Questions of ordination legitimacy for newly ordained Theravāda bhikkhunī in Thailand
In Thailand the widespread assumption that bhikkhunī ordination has already been disrupted and that as a result Theravāda Buddhist women can no longer be ordained has been challenged by a group of women who have received the full monastic precepts from foreign saṅgha and practise Theravāda Buddhism...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
2012
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| In: |
Journal of Southeast Asian studies
Year: 2012, Volume: 43, Issue: 1, Pages: 55-76 |
| Further subjects: | B
Buddhism
B Thailand Religion Religious organization Buddhism Nonnen / Mönche Frauen B Nun B Religion B Religious organization B Monk B Woman B Thailand |
| Summary: | In Thailand the widespread assumption that bhikkhunī ordination has already been disrupted and that as a result Theravāda Buddhist women can no longer be ordained has been challenged by a group of women who have received the full monastic precepts from foreign saṅgha and practise Theravāda Buddhism in yellow monastic robes. Public concerns have centred on whether such bhikkhunī ordinations are possible, and how women could become bhikkhunī in a ‘correct’ way. Both supporters and opponents are often vocal in discussing ordination ceremony procedures, based on their interpretation of the vinaya, the monastic disciplines. This paper argues that it is not a matter of ‘right’ procedure, but rather of the authority of the religious institution or tradition that validates one's ordination. Even if a woman is ordained as a bhikkhunī by the ‘right’ procedure, her status remains unstable unless the religious authority of her country sanctions her ordination. In other words, it is only a political decision made by a religious institution - in the case of Thailand, the National Saṅgha - that can reinstate ‘legitimate’ bhikkhunī ordination. (J Southeast Asian Stud/GIGA) |
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| ISSN: | 0022-4634 |
| Contains: | In: Journal of Southeast Asian studies
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