Rev. Danny Fisher

Over at at Barbara’s Buddhism Blog, Barbara O’Brien reflects on recent comments by His Holiness the Dalai Lama regarding Buddhism and gender bias.  Here’s a taste:

Anyway, while there may be no gender bias in the dharma, one cannot say the same for institutional Buddhism. And much of the institutional bias is hardwired into Buddhism via the Vinaya, the rules for the monastic orders established by the historical Buddha. In the Vinaya recorded in the Pali Canon, nuns were given more and stricter rules than monks, including the eight Garudhammas, or special grave rules. Among other things, under the Garudhammas all nuns are junior to all monks and may not scold or “advise” a monk.