“At that moment, Prajāpatī made her first request to Buddha: “If women have the opportunity to achieve the four results of the spiritual way, then please allow women to go forth, become ordained nuns, and practice chaste conduct/celibacy in the Buddhist sangha.”
“However, when one examines the disputes between Mahākāśyapa and Ananda regarding women going forth, it is plausible that the eight heavy dharmas may have been made later by elder monks/bhikshus with rigid traditional views. This is a debate that comes up among modern scholars and that’s something we need to be aware of.”
“In order to uphold the Buddhist teachings it is necessary to have the fourfold community (fully ordained monks (gelongs), fully ordained nuns (gelongmas), and both male and female lay precept holders). As the Buddha said, the fourfold community are the four pillars of the Buddhist teachings. This is the reason why I’m taking interest in this.” –17th Karmapa
Introduction
Today, for the new moon day, I decided to type up and share a teaching by the 17th Karmapa on the important and amazing story of how Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī, with the help of Buddha’s attendant and ‘inheritor’ of the teachings, Ānanda, was able to become not only the first fully ordained nun of the Buddhist sangha, but also helped hundreds of other women become ordained as nuns too.
The teaching is from the Origins of Secret Mantra teachings in 2022 (Day 8), which I was unable to type up before. When I compared the original teaching with the official Kagyu Office report, several things had been left out (for example, the story about Ānanda and the outcaste woman, Surupa), or re-worded significantly. So, I wanted to give a full and accurate rendition of it, based not only on the English interpretation but on the original Tibetan too. So although it might be a bit more ‘rough around the edges’ at times (as we say in English), it’s closer to the actual speech/mind of the 17th Karmapa and so carries that blessing energy.
Also, the 17th Karmapa’s most recent online teaching (which is due to re-commence again tomorrow) was about Ānanda’s parinirvana in the middle of the Ganges.
In this online teaching, for the first time in Tibetan Buddhist history, the 17th Karmapa discusses the Buddhist source texts (from the Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan canon) regarding the ordination of the first nuns in the Buddha’s community, and some common misunderstandings and interpretations of it. He also shares his wise thoughts on the topic. I learnt a lot from listening to it. In particular, the 17th Karmapa emphasises the sexist and patriarchal culture in India at that time, and how that made it more difficult for women to become nuns and for Buddha to allow it, not because he did not want women to become nuns but because of the difficulties the nuns, and monks would face if they did. However, the eight heavy Dharmas/rules of respect that Buddha was said to have created to allow women to become nuns, may have been created after the Buddha by elderly conservative monks. Here is a short video (in Tibetan with English subtitles) of that section of the teaching. It reminded me of that saying: ‘genuine respect is earned, not imposed.’
The 17th Karmapa covered four main points about Ānanda himself:
- his support for women’s ordination
- how he helped dispel the difficulties women face
- the story of Ānanda and the outcaste girl, Surupa, and
- how he helped bring peace back to the Royal Palace
In the particular, the story of the outcaste woman (which was absent from the Kagyu Office report of the teaching), whose mother cast a rigpa mantra spell to intoxicate Ānanda to marry her daughter, and the naked nun who tried to seduce him, made me wonder if something similar had been done to the 17th Karmapa himself on occasion!
The 17th Karmapa has taught several times about the unequal and unfair status of nuns in Tibet, and how due to a sexist and patriarchal culture, the fully ordained nuns lineage there was broken, see here. In 2014, the 17th Karmapa explained that it is not correct to say there were never any fully ordained nuns in Tibet though, and gave some examples.
The 17th Karmapa also (when he was able to freely teach and travel) commenced several groundbreaking activities for the Karma Kagyu nuns, such as the annual Arya Khshema debate and study event in Bodh Gaya, the first of its kind, named after one of Buddha’s best female students, to hear the 17th Karmapa speaking about the first Arya Kshema event, see here. From 2014 onwards, the 17th Karmapa has also made great efforts to get nuns within the tradition fully ordained and with equivalent study facilities and resources in the nunneries as in the monasteries. For more on the 17th Karmapa’s activities in relation to women, see my review article (2020) here.
I cannot think of any other head of a Tibetan Buddhist lineage who has done so much practically (not just verbally) to help improve the status of nuns and women. Certainly the other traditions, such as Gelugpa, Sakya, Jonang and Nyingma seem to place little, if any emphasis on the status of nuns.
In any case, as a woman what struck me (and perhaps many others) listening to the interesting and valuable teaching by the 17th Karmapa, was not only the kindness (and courage) of Ānanda in getting women admitted but also the huge courage and persistence of Mahāprajāpatī and the 500 Sakya women who took such a long and arduous journey on foot, in remote places of India fdring monsoon to petition the Buddha to accept them.
This incredible and long journey on foot by Mahāprajāpatī was also recently followed, documented and mapped by Indian research and explorer, Deepak Anand. As well as the possible site of Mahāprajāpatī’s parinirvana too, near Vaiśālī. Deepak Anand and others recently held a commemoration of Mahāprajāpatī there (see photos). Anand writes that when he did the journey on foot:
“Thanks to modern blacktop roads and bridges, I could travel this path with so much ease. I often thought of the immense difficulties faced by these fellow travelers, so long ago, especially since it was in the months of monsoons. I can well imagine their hands, heads, and shoulders occupied with the loose bags filled with the provisions for ten to fifteen-day travel. Think of them entering knee-deep into rivers and streams, trying to balance themselves as they cross shifting soil, slippery stone pebbles, and boulders on the river bed. Navigating with just one spare hand, trying best that they not be injured or robes don’t get wet. Traveling long days, negotiating wild, natural vegetation, and thick forests. “
So, before the full transcript of the 17th Karmapa’s teaching, I have included some of Deepak’s photos, descriptions and the new accurate map of the route that Mahāprajāpatī and the Shakya women took there. For a podcast interview I did with Deepak Anand about his remarkable work and journey in India, see here.
The 17th Karmapa also referred to his composition of a new special ritual for the flourishing of Dharma within female communities, the Ritual Practice for the Dharma to Flourish in Women’s and Especially Nuns’ Communities, Based on the Inseparability of Avalokiteshvara and Ananda. In this teaching, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa explained again that the Buddha himself had said, in The Sutra of the Great Skillful Means of Repaying Kindness, that in the future when women monastics pray to Ānanda, he will be able to protect them from harm and bring them great benefit and recommended that it could be performed in all Karma Kagyu nunneries particularly on the Sojong days that fall in the middle months of spring and autumn.
