Female Donors at Sārnāth: Issues of Gender, Endowments, and Autonomy

Buddhism has different threads of traits to be explored and scrutinized. One of the important aspects is to know role and status of women in Buddhism through their visual representations in religious ceremonies, donations of the images, etc. The role, rank and implications of their participation in religious ceremonies is matter of inquiry. In particular, it is quite stimulating to know that their engagement in religious activities are egalitarian or highly gendered. Sārnāthwas intentionally chosen by the Buddha as the place of his first sermon and its importance in Buddhism became unforgettable till it was finally destroyed in the medieval period. The role of women in religious activities started in the age of the Buddha.This sacred complex shows the gender variances in ritualistic participation and donations. Here, the influence of Buddhism on women’s autonomy in spiritual/sacredengrossment is a subject of contemplation.

Why I Am Not a Buddhist Feminist: A Critical Examination of ‘Buddhist Feminism’

Feminist Buddhology is a burgeoning area of study, with many scholar-practitioners examining the interaction between Buddhism and feminist theory. Here I examine the contributions made by Buddhist Feminists and argue that, in general, Feminist Buddhology runs the serious risk of being ‘apologist’. I contrast the discrimination against women evident in Buddhist traditions with the claims of Buddhist Feminists that ‘Buddhism is feminism’ and ‘feminism is Buddhism’. In order to do so I provide a brief history or the position of women in Buddhism, an overview of Feminist Buddhology and lastly the beginnings of an alternate perspective from which we may interweave Buddhism and feminism, without an underlying apologist perspective.

Position of Women in Buddhism: Spiritual and Cultural Activities

The Buddha is a great benefactor of humanity. After the attainment of the Enlightenment in Bodhgaya and preaching First Sermon in Sarnath, the Buddha founded the order of Monks (Bhikkhusangha). This order of Monks increased and within forty five years of Buddha’s ministry it had spread throughout ancient India. But groundless belief of Brahmins is that woman is inferior to man. The position which the woman lost under the dominance of the Brahmins of the day evidently showed little sympathy for her. In this article I will explore the position of women considering their spiritual and cultural activities.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/afj.v4i0.12933 The Arts Faculty Journal Vol.4 July 2010-June 2011 pp.75-84

Women in Buddhism

The very existence of a “Women and Buddhism” entry but no “Men in Buddhism” entry implies a set of methodological lacunae in Buddhist studies. On the one hand, Buddhist studies have often proceeded as if the history of men in Buddhism stands in for Buddhist history, with little effort made to mention or recover the significance of women. On the other hand, systematic methodological choices, such as the discounting of feminist analysis and the privileging of text over other sources of knowledge, have exacerbated the tendency to elide the role of women in Buddhism. This elision of women, or their marginalization, in Buddhist analyses where “man” or “male” is assumed to represent “human” has prompted a countersurge of analyses. These latter analyses have found ample evidence for the centrality of gender and women in shaping Buddhist society and soteriology. Although works are now available that cover the role of women and gender in most Buddhist eras or societies, these have only scratched the surface of an extraordinarily rich set of material and questions. It remains to be seen how well Buddhist scholarship can give gender and women their proper place in developing its central concerns.