chapter V, 2)
Ubbiri was reborn in her
last existence in the family of an important citizen of Sāvatthi. She was
extremely beautiful and so invited to the palace of King Pasenadi of Kosala.
After some time a daughter was born to her whom she named Jīvā and when the king
saw the child he was so pleased that he had Ubbiri raised to the status of a
queen. But the little girl died and the mother went daily to the burning-ground
in grief. Near there the Buddha met her and told her that innumerable daughters
of hers (in past lives) had been burnt there and pointing out the places where
this one and that one had been cremated or cast away, he spoke as follows:
Then and there because she
had the requisite conditions, she attained Arahantship and replied in these
verses:
(51 -63)
Then there was another
mother, Vasitthi, who for grief of her dead son went quite mad. Born in a good
family and married to a young man of equal status, she lived happily with her
husband and bore one son. When able to run about he died and while relatives
were consoling the father, Vasitthi ran away raving and wandered about until she
came to Mithila. There she saw the Buddha and at the sight of the Great One,
regained her normal mind. Hearing Dhamma in brief, she asked to become a
Bhikkhunī and soon after, she became an Arahant. Reflecting on her attainment,
she exulted in this way:
Due to her past bad kamma,,
Vimalā[11]
was born to a prostitute and herself followed that trade when she grow up. One
day she saw the left-hand chief disciple of the Buddha, venerable
Mahā-Moggallāna, walking for alms food in Vesāli. Feeling desire for him she
went to his dwelling and tried to seduce him. She could not succeed as he was an
Arahant, but he succeeded in humbling her pride of beauty with verses ending
with this one:
She was ashamed of her
actions and became a lay-follower, later a Bhikkhunī who after effort and
striving won Arahantship. Her verses of exultation are as follows:
[3]See her story in the Dhammapada Commentary (Buddhist Legends Vol. II, p. 127f.). King Pasenadi of Kosala urged that nuns should live in cities where they could be protected from such violence.
[4]One who goes against the stream of birth and death, a Non-returner to human birth but sure to attain Arahantship in the Pure Abodes.
[5]Having seen mind and body both conditioned, as not self or ‘other’.
[6]Pollusions (see last note, Ch. II) abandoned, quenched (see under Vira, Ch. II) and quite cool all signify attainment of Nibbana and Arahantship.
[7]The five groups (or aggregates), the twelve sense spheres and the eighteen elements - see „Buddhist Dictionary“ B.P.S. Kandy, for definitions.
[8]One of the three Gates to Freedom, the other two being the Desireless and Emptiness. See op. cit.
[9]’Two finger wisdom’, (the women used the two fingers to measure the rice when cooking), expression for low education.
[10]The Well farer, one whose going was always auspicious, in this world and beyond all worlds.
[11]Ironically her name means ‘pure’ - which of course she was, eventually.
[12]The attainment of the 2nd Concentration (jhāna) in which thought processes are completely stilled.