Although I understand the reasons why the 17th Karmapa composed a ritual for the nuns to praise Ānanda based on a Sutra text, I could not also help but feel intuitively (as a woman) that this was yet more perpetuation of male-centric rituals and praise of men in the Buddhist sangha, and that, considering she was an Arhat who attained parinirvana like Ānanda, perhaps in the 21st Century, the recent Indian example of commemorating Mahāprajāpatī ’s journey and parinirvana at that sacred place in India, is more fitting, female-centred and inclusive.
Like my artwork project to make more visible female teachers and students within the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, perhaps now is a time to also render a visual art depiction of Mahāprajāpatī and the 500 Sakya women, with the Buddha and Ānanda, which also gives them the visible and deserved place of reverence, praise and respect in Buddhist heritage and history. For more original research on the Female Lineages and Teachers, see here.
Music? Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra Mantra in Sanskrit by Immee Oi and No Man’s Woman by Sinead O’Connor.
Written and compiled by Adele Tomlin, 3rd September 2024.
Origins of Secret Mantra teachings (2022) by 17th Karmapa
Day Eight Transcript
“A couple of days ago, I was supposed to give a teaching and I was unable to and was a little tired. Last night, I was going to give the teaching I thought for a while that I wouldn’t be able to give the teaching. But when I got up this morning it was no problem and I was able to continue.
Ananda’s Attitude Towards Women
We have been speaking about Ānanda and I divided this introduction to in Ānanda into three sections and we’ve come to the third topic which is about Ānanda’s attitude towards women. This has four different internal divisions:
- his support for women’s ordination
- how he helped dispel the difficulties women face
- the story of Ānanda and the outcaste girl, Surupa and
- how he helped bring peace back to the Royal Palace
Ānanda’s support for Women’s Ordination
The first point in Ananda’s attitude towards women and his support for the ordination of women. Ananda’s character he was generally very compassionate and someone who was always able to really think about and care for other people. So, for this reason he really cared about other people and in particular he really thought greatly about the joys and sorrows of all the four different groups of the Buddhist students, the four communities. He was not only concerned and took care of the joys and sorrows of the monks but also for the nuns, as well as the male and the female lay practitioners. For example, his support for women’s ordination. If Ānanda had not been there, normally we speak about the four types of Buddhist students, the four-fold Buddhist community, if that had been the case there would have been only a three-fold Buddhist Community, only three types of Buddhist students.
The reason why we can say this is as recorded in the Vinaya Scriptures it was because of Ananda’s support and encouragement that the formation of the Buddhist nun sangha was established.
There is a citation from a Sūtra here, that was translated into Chinese during the Han Dynasty. The name of the translator into Chinese was not recorded, but it was also previously translated into Tibetan. It is called the Sutra of the Buddha’s Skillful Means in Repaying Kindness. What it says is that it was because of Ānanda’s kindness that women were able to give to go forth and become nuns.
In brief, the Buddha said to Mahāprajāpatī that their being able to go forth was Ānanda’s kindness and not the Buddha’s:
“Ānanda was the condition for women to enter the Buddha’s teaching. Gautamī, (King Suddodhana’s second wife, also known as Mahāprajāpatī or Prajāpatī), in the future, bhikshunis, laywomen, and women should always think of Ānanda and pray to him one-pointedly. Venerate and respect him, call him by name, and continually be grateful to him. Or else do not forget him in the six times day and night; remember him. Gautamī, instruct the bhikshunis and women thus: ask the teacher Ānanda for protection. Any woman who wants happiness, auspiciousness, and to achieve the result, should always put on new clean clothes on the eighth day of the second month of spring and eighth day of the second month of fall, swear one-pointedly to follow the eight rules for one day, and be continually diligent and make offerings. Ānanda will protect her miraculously, and her wishes will be fulfilled.”
If you wonder whether it is a Mahayāna or a Hinayāna Sutra, it is a Mahayāna Sutra. The reason why I’m citing it now is that it is related to the issue of women going forth. That’s why I described it here.
Another particular thing is that during the Spring teachings, we performed the ritual for the nuns teachings to flourish. We began the tradition of reciting this ritual in order to help the women’s ordination to flourish. There’s a thangka that we made. Maybe you remember it. I couldn’t find a picture of it now but the thangka is generally a picture of Avalokiteshvara, but in front of him is an image of Ānanda.
The reason why we need to arrange that thangka during this ritual is that in the Sutra of the Skillful Means of Repaying Kindness it speaks about how the Buddha told the nuns that they should pay pay homage to Ānanda and also how Mahāprajāpatī said that the nuns should pay attention to him and that if they did, then Ānanda would protect women and help them fulfill their wishes. So these are the very great reasons for doing so.
Similarly, there is also a ritual of the Thousand-armed Chenrezig in the Tengyur. In this one when you request the siddhis, Avalokiteshvara either emanates forms of Ānanda, or becomes the form of Ānanda. I don’t remember which it is exactly. In any case, you are asking for the siddhis from Ānanda. So, in general Ānanda is very compassionate and so it’s also said that Ānanda is an emanation of Avalokiteshvara. So for that reason, during the Arya Kshema spring gathering we arranged this thangka and I thought I’d explain this to you.
The Ordination of Women: first request made to Buddha by the women who travelled a long, arduous journey to meet the Buddha
“I will continue to speak about the topic of the ordination of women. As I mentioned before, after the Buddha awoke to Enlightenment, around five or six years later, he went back to his own homeland of Kapilavastu.
When he was there, many of the high status men or the noble men, went to the Buddha and went forth as monastics. When they went forth, then their wives and sisters and daughters of these high status Shakya men, also wanted to follow the Buddha and eventually go forth. So they had a great hope that this might happen.
One day they all looked for an opportunity and they went to request the Buddha to allow them to go forth. When this request occurred, according to the Theravada tradition, it is said that the Buddha Shakyamuni went to Kapilavastu on two occasions. The first time he went to see his father King Śuddhodana was still alive and met him there.
The second visit was after King Śuddhodana had passed away. Shakyamuni Buddha also had to go back to Kapilavastu that time. So, the time when women asked to go forth was during the Buddha’s second visit to Kapilavastu, This is how it is described in the Theravada tradition.
The place where the Buddha was asked by the women to go forth was in Banyan park in Kapilavastu. This was a monastery that had been given to the Buddha. The King built the monastery and gave it to the Buddha at that time. Mahāprajāpatī was a queen, King Śuddhodana had two queens. The first was the Buddha’s mother Mamaya Devi and the second was Mahāprajāpatī. So Mahāprajāpatī went to Kapilavastu with over 500 Shakya women to see the Buddha.
Mahāprajāpatī ‘s Question to Buddha about the Four Results of the Path and his response
The women prostrated to the Buddha and sat down and first the Buddha taught them Dharma, and encouraged and inspired them. Then, he sat silently. At that time, Mahāprajāpatī said to the Buddha:
“If women with a female body have the opportunity to achieve the four results, then please allow women to go forth and become Bikshunis and to practice chaste conduct/celibacy with the Buddhist sangha.”
