Rev. Danny Fisher

Many thanks go to my dad for letting me know about a cool article in the latest issue of the Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. The piece, entitled “Buddhism and the Gender Continuum,” is authored by Walter L. Williams, an anthropologist at the University of Southern California. Unfortunately, it is not (yet?) archived online at the journal’s website, so you’ll have to make do with my telling you about it.

Earlier this year, Williams was one of a very, very small handful of Americans invited to participate in the Fourth Annual International Buddhist Conference, which was held at the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok, Thailand, from May 26th-29th. He writes about being struck by the hypocrisy around the position of nuns in Thai Buddhism.

In countries like Taiwan and South Korea, nuns and monks are virtually equal in status and power. Nuns in many other nations, like Nepal and China, are making great strides toward equality. In sharp contrast, Thailand is way behind the times on the issue of gender…This is justified as being due to the fact that the lineage of nuns from the time of the Buddha to today was broken many years ago in Thailand, and so a Thai nun cannot be ordained in Thailand. She can go to another nation and be ordained, and then come back to Thailand as an ordained nun, but that is not seen as [being as] legitimate as the ordination of a male monk.

Nuns have the reputation of going into the nunneries for reasons of being able to attract a husband, or of being broken-hearted by a man, or other reasons that imply a less than honorable motivation. As a consequence, most young women do not feel inspired to become a nun in the same way that young men are inspired to become a monk. [1]

Williams also makes the observation that “Thai monasteries are much more accepting of gay monks than they are of female nuns,” but offers no qualification for the remark. [2] I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since I’m sure he knows more about Thai Buddhism than I, but more information on this point would be nice.

Williams ultimately spoke up at the conference, delivering a sort of progressive call to action for Thai Buddhists. Here are some of the choice bits:

[The] commitment to total equality is crucially related to the theme of this conference on good governance. Good governance is impossible if fifty percent of the population is shut out of the ability to participate in government on an equal level.

[...]

…[The Buddhist ethic is] committed to happiness for all people and holds that every sentient being has a sacred Buddha nature and deserves respect. And yet, even here in Thailand the position of nuns is hardly equal to the position of monks. Becoming a nun needs to be made just as attractive for young women as becoming a monk is for young men.

A genuine commitment to the absolute equality of all humanity also means equality within Buddhism for youth, for the elderly, for ethnic minorities, and for sexual minorities…[And this commitment] needs to be made explicit. If this is done, I predict that we will see a sharp increase in the numbers of Buddhists in the world.

In many cultures, women and girls are oppressed. In even more cultures, homosexuals and transgender people of all ages are subjected to discrimination, extreme violence, and even murder…Buddhists have to be the most prominent in standing up and saying this kind of mistreatment of people is wrong and has to stop.

ENDNOTES:

1. Walter L. Williams, “Buddhism and the Gender Continuum,” The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide (September-October 2007): 24.
   
2. Ibid.
   
3. Ibid., 25.
   

While he’s at the Elijah Interfaith Summit in northern India, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet is making quite a splash. First, there are his comments about the future of the institution of the Dalai Lama:

Talking to reporters in the northern Indian city of Amritsar, he emphasised his desire to make the Tibetan leadership more democratic.

“As early as 1969 I made clear the very institution of the Dalai Lama is up to the Tibetan people,” he said.

He outlined other methods to appoint his successor as well, such as one similar to electing the Pope where senior lamas would choose the next Dalai Lama.

The Tibetan spiritual leader also raised the possibility of himself naming a new Dalai Lama while he is still alive, a proposal he outlined in Japan last week.

As the B.B.C. notes, this is by no means the first time His Holiness has made radical proposals, observations, or predictions about the institution of the Dalai Lama. It does represent a “stepping up” of his rhetoric, however.

Ten years ago he announced that if Tibet was still occupied when he died then his reincarnation would not be born under Chinese control but in the free world.

But with monasteries in Tibet under increasing pressure, his rhetoric appears to be strengthening.

In addition to his comments about the future of Tibetan leadership, His Holiness also strongly condemned the Myanmar junta for its actions against the nonviolent demonstrations led by Buddhist monks earlier this fall.

“When I saw pictures of people beating monks I was immediately reminded of inside Tibet, in our own case, where just a few days ago monks were beaten by Chinese forces,” the Dalai Lama said.

“I am fully committed and I have full support and sympathy for the demonstrators”…

[...]

The Dalai Lama urged the military junta in Myanmar–a staunchly Buddhist country–to heed the Buddha’s teachings.

“They should be Buddhists. Please act according to Buddha’s message of compassion,” he said.

[Thanks go once again to my pal Phil, this time for sending me the latter piece.]