Reply To: Monkhood:List of the 227 rules of Pātimokkha

#51114
Jittananto
Participant

There is a context for many rules. For example, there is a rule which prohibits bhikkhunis from residing outside towns and villages. The reason is the rape of the Venerable Arahant Theri Uppalavanna(She is one of the female chief disciples of Lord Buddha. Her rapist fell straight into the nirayas. She is an arahant so she was not afraid, she was perfectly equanimous and understands that it is a kammic debt. Arahants feel nothing on the mental level. Of course, she must have felt the physical pain of the rape.Dhammapada Verse 69 Uppalavannattheri Vatthu

“The Buddha next sent for King Pasenadi of Kosala and told him about the dangers that bhikkhunis living in forests had to face from irresponsible persons obsessed with sex. The king then promised to build monasteries for bhikkhunis only in towns or close to the towns.”

  • There are dhutaṅgas which are forbidden to bhikkhunis because of the contradiction with their pātimokkha. For example, residing in forests and cemeteries 
  • There is an excellent Buddhist author who has written books on the pātimokkha of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis. His name is Môhan Wijayaratna. He is a Sri Lankan French anthropologist specializing in Buddhism. I have his book on the background of the establishment of the order of Bhikkhunis. 

Here his books

The Buddhist Monk according to the Theravada texts, Éditions du Cerf, 1983, Éditions Lis, 2016.

Buddhist Nuns, Editions du Cerf, 1991, Editions Lis, 2016.

  • You can find his books online in pdf version. You can also find them on Amazon and other sites.