Within the Buddhist sangha, the four results/stages of awakening are:
1) Sotāpanna (stream-enterer),
2) Sakadāgāmi (once-returner),
3) Anāgāmi (non-returner), and
4) Arahant (conqueror).
So if women can practice and achieve all four of those results, then please allow women to go forth and allow them to become nuns. This is the request she made to the Buddha. His response to Mahāprajāpatī was:
“Mahāprajāpatī, continue doing as you’re doing now, continue to wear the white clothes of a householder and lay woman, and continue to practice celibacy/chaste conduct.”
So basically, doing the practice of a chaste lay person this will bring lasting benefit and happiness. Basically, Ānanda was saying you don’t need to go forth, just continue to wear your layclothes but if you take the vows of chaste conduct then it’ll continue to be a great benefit to you.
But Mahāprajāpatī had a great wish to go forth and she made this request three times. First, she asked once and then, a second time, then a third time. She asked three times she was really rather insistent about it. But the Buddha continued to say just as before, wear the clothes of lay women and then stay and practice chaste conduct that is enough. But he wouldn’t allow them to go forth and become nuns. So this is the first time that Mahāprajāpatī asked the Buddha to allow them to go forth.”
[This incredible and arduous journey on foot acroess India (during monsoon) was recently replicated and documented by the Indian explorer and researcher, Deepak Anand. For more on that journey and his photos, see here.]
“Thanks to modern blacktop roads and bridges, I could travel this path with so much ease. I often thought of the immense difficulties faced by these fellow travelers, so long ago, especially since it was in the months of monsoons.
I can well imagine their hands, heads, and shoulders occupied with the loose bags filled with the provisions for ten to fifteen-day travel. Think of them entering knee-deep into rivers and streams, trying to balance themselves as they cross shifting soil, slippery stone pebbles, and boulders on the river bed. Navigating with just one spare hand, trying best that they not be injured or robes don’t get wet. Traveling long days, negotiating wild, natural vegetation, and thick forests. Unlike now there were fewer habitations on the way and not many villages could provide much help to a nomadic group of 500 women. I dread to think of them sleeping in the open sky, under the shade of trees and it being monsoon a looming threat of rain always hanging on their heads not to mention monsoons being the most notorious season of snake bites in the Indian subcontinent (till date) and a very difficult time to find dry wood to cook a fresh meal. There would be very few opportunities to cook fresh rice and vegetables. I can see them consuming readymade snacks sattu (toasted gram flour), chuḍā (beaten rice) and bhunjā (rice grains fired dry). Finding safe drinking water was another challenge, the rivers would be muddy. To the present day, monsoon season is still notorious for stomach related ailments.”]
Second request by Mahāprajāpatī and the women, in Nādikā with shaved heads and robes
Then, the Buddha left Kapilavastu and went to another place called Nādikā. When Mahāprajāpatī heard that the Buddha was in Nādikā, then she and the 500 Shakya women who had previously asked the Buddha to allow them to go forth, they all got together and as they were serious about being nuns, they shaved their heads.
In ancient India, if a woman shaved her head it was a very big thing and decision. It’s not something you did easily. So probably the tradition that they only would shave their head when their husbands died or something like that. So, they shaved their heads and put on Dharma robes. This is basically old Indian tradition, and went to the place where the Buddha was staying and resting at a place called Nādikā. All of the Shakya women were getting a little bit old, and they’d come from a long way away, their bodies were completely exhausted and they were also completely covered in dust all over their bodies.
They came to the Buddha and went through a lot of hardship to get there. When they got there they prostrated and sat down. As before, the Buddha taught them Dharma, encouraged them inspired them and then when he was silent, just as before, she asked him to let them become nuns.
What the Buddha said at that time was—they had already shaved their heads and had already put on Dharma robes, so he couldn’t just say as he had before they should wear the clothes of laywomen. So, he said “you can wear dharma robes and practice chaste conduct that’s fine to continue to do that and take the vows of chaste conduct. But you don’t need to go forth and take full ordination vows.” In brief at that point he did not allow Mahāprajāpatī to go forth and take ordination.
This is not clear in the Tibetan, in the Finer Points the Vinaya Discipline, but it is clear in the Chinese translation of the Finer Points of Discipline. This is what I was going to show you before this is the first request that Mahāprajāpatī made to the Buddha.
Ānanda making the request to the Buddha: Attaining the four results?
Then there is how Ānanda made the request. If we take the Finer points of the Vinaya in the Tibetan tradition translation as the basis, then Mahāprajāpatī had asked six times in total earlier and later, to go forth but the Buddha still did not accept. When he didn’t accept then, Mahāprajāpatī was very sad and she sat outside the door and crying shedding tears.
Ānanda saw the situation and he immediately came to Mahāprajāpatī and said: “why are you sitting here crying?” She responded that “the teacher has not allowed women to go forth and to be ordained, and that’s why I’m crying.”
So, Ānanda immediately said “oh please wait I’ll go ask the Bhagavan, you don’t worry.” And he immediately went inside to the Buddha to ask him. When he got to see the Buddha, then first he prostrated and he sat off to one side. Before he made the request, he asked the Buddha a question. I think that this question is actually a very important one.
“Bhagavan, if women go forth, in the dharma Vinaya and are fully-ordained as bhikshunis, and practice chaste conduct stably, will they attain the four results/stages of the spiritual way? Or will they not?”
“They will,” replied the Bhagavan, if women practice in that way.
“If that is so,” Ananda requested, “please give women the opportunity to become nuns.
Now, this is an important question because if women were to go forth and become nuns and practice the Dharma but did not achieve the higher results there would be no point for women to go forth. But the Buddha said that if women went forth and practiced the Dharma they would achieve the four result as a spiritual way. So Ananda seized that word.
The Buddha replied, “Do not request that women go forth and be ordained as bhikshunis. If women go forth into the dharma vinaya, then the teachings of the Vinaya a long time.”
This is not clear in the Tibetan translation of the finer points, but in the Chinese translation of the finer points, it is very clear. This question is also probably very clear in the Theravada scriptures. So I have added here because I think it is important that this question be clear.
Then when Ananda said please allow women to go forth and be and give them full ordination vows, the teacher said: “Do not request that women may go forth, don’t ask that that. The reason is if women go forth into the Dharma of Vinaya then the teachings of the Vinaya will not remain stably for a long time.”
[Transcriber’s note: in an academic paper by Ven Analayo, the response from Buddha is that ‘the holy life/Brahamcarya/celibate conduct will not last long.’ See here.]
