In the Buddhist tradition, a person’s position in secular society, power, and opportunities often reflect their previous spiritual achievements. Thus, the gods dwell in higher realms than humans because they have reached a corresponding level of spiritual development. The chakravartins and buddhas who live among people also occupy their exceptional position due to their high achievements in this and past lives (Gutschow, 2004). Likewise, being born as a man or as a woman and one’s position in this or that society is a manifestation of karma, a consequence of one’s deeds in past lives. There are limitations for women: a woman in Buddhism faces five insurmountable obstacles (Paudel & Dong, 2017). She cannot become a celestial king Brahma, a Sakra, a king Mara, a chakravartin, or a Buddha.
In the most general case in Buddhism, karma refers to the “natural” law of the connection between a person’s actions in physical, speech, and mental form and their future life and future rebirth. The Buddhist practice of merit accumulation suggests that women are triply inferior and incapable of attaining enlightenment (Gutschow, 2004). Their lesser store of merit from past lives explains why they suffer in this life and why they have less opportunity to improve their prospects in the next life. It has led many women to see their lives as a heavy burden due to bad karma in past lives.
Restrictions regularly do good deeds, result in women being reborn as women. Females can attain a state of awakening, but some traditions say that full enlightenment and the Buddha state are unattainable (Gutschow, 2004). Only a body with sufficient virtue is recognized as the perfect sex – a man (Paudel & Dong, 2017). Furthermore, attainment of the state of the arahant is only possible with the complete renunciation of sexuality and the gender traits of women, that is, becoming male by cultural behavior and image.
Merit is a result of all virtue, central to the concepts of morality and activity. It is in natural connection with the idea of karma because it refers to a singular approach to life. Only a person’s ability to become aware of his future reality will allow him to act. In the gender aspect, women prevail because they can accumulate merit more effectively. Monks believe that women should make an effort to get merit and later be reborn as men (Paudel & Dong, 2017). This fact has led to the view that a woman’s essence is not seen as a whole organism but only as a lower or preceding stage. Many female devotees feel that their bodies are impure and they cannot become Buddha (Paudel & Dong, 2017). In most cases, women are seen as dependent bodies needing protection from parents or husbands because they are considered weak
To be reborn, a woman needs to attain enlightenment and change consciousness to become a man. Buddhism has made the female body an object that lacks the ideals and fortitude to make a perfect being like a man (Gutschow, 2004). To be reborn as a man is the main goal for a woman, for which an immeasurable amount of merit must be obtained (Paudel & Dong, 2017). Without them, a woman will have to go through the female life repeatedly until she receives enlightenment. Buddhism teaches that suffering causes people to become too attached to a non-existent inner self. Despite this, gender has become the ultimate organizing principle of traditional Buddhist institutional life.
References
Edmondson, M. (2007). Buddha realms [Film]. New York, NY: Filmmakers Library.
Gutschow, K. (2004). Being a Buddhist nun. Harvard University Press.
Paudel, A. & Dong, Q. (2017). The discrimination of women in Buddhism: An ethical analysis. Open Access Library Journal, 4, 1-18. Web.