The Buddha’s blessings sees no discrimination
Be it the church or the Mutt, women are often excluded from the spiritual
order and often even discouraged from meeting monks. KAMALA BALACHANDRAN
points out to an exception in history.
I was amazed to hear that, even in this day and age, a particular, powerful sect in western India does not allow women in the presence of their Acharyas! It seems, by tradition, these Swamijis are not to even ‘see’women, let alone interact with them!
The celestial kingdom of Indra is said to have many attractions. Resplendent among them are the Apsaras, the heavenly damsels of surpassing beauty. Rambha, Menaka, Urvashi are some of the famous names that have come to be synonymous with great beauty.
Apart from being the splendour of the God's Kingdom and entertaining the residents of paradise with their dance, these celestial nymphs had an important role to play in ensuring the eternal supremacy of the devatas. Mythology abounds with instances of these beauties being commissioned by the Gods to disrupt and break the penance of an over reaching Rishi or Rakshasa!
Descending from the Heavens, these irresistibly beautiful women danced in the vicinity of the tapasvi and managed to get him to open his eyes and see them. The idea being that, the sight of the exquisite female form, would cause the pursuer to put his vows on hold and revert to becoming a seeker of baser pleasures!
Perhaps these and such other stories perpetuated the prejudice that the presence of a woman is detrimental to the pursuit of higher objectives! But is there, after all, any truth in labeling women in general, as distracters? Or is it that, since practice of celibacy is a requisite condition of one seeking the Truth, it is considered ‘safe’ to ensure that women and monks remain, mutually exclusive?
The life of the tallest monk, who walked our ancient land, should serve as an eye opener on this issue. It is interesting to note that gender equality was an established idea with the Buddha from the very early times. The hostile attitude towards women, in religion and society was repeatedly criticised by the Enlightened One. He openly contradicted the belief that the birth of a daughter was not as much a cause of joy as a son.
To the Buddha, respecting women was but an extension of His belief that every living creature deserved veneration and respect. He pointed out that a woman had a dignified role to play in the society and defined it with great insight, fitting her harmoniously into the social fiber. Thanks to this conviction, Buddhism, from the earliest times, has boasted of a number of illustrious nuns or Bikshunis, who enjoyed total religious freedom and excelled as philosophers, missionaries, writers and poets.
The Buddhist chronicles abound with stories of women (young, old, rich, poor, beautiful, plain) who were blessed souls that came into personal contact with the Mahapurusha.
The point that comes through in all incidents is that the Sublime-One
never feared that his vows stood threatened, by His showing respect and
compassion for women!
Buddhist chronicles bestow a unique privilege upon a young village girl,
Sujata, who served the Prince his last meal, before he became the Enlightened
one.
The story of Sujata
The young prince Siddhartha had left the palace in search of answers to the questions that tormented his mind. He met many scholars and saints but none could clear his doubts. For six years he starved his body and carried out the most severe form of penance. But even though his physical body wasted away he did not see the Light. Realizing that it was pointless to pursue the route, he decided to give up the penance.
After a bath in the river, he entered the limits of a village and sat beneath a large banyan tree. At that time a young farm girl from the village of Uruvala Senanigama, near Gaya, came with an offering of Madhupayasa (rice cooked in cow's milk, sweetened with honey).
She had brought the pledged offering to the spirit of the tree but on seeing the famished monk, prostrated before him and offered him the gruel.
The future Buddha, who then did not have a begging bowl to receive the food, accepted her offering, along with the golden bowl. The five companions, who had trailed the Prince all these years in the hope of benefiting from his spiritual gains, were shocked at the sight of the monk receiving food from a maiden. They considered him thus degraded and left his company! Thus left in solitude, the Prince, sitting under the Bodhi tree, commenced his meditation.
Buddhist scholars consider Gautama’s acceptance of the milk gruel from the hands of Sujata, as the turning point in His life. Moving from the physical pain and extreme hunger, his senses registered utter joy, as the food touched his throat.
The experience led Him to realize the two extremes as inevitable part of the human existence. Meditating on this, Enlightenment dawned on Gautama and he became the Buddha.
Yashodara’s sorrow
The fame and glory of the Buddha reached King Suddhodana, the father of the Buddha invited his son in the capacity of a monk, to grace his kingdom. The Buddha graciously accepted the invitation and arrived at the palace with his disciples. The lords and ladies of the court thronged the palace to have a glimpse of their beloved prince but, Princess Yashodara, the aggrieved wife of the Buddha, refused to go over to meet him.
She contended that it was he who had deserted her, and therefore, he owed her a visit.
Everybody was aghast at this logic but the compassionate Buddha smiled when he came to hear of it. He set out with, along with two of his disciples, to meet the woman who was his wife, at her apartments. On seeing the great soul at her door Yashodara held his feet and wept uncontrollably. The Buddha instructed his disciples not to interrupt her in the act but to permit her grief to run its course.
The first bikshuni
The Buddha’s mother, Queen Mahamaya had died, seven days after child birth. Her sister Queen Mahaprajapati Gotami was so fond of the child that she entrusted the care of her own son to the nurses, in order to raise the Prince. Years later, when the boy became the revered Buddha, she, along with Princess Yashodara and 500 other Sakhya women, made a pilgrimage on foot, from Kapilavastu to Vaishali.
They sought His permission to enter the order. The queen mother was ordained by the Buddha as the first Bikshuni and the Princess, the second. All the other Sakyan women were ordained too. Subsequently, it became a normal practice to admit women into the Buddhist order.