The Three Dangers of women becoming ordained sangha according to the Buddha
In terms of why the Dharma would not remain so long, the Buddha gave three different examples or analogies as to why that would happen. Here this question is not clear in the Tibetan translation of the Finer Points of Discipline.
-
Women are in danger of being robbed, or kidnapped by men
Here is the first analogy. I’ve presented the words exactly as they are shown in the Tibetan translation of the Finer Points of Discipline but I won’t repeat them exactly:
“If you have a house where there are a lot of women but there are very few men, then in Indian tradition if there are no men in the household then a lot of robbers will come to the house and the reason is that the women are not able to oppose the bandits. So there will be more dangers of thieves and robbers in the house. Also, the men would come to steal and take the women along with them.” So similarly, the Buddha said if women go forth this is the reason the Dharma Vinaya will not remain for a long time. This is the first reason he gave.
2) Second Analogy: A field of beautiful rice and hail
The second reason is:
“When you have a field of beautiful Salu rice. When hail falls on it, then the Salu rice is destroyed. Likewise, if women go forth then the dharma Vinaya will not remain long.”
3) Third Analogy: A field of disease-ridden sugar cane
The third analogy is:
“When you have a field of sugar cane, where it’s a really bountiful sugar and there is a disease that affects sugar plant, called rust, then the sugar cane becomes unusable and wasted. Similarly, if women go for the, the Dharma Vinaya will not remain for a long time.”
Eight Dharmas/rules of respect as the condition for allowing women to become ordained nuns
Then the Buddha said that, if women need to go forth, then they have to accept the rules called the eight heavy dharmas/rules of respect. So the condition for women to go forth is that they have to accept these eight rules of respect. The Buddha then taught the reasons why women have to take the eight heavy dharmas by giving another analogy. Buddha did not make the eight heavy dharmas without any reason or need.
This is what it says in the Finer Points of Discipline in the Vinaya. This is not a literal transcription of the citation of it. To make it easier to understand I compared the Chinese and the Tibetan translations of this passage and combined them. So in general, it says if women go forth then within society that time would have an effect on how the Buddhists remained within India and that society and, it would cause some difficulties.
“Just as the farmer builds a stable dam in the irrigation canal below which the water does not overflow and then directs the water to the fields so that it is all full. Similarly, in order that the negative effects of women going forth do not occur and in order to create good relationships between the female and the male sanghas, the Buddha said that he would make these rules, the eight heavy dharmas, and women need to observe these eight heavy dharmas for their entire lives.”
The order of the eight rules is sometimes presented in different ways in the different schools. This is the order in the Finer Points Vinaya of the Tibetan tradition.
1. When nuns/bhikshunis take the sojong vows every two weeks they must request permission from the monks/bhikshus and invite a a monk/bhikshu to read the Prātimokṣa Sutra.
2. Bhikshunis should not hold the rains retreat in a place where there are no bhikshus. This does not mean the monk has to stay in the retreat itself but that they should stay in that area. The exception is if there are monks in that area, who do not practice the vinaya discipline or the three foundational practices, then the nuns should not ask them for permission because the bhikshus themselves are not observing the Vinaya rules.
3. At the end of the rains retreat, the nuns must do the Pravadana ritual with the dual male and female sangha present. During the ceremony they have to recall and admit all their offences during the retreat.
4. To receive full ordination, nuns have to take it from the dual sangha of monks and nuns. In particular, they must request a fully ordained monk for the ordination.
5. If there is a new fully ordained monk, all the nuns/bhikshunis have to be respectful and prostrate to him.
6. Fully ordained nuns are not allowed to disparage or say bad words tofully ordained monks.
7. Nor are they to discuss the offences that fully ordained monks have committed.
8. If a fully ordained nun breaks one of the eight heavy dharmas, she must undergo penance with both the male and female sanghas for a fortnight.
If the bhikshunis take these eight heavy dharmas, it is alright for them to go forth, the Buddha concluded.
Mahaprajapati accepts the eight rules and becomes first fully ordained nun
Ananda rejoiced, prostrated at the Buddha’s feet, and then immediately went to see Prajāpati.
“The Buddha has agreed to allow women to go forth and take full ordination, but in order to prevent any negative effect from women going forth and to ensure the relations between sanghas to go well, the Buddha has created the eight heavy dharmas. Women must keep them for the rest of their lives and be assiduous about them,” he said.
Ānanda explained each of the eight heavy dharmas and said, “The Buddha said if you can truly keep them and be careful of them, you may go forth and be fully ordained.”
Prajapati was extremely delighted. “As long as we live,” Prajāpatī said, “we women will train in these eight heavy dharmas given by the Buddha. Just as when someone gives girls wreaths of blue utpala and champaka flowers, they are delighted, take them with both hands, and place them on their heads. In the same way, I promise with my body, speech, and mind.”
Thus, according to the Tibetan tradition, Prajāpatī accepted the eight heavy dharmas, went forth, and was fully ordained, thus becoming the first bhikshuni in the fourfold community. However, there is a Sutra of Maha prajapati in Chinese, which says that Prajāpatī first went forth and then protected the novice vows, followed by the nun in training (Getsul), and then the fully ordained vows (Gelongma). That she took the vows in in stages this is different than our Tibetan explanations. However, it is widely accepted that she became the fist fully ordained nun in the Buddhist sangha.
The question of whether the rules are fundamental rules for nuns or created by conservative monks
There was a student of the Buddha named Upali and he was very skilled or very knowledgeable at the Vinaya. He went to ask the Buddha that as Prajapati had gone forth, then how should they ordain the other Shakyan women who want to be ordained.
“Other women should go forth and be fully ordained in stages,” the Buddha said. “That means that first they go for refuge and are given the five lay precepts. They train in the precepts gradually and then are given the full ordination.”
According to the Vibhajyavādin and Sarvāstivādin schools, the Buddha made the rules of the eight heavy dharmas and said that they are the basic rules for nuns.
However, there is another view, according to the Mahāsāṃgika vinaya in the Chinese tradition, which says that nuns need to observe these, but they are not like the basic rules or important precepts.
Likewise, there’s also the modern Chinese Master Yin Shun, who is very well known, who doubts whether the Buddha actually made these rules or not. The Buddha made all his rules based on an incident, he argues. He did not make rules without an incident occurring first. But there was no particular incident or event that led to the eight heavy dharmas. So, it’s not easy to say they were made by the Buddha.
The origin for these rules are certainly very early, he agrees, and they could be from the time of the Buddha. However, when we examine the disputes between Mahākāśyapa and Ananda regarding women going forth, it seems plausible that the eight heavy dharmas may have been made later by elder bhikshus with rigid traditional views, he concludes. This is a debate that comes up among modern scholars and that’s something we need to be aware of.
