Attaining Buddhahood: Is gender an obstacle?  Attending a Katina puja this morning brought to mind an official visit I made to Bangkok a decade ago, during which I took time off to visit a temple 65 kilometres outside the city. It was an Il Poya Day, and I was curious to observe how the Thai [...]

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Attaining Buddhahood: Is gender an obstacle? 

Attending a Katina puja this morning brought to mind an official visit I made to Bangkok a decade ago, during which I took time off to visit a temple 65 kilometres outside the city. It was an Il Poya Day, and I was curious to observe how the Thai people conducted the Katina Puja.

Unlike the city’s showpiece golden temples, which charge visitors an entrance fee, this remote Ashokarama was very similar to temples in Sri Lanka. The only difference was the gender ratio, which was almost 50/50, compared to our very high Upaasika involvement.

According to the Mahavagga Pali, the third book of the Vinaya Pitaka, the Katina originated with 30 forest-dwelling monks, Pindapatika wearing rag-robes who were on their way to visit the Lord Buddha at Sravasti. It was the rainy season, “Vassa”, and bad weather forced the monks to break journey. However, they resumed the journey despite the rain, and reached Jetawana exhausted, their robes soaked with rain. Hearing about the monks’ difficult journey, the Buddha relaxed some of the rules for Bhikkhus, especially during the Vassana.

The meaning of the word “Katina” is disputed. There are two schools of thought, both of Theravada origin. One says “katina” means “hardness”, while the Thais say the word comes from “Katrina”, which means “weaving cloth.”

According to the Vinaya commentary, the ceremony and the robes were called “katina” because the merit achieved from a gift of robes was as hard as a diamond. Sri Lankan scholars say the word implies “firmness”, “stability”, “long-lastingness.” To sojourn during the rainy season is “vas viseema”, and this is performed from the Vap Full Moon to the Il Full Moon. Of related religious activities, the Katina Puja is the most meritorious. The Buddha was very clear when He declared that in this noblest performance, the accumulation of merit is limitless.

In Sri Lanka, the Upaasika, or lay female devotee, plays a leading role in the ceremony. The Buddha did not discriminate against women in any sphere of activity. It is therefore puzzling that there is not a single female among the 28 past Buddhas. The Gautama Buddha said the next Buddha would also be a male.
Can a woman attain Buddhahood? Is gender an obstacle to becoming a Buddha?

Buddhist teachings say that no one is superior to another by birth, caste, race, creed or gender. The “bondage” sutta advises against clinging to gender identity. Thai Theravada scholars such as Ajahn Sujato and Dr. Mettanando Bhikkhu believe the “Garudhammas”, the eight rules that restrict nuns, including the rule that “a bikkhuni, irrespective of her seniority, must bow down to every novice male monk”, were introduced by prejudiced, chauvinistic, anti-women participants at the First Council after the Buddha. That rule is more Jainist than Buddhist.

There are a number of instances where the Buddha praised the mental strength and capacity of the Upaasikas. In the Kundalakesi story, the Buddha compared motherhood to Buddhahood. Consider the famous Buddhist females Maha Prajapathi Gothami, Vishaka and Sujatha. Kisagothami and Patachara entered the Sasana and attained Arahathship. “Atta Deepa Viharata” -Be a lamp unto Thyself – the Buddha

K. K. S. Perera, Panadura

The country hasn’t the means to support 250,000 extra babies a year

I more or less agree with the points made in the article on abortions (November 21, 2012). “No abortions” would mean an additional 250,000 births every year. Can Sri Lanka accommodate such a population increase?

I see this as the tip of the iceberg of many future problems. The State and the religious public are interested in the “life of the unborn” but care nothing about the “quality of life of the born child.”

Most of the aborted babies would otherwise have been born into poverty, in an antisocial, criminal environment, and with an uncertain future. Their future problems would only increase the problems the country already has in the following areas:

  • Education (school, university, teachers)
  • Health (hospitals, medical and nursing staff)
  • Population control
  • Environment
  • Employment opportunities

The President should appoint a panel of specialists in all these areas, along with lawyers and religious dignitaries of all faiths, to study these points and submit a report. Perhaps the findings would lead to changing the more than 100-year-old laws on abortion put in place by colonial Britain.

M. De Silva, Homagama

Bolgoda monkeys drive residents mad with frustration

Land along the Bolgoda Lake is being sold in small blocks and developed. As a result the natural habitat of the monkeys is being destroyed. So the monkeys invade our properties to find food for their survival.
The monkeys eat the produce of our home garden plots, destroy our papaw and banana trees, and even eat the coconut buds, forcing us to buy coconuts at high prices from the market. Those who own more than 10 perches of land fall victim to these monkey pranks.

Some monkeys enter our kitchens stealthily through the windows and run away with slashed coconut halves. They eat the kernel and drop the empty shells. These shells become breeding spots for dengue mosquitoes. Ultimately, the property owner is accused of aiding and abetting in the breeding of mosquitoes, for which the fine now stands at Rs. 5,000, soon to be increased to Rs. 10,000.

The traditional kithul jaggery manufacturers are in a dilemma. The sweet sap they extract from the kithul flower (for the manufacture of jaggery) is drunk by the invading monkeys. Their only defence is to attack the monkeys. But killing a monkey is a punishable offence.

P.A. Binduhewa, Panadura




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