RELS 1506 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Vimalakirti Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Sariputta
18 May 2018
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Mahayana texts contain within them some very misogynistic feminine images, but also these
passages:
• Lotus Sutra: the Arhat Shariputra said to the dragon girl: “A woman’s body is soiled and
defiled, not a vessel for the law…. A woman is subject to the five obstacles. First, she
cannot become a Brahma heavenly kind. Second, she cannot become the king Shakra.
Third, she cannot become a Mara king. Fourth, she cannot become a wheel-turning sage
king. Fifth, she cannot become a Buddha.” … at that time the members of the assembly
all saw the dragon girl in the space of an instant change into a man and carry out all the
practices of bodhisattva, immediately proceeding to the Spotless World of the south,
taking a seat on a jeweled lotus, and attaining impartial and correct enlightenment. With
the thirty-two features and the eighty characteristics, he expounded the wonderful Law
for all the living beings everywhere in the ten directions.
• Vimalakirti Sutra: (paraphrase) a goddess appears and talks to Shariputra. She
expounds on the dharma and proceeds to transform herself into the form of Shariputra
while transforming Sariputra into her form. She does this to show Shariputra that
everything is empty of intrinsic existence or any inherent male-ness or female-ness.
Vimalakirti tells Shariputra that this goddess has served billions of Buddhas and has
attained the knowledge of the birthdlessness of everything.
Nuns in Buddhism today
• Only the Chinese and Korean traditions of Buddhism have retained full ordination for
nuns.
• In Japan, Buddhist nuns take the same novice precepts as Buddhist priests (nobody has
full ordination).
• Everywhere else in the Buddhist world, women cannot attain the same status as monks,
although they can take lesser Buddhist religious roles that are somewhat similar
(sometimes called ‘precept nuns’).
• In Tiber, the nun ordination lineages were never introduced. However, Tibetan women
have lived as nuns with partial ordination for centuries.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Mahayana texts contain within them some very misogynistic feminine images, but also these passages: lotus sutra: the arhat shariputra said to the dragon girl: a woman"s body is soiled and defiled, not a vessel for the law . A woman is subject to the five obstacles. First, she cannot become a brahma heavenly kind. Fourth, she cannot become a wheel-turning sage king. With the thirty-two features and the eighty characteristics, he expounded the wonderful law for all the living beings everywhere in the ten directions: vimalakirti sutra: (paraphrase) a goddess appears and talks to shariputra. She expounds on the dharma and proceeds to transform herself into the form of shariputra while transforming sariputra into her form. She does this to show shariputra that everything is empty of intrinsic existence or any inherent male-ness or female-ness. Vimalakirti tells shariputra that this goddess has served billions of buddhas and has attained the knowledge of the birthdlessness of everything.