Background to the Reasons for the Eight Heavy Dharmas
The next thing we need to understand is the background situation that made it necessary to make these eight heavy dharmas. Because on the one hand the Buddha allowed women to go forth, but on the other hand, in order to avoid causing any problems given the social situation of the time in the relations between the male and the female sanghas, he made a strict rule that the nuns had to follow the eight heavy dharmas.
There are some words from the Finer Points of Discipline that explain this background; Again, I’ve compared the Tibetan and the Chinese translations and put them together.
After Mahāprajāpatī and the five hundred Shakya women had accepted the eight heavy dharmas and been fully ordained, many women followed her example, so that the number of bhikshunis increased greatly.
On one occasion, the elderly nuns came to Prajāpatī and said, “It has been a long time since we nuns went forth, but it has not been long since those other new monks went forth and were fully ordained. They prostrate to each other according to seniority. Can we also prostrate in terms of seniority, so that the senior nun does not have to prostrate to the junior monk, and they prostrate to the senior nun?” Prajapati did not immediately respond to tell them Buddha did not say that was OK, but told the nuns that she would ask Ānanda about this issue. When she told Ānanda, he went to ask the Buddha about it.
When Ananda repeated her words about the junior monks having to prostrate to senior nuns, the Bhagavan said:
“Ananda, do not speak such words. Before women had gone forth, when devout brahmins and householders met monks, they would bring fine food and give it to them uninterruptedly.
Moreover, the brahmins and householders would take clean white fabric, folded in layers, spread it out in lanes, and say, ‘Kind monks, please walk on this folded fabric. This will bring us benefit and happiness for a long time.’
Furthermore, the brahmins and householders would spread their hair on the ground and say, ‘Monks, please walk on this hair. This will bring us benefit and happiness for a long time.’
This is easy to understand, because if women hadn’t gone forth then within Indian society people paid great respect but because women went forth there were fewer people who would pay the sangha respect. Because in Indian society people really looked down on women, and denigrated them. So when the women were elevated and made into objects of veneration in the sangha, then it beomes more difficult for the men in society to do that. So basically, when the women were introduced it began to create difficulties for the sangha to maintain its livelihood.
Preventing criticism and disrespect of nuns in the Buddhist sangha
The Buddha continued:
“Ananda, if women had not gone forth in the dharma vinaya, the splendor of my disciples like the moon and sun could not be occluded by those with great light, not to mention corpse-like extremists. My teachings would have remained stainless and undiminished for a full thousand years. Because they have gone forth, five hundred years will be subtracted.”
This is not to be taken literally but refers to a social issue. As women were looked down upon in Indian society, if they suddenly had to be venerated and offered to, it would be difficult for people in the Indian society to do that.
The question of whether the Buddha would stay a thousand years or not, I do not think that is saying necessarily actually a thousand years later, but it is showing the degree of danger, the great danger to the Sangha. This is why the Buddha said that, it does not mean that it categorically absolutely has to be 500 years subtracted from the duration of the teachings that is not what it is saying, I do not think.
“For this reason, Ananda, I instructed that even if a nun bhikshuni has been fully ordained for a hundred years, she must pay respect, join her palms, welcome, stand up, and prostrate to newly ordained monk/bhikshus,” the Buddha said.
The reason for it being necessary for the nuns to accept these rules, that is clear. At that time, the society had no real respect for women. So if a nun did not pay respect to the monks, or did not treat them well, the view of them in society would get worse. First, they would think a nun had been ordained who should have been allowed to do so. So, if the monks prostrated to the senior nuns, people would say that the women had pride even if they didn’t. In that case, the society wouldn’t give alms to the Buddhist community, including the monks. It was not like these days, previously the monastics 100 percent relied on daily alms for their food and living. As their livelihood was dependent on being socially acceptable in order to receive alms, there was a danger of starvation for the community.So the Buddha had no choice but to say this. If we look at it this method that he chose that is protecting women, as people would say they are too proud, even if they weren’t proud people, they would be criticised a lot.”
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The Thangka of Avalokiteshvara with Ānanda commissioned by the 17th Karmapa
Here is the thangkha of an early Indian Avalokiteshvara with Ananda standing beneath one hand, which I requested one of my friends to paint for the Arya Kshema nuns’ teaching. As I mentioned before, I have partly completed a “Ritual for the Nun’s Dharma to Flourish”, to practice during the second month of spring and autumn. I wrote the text to recite but I didn’t write the entire ritual. My hope is to finish the entire Puja this year and once that has finished, if this can happen I think it’d be very good.
Next year (2023) I’d like to continue speaking about the historical background for the eight heavy dharma. Now in general with ancient Indian history, as I described yesterday you can divide it into many different periods and the earliest period as I mentioned last year was the period of the Rigveda.
During the period of the Rigveda, (1500–1000 BCE), there was equality between the sexes, to the extent that there were many female authors of the Rigveda. Monogamy was the common status for women. Then, sometime during the time of the Yajurveda (1000–500 BCE), women’s status deteriorated, and they were considered untrustworthy, more prone to afflictions and faults. However, during that period, women were allowed to perform sacrifices alongside their husbands, they had that right.
Following that is the period of the Sutras, which is between 500 BCE – 250 BC. During this period, women’s status became even worse than it had been before. There were many Sutras written during that period, one was called the Dharma Sutra, which established rules and laws and it says that women belong to men. Instead of women being independent and having autonomy, they were the chattel of the men. They had to stay under men’s control and all of their rights were given to the men and husbands when they were young. They had to obey their father, once they had been sent off as a bride they had to obey their husband, and when they became old, they had to obey their sons. So basically saying that women were unworthy of living independently. Not only that, it was actually decided that one man may have several wives. Brahmins could have up to three, Kshatriyas up to two, and Shudras on down, no more than one. As the status of the high castes became stronger, women’s status deteriorated.
When we read the Buddhist scriptures, we can see what the status of women was during the time of the Buddha. For example, in the Vinaya, when Kalandaka’s son Sudatta went forth and become a bhikshu, he had recently married, but his wife had borne no children. His mother realized that if there were no sons, all their household wealth would be seized by the king. She pleaded with her son to father a child with his bride and there would be no fault in doing so. Thirteen years after the Buddha’s enlightenment that particular incident set a precedent for the rule regarding unchaste conduct, the first of the four defeats. The origin for this first defeat for unchaste conduct derives from the custom that if there was no son in a family, the king would seize all. That was the basic condition that led to the first defeat or rule or the first major precept of the Vinaya. And the reason the son had this problem really comes down to women having no rights.
