Reply To: Did the Buddha Discriminate Against Women?

#51556
Jittananto
Participant

Here are two suttas that demonstrate the wisdom and powers of the two main arahant nuns of Lord Buddha.

Khemāsutta

Uppalavaṇṇāsutta

Even if 100,000 rascals like you

Sataṁ sahassānipi dhuttakānaṁ,

were to come here,

Idhāgatā tādisakā bhaveyyuṁ;

I’d stir not a hair nor panic.

Lomaṁ na iñjāmi na santasāmi,

I’m not scared of you, Māra, even alone.

Na māra bhāyāmi tamekikāpi.

 

I’ll vanish,

Esā antaradhāyāmi,

or I’ll enter your belly;

kucchiṁ vā pavisāmi te;

I could stand between your eyebrows

Pakhumantarikāyampi,

and you still wouldn’t see me.

tiṭṭhantiṁ maṁ na dakkhasi.

I’m the master of my own mind,

Cittasmiṁ vasībhūtāmhi,

I’ve developed the bases of psychic power well.

iddhipādā subhāvitā;

I’m free from all bonds,

Sabbabandhanamuttāmhi,

and I’m not afraid of you, sir!”

na taṁ bhāyāmi āvuso”ti.

 

There are several stories of Venerable Theri being disrupted by Mara Devaputta in several ways. See Bhikkhunīvagga. He even said that women couldn’t reach the arahant stage because they were stupid and not wise. Venerable Arahant Soma Theri has refuted these false allegations. In some cases, Mara even tried to have sexual intercourse with a Bhikkhuni Arahant.

  1. Mara tries to have sex with Venerable Arahant Vijaya Theri.She explains that there are beings who are reborn in the Rūpa Loka and the Arupa Loka. Even though they experience peaceful happiness, she has eliminated Rūpa and Arupā ragā. I believe she means that there are beings who are outside the power of Mara Devaputta (that is to say, free from sensual pleasures). She has surpassed these beings since she no longer desires anything from the 3 lokas. By saying this, she emphasizes to Mara that it is impossible to tempt someone who no longer desires anything from the 3 lokas (an arahant). Vijayāsutta

You’re so young and beautiful,

Daharā tvaṁ rūpavatī,

and I’m a youth in my prime.

ahañca daharo susu;

Come, my lady, let us enjoy

Pañcaṅgikena turiyena,

the music of a five-piece band.”

ehayyebhiramāmase”ti.

 

Sights, sounds, tastes, smells,

Rūpā saddā rasā gandhā,

and touches so delightful.

phoṭṭhabbā ca manoramā;

I hand them right back to you, Māra,

Niyyātayāmi tuyheva,

for I have no use for them.

māra nāhaṁ tenatthikā.

 

This body is foul,

Iminā pūtikāyena,

decaying and frail.

bhindanena pabhaṅgunā;

I’m horrified and repelled by it,

Aṭṭīyāmi harāyāmi,

and I’ve eradicated sensual craving.

kāmataṇhā samūhatā.

There are beings in the realm of luminous form,

Ye ca rūpūpagā sattā,

and others stuck in the formless.

ye ca arūpaṭṭhāyino

and also those peaceful attainments:

Yā ca santā samāpatti,

I’ve destroyed the darkness regarding all of them.”

sabbattha vihato tamo”ti.

 

2. Mara informs Venerable Arahant Soma Theri that a woman cannot attain enlightenment. She asserts that this belief is clearly mistaken. She explains that a wise person even if she grasps a woman’s bhava can see the Dhamma. Somāsutta

That state’s very challenging;

Yaṁ taṁ isīhi pattabbaṁ,

it’s for the sages to attain.

ṭhānaṁ durabhisambhavaṁ;

It’s not possible for a woman,

Na taṁ dvaṅgulapaññāya,

with her two-fingered wisdom.”

sakkā pappotumitthiyā”ti.

 

Then the nun Somā thought,

Atha kho somāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi:

“Who’s speaking this verse, a human or a non-human?”

ko nu khvāyaṁ manusso vā amanusso vā gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti?

 

Then she thought,

Atha kho somāya bhikkhuniyā etadahosi:

“This is Māra the Wicked, wanting to make me feel fear, terror, and goosebumps, wanting to make me fall away from immersion!”

māro kho ayaṁ pāpimā mama bhayaṁ chambhitattaṁ lomahaṁsaṁ uppādetukāmo samādhimhā cāvetukāmo gāthaṁ bhāsatī”ti.

 

Then Somā, knowing that this was Māra the Wicked, replied to him in verse:

Atha kho somā bhikkhunī “māro ayaṁ pāpimā” iti viditvā māraṁ pāpimantaṁ gāthāhi paccabhāsi:

 

What difference does womanhood make

Itthibhāvo kiṁ kayirā,

when the mind is serene,

cittamhi susamāhite;

and knowledge is present

Ñāṇamhi vattamānamhi,

as you rightly discern the Dhamma.

sammā dhammaṁ vipassato.

 

Surely someone who might think:

Yassa nūna siyā evaṁ,

I am woman’, or ‘I am man’,

Itthāhaṁ purisoti vā;

or ‘I am’ anything at all,

Kiñci vā pana aññasmi, 

is fit for Māra to address.”

Taṁ māro vattumarahatī”ti.

  • Both women and men can achieve the 4 stages of Magga phala if the efforts are undertaken correctly. All of this depends on each person’s Paramis and Kusulas. Bhikkhunis must be honored and respected. When I was in Thailand, there was a bhikkhuni who left an impression on me. She was serene and respected the Vinaya better than the vast majority of bhikkhus I met. Always calm and spent her time meditating. I remember when I was making offerings to this Venerable Theri, my intuition told me that I had accumulated a large quantity of Kusulas. After the alms offering, I felt serene and experienced pīti (joy). It’s been two years, but this action comes to my mind often until today.
  • There is a Dhammadharini Monastery in California that requires support from the lay community. It is primarily composed of Bhikkhunis. Let’s support this wonderful monastery in honour of the Venerable Bhikkhunis Arahants of the past!

 

 

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