Are There Buddhist Nuns?

Yes, there are Buddhist nuns. They are called bhikkhunis. Nuns were an important part of the early Buddhist community. The monastic practice of women continues to be significant in the Buddhist community today. We may have some problems with the story about the origin of this community of nuns because of our presuppositions, but let's look at it anyway with an open mind.

The Buddha's aunt, Mahapajapati, asked him if he will be willing to ordain her as a nun. Until this time, only men were accepted into his monastic organization. The Buddha refused. She pressed him again and again. He finally agreed to do it, but with a couple of restrictive stipulations.

One was that the nuns would have to abide by an additional series of regulations, over and above the regulations that applied to the monks. One of the most important and controversial for us is that even the most senior nun would be junior to the most junior monk.

This tradition of nuns thrived in this early community and was an important part of the expansion of Buddhism on to South East Asia and into the rest of the world. There are now active communities of nuns, particularly in China, but the traditional practice of Buddhist nuns has died out now in South East Asia, although there are in some places attempts to reestablish that lineage.

If you want to be active communities of nuns today, you should look in China, Taiwan or Tibet.

What should we think about these additional stipulations that the Buddha imposed on this early community of nuns?

It is important not to characterize the early Buddhist tradition as diminishing the ability of women to achieve awakening. The possibility of monasticism for women has been an important part of the Buddhist community, and it represents the commitment to the possibility of Nirvana for women within the community.

It is true that there had been these additional restrictions on the status nuns can acquire in the Buddhist community. They reflect, I suspect, the restrictions on the behavior and the status of women in the context of the time.

To learn more about Buddhist teachings, traditions and practices, you might be interested in this site by author Pablo Antuna.

• Buddhism Through Buddhist Eyes: Here author Pablo Antuna explains Buddhist doctrine in his articles in a clear and easy to understand style.
• The early community: Learn more about the history of Buddhism and the early Buddhist community.