There are similar stories in the Vinaya about queens or nuns with children. One is about the bhikshuni Guptā who went forth but who had no son before her husband died. Her husband’s friend Udāyin (who had become a bhikshu) was going to that place and met her, and she’d been reduced to begging, a complete beggar. So for this reason, he helped her and she eventually became pregnant.
To make matters worse, the major Indian religions and schools of that time had no custom of women going forth. There is the Brahmin and Jain religion, and probably no custom like that. Some schools asserted that women were not to be offered refuge. The sexist view that men were superior and women inferior was totally accepted.
Thus there were many such internal and external reasons to create the eight heavy dharmas. The practical aspect also played a part. The sangha lived off food given as alms, but women are not as physically strong as men and have other specific physical needs. In addition, they would have to live a wandering lifestyle, so it was necessary to determine how they could avoid danger and difficulties. Then there was the matter of the bhikshunis’ education for the elders to decide.
Social Inhibitions Women Had to Overcome to Receive Teachings
According to a story in the “Chapters on Monastic Discipline” (Vinaya Vastu), when the Buddha had gone to his homeland of Kapilavastu and was teaching at the Banyan Tree park, the Shakyans went repeatedly to see him and listen to his teachings. Among them was Śhākya Mahānāman. After he heard the Buddha teach dharma, he would go home and exclaim, “Oh Wow! the Buddha! Oh Wow! the dharma! Oh Wow! the sangha! The Buddha’s coming has been fruitful for me!”
“What happened?” his wife asked.
“Right now the Bhagavan is teaching the dharma to hundreds of people, and because of hearing it, many hundreds of living beings have developed superior realization of the true nature,” he replied.
“The Buddha coming is only fruitful for you,” she replied. “It’s not for us. The Buddha appeared in the world for men’s sake, not for us women.” She wished to go but felt embarrassed to listen when King Śuddhodana was there with many Shakyans.
Śhākya Mahānāman went to speak to Mahāprajāpatī, who spoke to the King. Then he informed many Shakya women who all went to Mahāprajāpatī “We’ve heard how the Buddha is teaching many people the dharma. We also want to hear the dharma. So would it be okay if the King went in the morning and we went in the afternoon?”
In the end after much to-ing and fro-ing with intercessions by Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī, the King allowed them to come for teachings in the morning as requested; and Mahāprajāpatī led five hundred Shakya women to Banyan Tree Park to see and hear the Buddha.
We can understand a bit about women’s situation at that time from this story. It was not easy for women to get a seat at the table. That is how it was. The Buddha allowed everyone without distinction of high or low caste to practice the dharma, and he allowed women to go forth and become bhikshunis. Indian society at that time, was filled with narrow-minded people who clung hard to old ways of thinking.
Even though we are now in the twenty-first century, the Karmapa commented, the difficulties and problems of caste and sexism in India remain. There are a few people who still say that those views have permeated the blood of Indian people and there is no way to eliminate them. In the light of that perspective, it becomes clear that Buddha Shakyamuni was compassionate, loving, kind, and broad-minded. When the Buddha is called the “charioteer who tames beings,” this probably refers to how he was able to change the direction of those bad customs. Praising him like that.
The Reason Why the Buddha Did Not Easily Allow Women to Go Forth
There are several explanations of they the Buddha did not give the vows easily. In the “Explanation of the Finer Points of the Vinaya” by Master *Śīlapālita, (translated into Tibetan in the 11th century by the translator Bhikshu Geway Lodrö), it says:
“Do not all tathagatas of the past had a fourfold community? So, why did the Bhagavan allow women to go forth only with difficulty? According to the Indian scholars of that time: “Regarding this, it was in order to produce world-weariness in Mahāprajāpatī and the five hundred Shakya women as well as in other women. This is because the Buddha said the are able to attain the four results or practice and not lower in that respect. and recognise that is so.
The reason he still made it difficult was they would think, “If we were not so lowly, why would it be so difficult to go forth in the Buddha’s teachings, which are common to all sentient beings? This makes us feel regret, but instead of feeling regret, we must not let this result of going forth, that we gained through such great difficulties, be meaningless.” They would engage better in the practice and accumulations for the path, and therefore the Bhagavan not allowing them three times, taught them that it is meaningful.
This is according to what the Indian Buddhist masters of that time said.
There was also a Theravada elder called Jnanaponikathera, he said that for women to be allowed to go forth and take nuns vows, that Ananda had to be very clever and cunning, and had to be very insistent, because he had to change the Buddha’s mind. So people will say this, but if we think about it well. If we have confidence that the Buddha as an individual had already awakened to perfect Buddhahood, then it woul not be possible for anyone to have the power to make him change his mind. The reason is because the Buddha is always resting in equipoise within the Dharma nature, and never wavering from that. So it does not matter how many explanations people give and so on, there is no way they could change his thoughts. That is what he said.
Ānanda’s Two Reasons for Asking Buddha to ordain nuns
Likewise, another perspective we can look at it from, if we look in the Finer Points of Vinaya discipline, in the Tibetan translation. So this is during the first Council, I will speak about this in a few days, Mahakashyapa spoke about many of Ānanda’s faults. One of the faults that Mahakashyapa said is that Ānanda had supported the ordination of women and this was not right. So this is one fault that Mahakashyapa prescribed to Ānanda.
- She was the Buddha’s mother
Ānanda gave two reasons for doing this, first is related to the Buddha’s personal situation that Mahaprajapati was the King’s Queen, and she’s the one who raised the Buddha and nursed him from a very young age because his mother passed away. So she was the mother who raised him.
So, Mahaprajapati had been extremely kind to the Buddha in the past, and in order to fulfill her wish, Ananda saw that this is important for her to have the opportunity to practice the Dharma to repay her kindness.
- All completely awakened Buddhas in the past had four-fold communities
The second reason is that in the past the completely buddhas of the past they all had a fourfold community they had nuns. So he thought it would be okay for the Bhagavan Buddha to also have a four-fold community. So he gave an explanation with the worldly and Dharma reasons. In any case, at that time when the Buddha listened to Ānanda’s explanations, he thought there is purpose to them there are reasons for it and he allowed it. It is not like the Buddha had no choice.
Another thing we need to think about is that the main point about the dharma is that if women can go forth, they can achieve the four results of the spiritual way. So you can achieve all the four results of spiritual way, the ultimate results as a woman this is the most important point so because the Buddha is not denigrating women but in the society women are looked down on, so that’s a different matter. But in terms of the Dharma, they do not deserve to be denigrated. So that’s the most important point, if they can achieve the four results why aren’t they allowed to become nuns? If you say it’s okay for them to achieve the results as a lay practitioner but that is difficult and the reason is because lay people have many activities, they have to continually work, they have many things that they need to do and spend their entire day. They do not have the time to practice Dharma.
