Journal of Buddhist Ethics ISSN 1076-9005 http://blogs.dickinson.edu/buddhistethics/ Volume 23, 2016 Buddhist Nuns’ Ordination in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya Tradition: Two Possible Approaches Bhikṣuṇī Jampa Tsedroen Academy of World Religions, University of Hamburg Copyright Notice: Digital copies of this work may be made and distributed provided no change is made and no alteration is made to the content. Reproduction in any other format, with the exception of a single copy for private study, requires the written permission of the author. All en- quiries to:
[email protected]. Buddhist Nuns’ Ordination in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya Tradition: Two Possible Approaches Bhikṣuṇī Jampa Tsedroen1 Abstract This article examines the possibilities of reviving the Mūlasarvāstivāda lineage of fully ordained nuns (bhikṣuṇī). It explores two ways to generate a “flawless and perfect” Mūlasarvāstivāda bhikṣuṇī vow, either by Mūlasarvāsti- vāda monks alone or by Mūlasarvāstivāda monks with Dharmaguptaka nuns (“ecumenical” ordination). The first approach is based on a Vinaya passage which traditionally 1 Academy of World Religions and Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, University of Hamburg. Email:
[email protected]. I am indebted to Bhikkhu Anālayo, Petra Kieffer-Pülz and D. Diana Finnegan for commenting on an earlier version of this article. My special thanks go to Jay L. Garfield, Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Philosophy at Smith College (USA), who visited our Academy during the fall semester 2015/16. He kindly took the time to comment on the text and gave me his support with the pre-final editing. I am also very grateful to Ann Heirman for her final review, to Kimberly Crow for her help with proofreading and editing earlier ver- sions of the text and to Monika Deimann-Clemens for her help with final proofreading.