{"id":84488,"date":"2018-12-31T11:02:20","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T18:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=84488"},"modified":"2018-12-31T11:02:20","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T18:02:20","slug":"an-anomaly-in-buddhist-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/12\/31\/an-anomaly-in-buddhist-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"An Anomaly in Buddhist Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

R Chandrasoma<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

On opening the Newspapers one is often regaled with the sight of a Political Big-Wig humbly worshipping a Buddhist priest in an ornate Temple with friends and onlookers in attendance.<\/p>\n

Nobody questions the worth of this sacerdotal performance by our elected leaders – but why is it that a female of like religious standing is not worshipped in the same regal fashion? Indeed, the point at issue is\u00a0 the subordination or studied neglect of the sisterhood of Bhikkunis – females who aspire to Buddhahood.\u00a0 In the desire and ardency with which our sisters and daughters in Sri Lanka\u00a0 seek the state of supreme enlightment, they are certainly not inferior to the males.<\/p>\n

Indeed, it is clear to all dispassionate observers that the greater part of our religious ardency and strength lies with our womenfolk,
\nWhat, then, is the problem – if the word ‘problem’ is is appropriate in this connection?\u00a0 It is a social problem connected with the asymmetry of institutional strength – the male dominance of society.<\/p>\n

We have no great temples managed and run by Bhikkunis because of male opposition – not religious opposition but the more primeval force of male chauvinism. The belief that this a ‘doctrinal’ issue is a red-herring – it is more a power struggle with male chauvinist of all brands fighting off a threat to their dominance.<\/p>\n

We must call upon the Buddhist Women of Sri Lanka to establish Great Temples of Learning and Worship – not in a spirit of spiteful animosity but to redress an unbecoming\u00a0 asymmetry.<\/p>\n

We hope that the day is not far off when Bhikkunis of Sri Lanka will be the true guardians of this country\u00a0 – with Political Big-Wigs beholden to them in much the same way that a coteri of Bhikkus (males) dominated politics in the recent past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

R Chandrasoma On opening the Newspapers one is often regaled with the sight of a Political Big-Wig humbly worshipping a Buddhist priest in an ornate Temple with friends and onlookers in attendance. Nobody questions the worth of this sacerdotal performance by our elected leaders – but why is it that a female of like religious […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-r-chandrasoma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}