If you only want to focus your mind and practice the Dharma and have fewer adversities, and more favorable conditions, then you have to enter the sangha. That’s the main reason you have to become a monastic. If you cannot achieve the four results, then there’s no point to go forth. This is another point we need to consider.
I mentioned the Mahprajapati Sutra that is in Chinese and if you read that, Mahapajapati first asked the Buddha the way it is described there it’s different. What she said is: “I’ve heard is that the Buddha has said that if women go forth they can achieve the four spiritual results. “That is what I heard” she said. So, that is a little different than we have in the Tibetan tradition. If they are able to achieve the result then please give them the full ordination vows.” The most important point is whether they can achieve results or not. The Buddha accepted from the very beginning that they can achieve results.
Doubts and questions: the Dharma teachings have lasted over 1000 years, so what about Buddha’s prediction on that?
That leaves a question mark over the Buddha’s statement that the teachings would have endured over a thousand years, but because of women joining the sangha as nuns, the existence of the teachings would be reduced by five hundred years. This is a contradiction which scholars have been attempting to address. The Buddha did say that his teachings would not remain more than 500 years if women became nuns, but it’s an actual fact that the true Dharma has remained for over a thousand years, so what does this mean?
There are many treatises including the Great Exposition of Abhidhdharma, which includes discussion and refutation of objections to the idea that the women had rules of the eight heavy dharmas, and that the fault of diminishing teachings by 500 years did not occur.
Here is a quote from the “Great Exposition of Abhidharma”:
There are two pages of it, so I will not read it all. To put the quote into context, the first five-hundred-year period had passed; it was the latter five-hundred-year period, and the teachings still had not disappeared and it was clear they were still present. So people started to wonder about what Buddha had said in the past and be suspicious about it.
There were two different explanations that are in this quote. The first is that, when Buddha said that the duration of the teachings would be decreased by 500 years, it means that people would not achieve the true liberation of the Dharma.
Another explanation is that if the nuns had not accepted the eight heavy dharmas, then the teachings would have decreased by 500 years. But as Mahaprajapati and her followers had accepted the 500 years, the teachings were not decreased by 500 years and they would remain for the full 1000 years. So this is another explanation and an important explanation. Otherwise, if you have these two 500 periods, then there would only be the early 500 year period and the second one would not have happened. Also, one would have to accept that Buddhism had disappeared at the time of Nāgarjuna and the great Scholars of Nalanda University. But we cannot accept that at all.
How Ānanda helped women eliminate their difficulties
I will now continue to speak about Ānanda. The first of these was about how he supported women going forth, which I have explained. So, the next one is how he helped women clear away their difficulties.
Ānanda gave a lot of support to women going for ordination. Not only that, he also gave assistance and help to many women in many different ways, but because he gave assistance and help to women, this also caused him many difficulties.
Before I spoke about the story of Stulanandha and how she revolted against Mahakashyapa. I want to tell two more stories about this, there was one that I mentioned the other day that I did not tell correctly, so I want to tell it properly now. Then there’s another one, I will add.
A bhikshuni called Sthūlanandā was also going out for alms at the same time and saw Mahākāśyapa coming along and nearby him was a cesspool with excrement and urine in it. She wanted to upset him so she threw a brick into the cesspit as he was walking by covering his robes in excrement. Normally, most people would get very angry if that happened, but he did not get angry.
Instead Mahākāśyapa said: “Sister, this is not your fault. It is because Ānanda made it so that ill-behaved women could go forth in the dharma vinaya, and be fully ordained, and become bhikshus. That is why I am having this issue today.”
This incident made the Buddha add a new rule: that nuns should not make monks dirty or unclean. If they make a monk dirty or unclean, it is an offense.
There was an even more suprising incident, when Sthūlanandā called him a total idiot and spat on his face for no reason at all. Even though Mahākāśyapa had been spat on, he did not get angry at all. he replied in the same way, that it was all Ānanda’s fault for allowing women to go forth. When this incident was brought to the Buddha’s attention, he said, “Oh this is really bad. That is not the conduct of a mendicant or a nun. Even prostitutes do not treat Mahākāśyapa like that. Therefore, in the future, nuns may not spit on monks. If they do that, it is an offense.”
In brief, we cannot know why she disliked Mahākāśyapa so much. But when she attacked him, Mahākāśyapa said it was all due to Ānanda allowing women to become nuns. So, there were monks in the sangha who thought it was wrong for him to do that. So this is one way Ananda had difficulties due to letting women become ordained.
The Outcaste Girl Surupa [Zugzangma] whom Ānanda asked for water at a well
The second story is about the outcaste girl, Surupa [Zigzangma in Tibetan, literally means excellent body]. It is found in the Tibetan canon, he had such a gentle character and many people really liked him and many women really got very attracted to Ānanda.
For example, there was an outcaste girl known Surupa, so she’s a very low-class woman. One day, when she was going off to fetch water she met Ānanda who was thirsty so he asked for water. In India, at that time there is not the custom at all for for high caste people to ask for water from low caste women but Ananda didn’t care about caste, so he asked for water and when she saw Ānanda’s face and his body, she just fell in love with him and she began to think “Oh, if only he were my husband.” But Ānanda was a monk, so he wouldn’t accept that. But Surupa’s mother knew how to use rigpa mantras to cast spells, and she wanted to use a spell to enchant Ānanda to make her come and be her husband. She went back home and told her mother that she had to get married to him. She said, “if Ānanda weren’t free of Desire I could enchant him, but we got to be careful, because King Prasejinit has a lot of faith in the Buddha, and if he learns of this then he is going to wipe out all of us outcastes. And actually, the Buddha is really powerful, he can overwhelm all lust and desire.” Then she said, “if you’re unable to do this I’ll kill myself.” Then her mother had no choice you know she loves her daughter, so she immediately in the middle of the house she made a mandala and started to recite the mantric spell.
So this spell struck Ananda and he was in the mantra, but he was unable to control his mind like he immediately had to come, he had no choice, he was no longer in control. He had to go to the outcaste girl’s house, and when Surupa saw him coming from a long way, she was really delighted when Ānanda arrived at the outcaste girl’s house when he got there, he had no control. He had no choice to he didn’t want to go. But because of the power he just pulling in there but in his mind he really didn’t want it and so he’s crying that he is having this difficulty so why is it that Buddha doesn’t know this?” he thought. At that point, the Buddha knew and he cast his own mantric spell that counteracted the outcaste spell and released him from its power. Then when that happened Ānanda immediately fled right back to the monastery.
When he fled but still Surupa’s desires didn’t work and so then she was not satisfied. So Surupa would follow Ananda wherever he’d go she’d go. So she was stalking him. In the daytime, he’d go to go back to the monastery and when she returned there then you wait for him right outside the the monastery gate.
If you look at it from one it’s really sad right? She just had to stay when Ananda went over to ask for for alms, she would wait outside whatever house he’d gone to looking at from afar. So she was always following him, and there’s nothing he could do.
The other aspect is he was really embarrassed about if other people see this, it’s going to be really bad and difficult for me. So he had nothing else to do and went to the Buddha and told him that she was following him and to “please protect me, see me with compassion.” The Buddha said “have no fear, you don’t need to be afraid it’s not important.” Then Buddha called that girl that Outcaste girl Surupa and what he said to her said do you like “I heard that you really likes Ānanda, do you want to get married to Ānanda to have a family with him?” The girl said say “I do I would like that.” The Buddha said “well in that case will your parents allow that will they give permission?”
She said “oh yes, they’ll give permission, I’ll go ask and so she went to her parents and immediately asked them for permission. When she did then the two parents then took Surupa to the Buddha and they said “we’re giving our daughter to A,nanda we’ve made up our minds” and they offered her to the Buddha. So then Buddha told the parents to first go home and he sent the parents home. Then he said to the outcaste Surupa: “so you really love Ānanda and if you really love Ānanda, you have to do what Ānanda does. So Ānanda has no hair, he’s shaved his head and he wears the Dharma robes, so you need to shave your head and wear the Dharma robes too.” Surupa agreed to do that and became a nun.
This isn’t described in the Tibetan version of the story but there is a story of Surupa in Chinese, which says that after the Buddha asked her “so what do you want?” She said she really liked Ananda, and Buddha said to her “what do you like about him?” She said she likes the way he looked, about his eyes, his nose, his everything, she said she liked everything about Ānanda. The Buddha said: “so if you think about his ears and his flesh it’s all made out of filthy stuff, So why do you like it? There’s no reason for you to like that.” And Buddha taught her a lot of Dharma, he told many reasons and then she sort of realized the nature and she became an Arhat. After she had achieved the level of an Arhat, the Buddha knew she had the realization the Buddha said “now it’s okay if you go to go to Ānanda.” She replied: “oh what I did before didn’t work, I made big mistakes.” she said. So she confessed with great remorse.
This is what it says in the Chinese. In any case, Surupa went forth and not only that, she achieved the level of Arhatship. If we talk about the outcastes, at that time they were really low caste. Even these days, if the low caste people with the high caste women are not even allowed to touch the food or the things that low caste people have touched there’s that tradition now.
So at that time all the brahmins from Shravasti heard about an outcaste girl going forth and they were just amazed. They thought: “How can it be right for an outcaste to practice Dhamra along with the monks and nuns? They will be tainted and sullied by this. how could we Brahman and householders pay respect and make offerings to her. So they really criticized it and the Buddha. Then King Prasenajit heard about this, and the King also did not think it was good that an outcaste girl who is unclean is now in the Sangha. So he was really unhappy but he got on his horse and he went with a men along with many of the brahmans and householders of Shravasti to the Buddha to complain about it. He said that’s not going to work at all. After they had all assembled there, the Buddha knew why they had come and so he specifically he asked them to call for the nun Surupa, and had her sit down there and he explained at length to the King Prasenajit and the public the previous lives of the outcaste Surupa. So, in this lifetime she was a an outcaste but she was in a very high class before. And at that time, Ānanda had been an extremely low caste. The reason why Surupa fell in love with Ānanda, is that in previous lives she had been in love with Ānanda and so for that reason this situation happened.
So, Buddha explained the whole situation in detail. He also clarified how the high and low castes were just made up by Brahmins and that there is actually no real difference in caste.
When Buddha explained this, then everyone thought “Oh that’s why, there are reasons for it, that matches the nature. So everyone was happy about it and the problem was resolved. Otherwise, there would have been a big problem if the king and all the Brahmins and everyone from householders went to to the Buddha to complain about it. So that’s another situation.
[Transcriber’s note: I checked the name of this outcaste girl online and she is generally referred to as Prakirti, I could not find any reference to Surupa. The story is the same though. This story was not mentioned at all in the Kagyu Office report of the teaching and nor was the story below of the nun seducing Ānanda].
Nun tried to seduce Ānanda
It was not just this outcaste girl, a lay woman householder who fell in love with Ananda, there were also some nuns who fell in love with him. There is a story in the Four Agamas that are preserved in Chinese, about a nun and who had someone go tell Ānanda that she was sick and to ask him to please come. So the main point is that this woman was actually in love with Ānanda and pretended to be sick and summoned him, so she could actually seduce Ānanda. So Ānanda comes and she is not not wearing any clothes. So Ananda said “Don’t do that, it’s not good for you to be like that.”
The nun then quickly put on her clothes. Ānanda had not yet achieved Arhatship, and not given up all of his desires and passions, but even then, he had very strong careful awareness and mindfulness and he clearly used it as an opportunity to practice. He explained this to her and the woman felt remorse and confessed. So, that is another situation or difficulty.
Restoring Peace in the Royal Palace: Ananda’s Skillful Means of returning a stolen gem
The last difficulty was restoring peace in the royal palace. The queens of King Prasenajit all wished to receive dharma teachings, but because they were queens, they were kept in the palace like birds in a cage and had no opportunity to go to the monastery to hear the Buddha teach.
They asked the king to allow them to have a bhikshu to represent the Buddha and teach the dharma. The king asked, “Which monk should we send for?” Ananda, who was known as the “Treasurer of the Buddha” (Pali: dhamma-bhaṇḍāgārika), was the chosen one and from then on, he would go at a certain time and teach them.
But one day, someone stole a small, priceless jewel from the king’s crown, and all the buildings and grounds in the palace were searched. The whole palace was in an uproar. The queens were all flustered, so when it came time for the teaching, they were unable to focus their minds. Ananda realized this and asked them the reason why. They explained and Ananda, out of his compassion, worked out a plan, which he presented to the king. He was so skillful he gathered all the suspects and suggested that they quietly return the tiny gem.
He had a tent set up in one part of the palace and placed a vase filled with water in it. He had each of the suspects go in alone and unobserved, and the person who had actually stolen the gem put it into the vase and left. Through Ānanda’s plan, the gem was recovered and the thief escaped punishment. Everything in the palace became as peaceful as it had been before. Because of this incident, Ananda became even more well-known and the renown of the Buddhist sangha also increased.
Beautiful! Very beautiful.
I very much hope that his initiative bears fruit.
Shangpa Rinpoche in Singapore has a very strong nunnery in Nepal. There is an amazing Dzogchen nunnery which is Nyingma which I follow. And of course Tenzin Palmo’s. But as you say these are not so much driven from the top, as it were.