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The Values of Ordination: the Bhikkhuni, Gender, and Thai Society

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The Values of Ordination: the Bhikkhuni, Gender, and Thai Society The Values of Ordination: the bhikkhuni, gender, and Thai society Kakanang Yavaprabhas University College London Department of Anthropology A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2018 1 Declaration I, Kakanang Yavaprabhas, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Kakanang Yavaprabhas 30 May 2018 2 Abstract This thesis concerns contemporary Thai bhikkhuni in society in relation to the laity, particularly lay women. It adopts an approach that considers a multiplicity of voices not limited to monastics, local traditions, and local modes of thought. The thesis focuses on the social impacts of contemporary bhikkhuni on gendered society, a relatively unexplored aspect of the literature. In order to investigate the social impacts, the thesis examines the socially assumed values of ordination and its fully ordained form in Thai society. It pays particular attention to why and how the fully ordained form of bhikkhuni relates to gender in Thai society. Data for the thesis were based largely on my 12 months of fieldwork in Thailand and were obtained through participant observation, interviews, and questionnaires. This thesis proposes that the social significance of fully ordained women – bhikkhuni – can be understood only when the values of ordination are fully realized in their Thai context. This can be achieved through considering at once a multiplicity of voices, local traditions, and local ways of thinking. This thesis argues that the emergence of contemporary bhikkhuni has wider social impacts on Thai society where religion is not separated from the domain of gender, but is a guiding force that subsumes it. In this regard, bhikkhuni are not only beneficial for lay women, but can empower them. Through both full and temporary ordination, gender relations and ideologies are changing in positive ways for Thai women. This empowerment and transformation is not the result of a feminist agenda. Instead, female monastics all emphasize engagement with Buddhism as a means of transcending rather than transforming gender. This transcendental perspective, which is similar to their shared self-presentations, is arguably what secures them social acceptance in assuming the most important and consequential religious form as fully ordained bhikkhuni. 3 Table of Contents Abstract 3 Table of Contents 4 Acknowledgements 8 Lists of figures and tables 10 Editorial notes 13 CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION 17 1.1. Bhikkhuni, gender ideologies and Thai society 18 1.1.1 Buddhism and gender in Thai society 18 1.1.2 Full ordination and gender hierarchy 22 1.1.3 Social ambiguity of alternative forms of female renunciants 25 1.1.4 Bhikkhuni and potential social implications 28 1.2 Bhikkhuni in Thailand: emergence and current situation 30 1.2.1 Incidents of women’s ordination before the contemporary emergence 33 1.2.2 Beginning of the current emergence 34 1.2.3 The role of monks 36 1.2.4 The current situation 39 1.3 Literature about contemporary bhikkhuni in Thailand 41 1.4 Scope and significance 46 1.5 Methodology 47 1.6 My identities and position 56 1.7 The bhikkhuni monasteries 60 1.7.1 Songdhammakalyani Monastery 60 1.7.2 Nirodharam 64 1.8 Outline of the thesis 67 CHAPTER 2 - EVERYDAY DISCOURSE: THE BHIKKHUNI ORDINATION FROM THE EYES OF ORDINARY LAITY AND GENDER 73 2.1. Public discourses on the bhikkhuni ordination in Thai society 74 2.1.1 Against the ordination 75 2.1.2 For the ordination 80 4 2.2. Perspectives of ordinary lay people toward the ordination 86 2.2.1 Those who agree with ordination 89 2.2.2 Those who are against ordination 91 2.2.3 Those who are uncertain about ordination 95 2.3. The bhikkhuni ordination and gender ideologies 97 2.3.1 Ordination in order to repay the debt to parents 98 2.3.2 Gender and celibacy 102 2.3.3 Gender and religious capabilities 105 2.3.4 Women and Buddhism 107 CHAPTER 3 - THROUGH THE LENS OF LANGUAGE: CONTESTING IDENTITIES AND THE STATUS OF CONTEMPORARY BHIKKHUNI 112 3.1. Local categorization, indexical language, and Buddhist renunciants 113 3.1.1 Local categorization: the fourfold Buddhists (phuttha borisat si), phra (monks), and nak buat (ordained persons) 114 3.1.2 Indexical language and the category of monks (phra) 117 3.1.3 Uses of indexical language by, with and about mae chi 119 3.2 Assuming important identities: uses of categorical and indexical language by the bhikkhuni 121 3.2.1 The bhikkhuni and linguistic self-identification 122 3.2.2 The bhikkhuni and indexical language usage with lay people 126 3.3. Corroborating and negating identities: uses of categorical and indexical language with and about the bhikkhuni 131 3.3.1 Lay people and language usage with and about bhikkhuni 131 3.3.2 Bhikkhu and bhikkhuni: ambiguity of language usage 137 CHAPTER 4 - TOWARD FREEDOM FROM GENDER: PERSPECTIVES OF BHIKKHUNI ON GENDER AND FEMINISM 142 4.1. To be or not to be feminists, that is not the question 143 4.1.1 Songdhammakalyani Monastery and feminism 144 4.1.2 Nirodharam and feminism 147 4.2. Gender ideologies of the bhikkhuni and their perspectives on gender 151 4.2.1 The eight garudhamma 151 4.2.2 Karma and the merit of women 153 4.2.3 Spiritual capability of women 156 4.2.4 Practising to be beyond gender 158 4.3. The bhikkhuni and gender: analytical frameworks 160 5 4.3.1 Limitations of a ‘resistance and domination’ framework: when voices of actors do not fit in 162 4.3.2 Beyond ‘liberal thought’? Religious practitioners and universal desires for freedom 163 4.3.3 Toward freedom from an attachment: the bhikkhuni and their commitment to transcend gender 165 CHAPTER 5 - ORIENTING AWAY FROM POWER AND WORLDLY CONCERNS: BHIKKHUNI’S SELF-PRESENTATIONS AND SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE 169 5.1 Daily lives at the two bhikkhuni monasteries 169 5.1.1 Comparison of daily schedules at the two monasteries 170 5.1.2 Sila: a prevalent notion in daily lives 172 5.1.3 Mundane activities as infused with religious meanings 174 5.2. Narratives of seeking renunciation 176 5.2.1. Examples of the narratives 177 5.2.2 Shared similarities in the narrative configuration 185 5.3 Securing social acceptance: monastics’ self-presentations and Southeast Asian notions of power 187 CHAPTER 6 - BENEFICIAL EXISTENCE: BHIKKHUNI AS FEMALE MONASTICS FOR LAY WOMEN 192 6.1. Lay visitors to bhikkhuni monasteries 193 6.1.1 Profiles of the lay visitors 195 6.1.2 Gender ideologies of the lay visitors 197 76.2. Roles of bhikkhuni in the lives of lay women 207 6.2.1 ‘Fields of merit’ and social proximity 207 6.2.2 Life consultants and spiritual leaders 213 6.2.3 Providers of places of refuge 217 6.3 Local significance: female monastics (nak buat) for lay women 220 CHAPTER 7 - TRANSFORMING GENDER IDEOLOGIES: TEMPORARY SAMANERI ORDINATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE 224 7.1 Temporary women’s ordination as samaneri: background and overview 226 7.2 Celebratory pre-ordination ceremonies: once absent elements in women’s ordination 233 6 7.3 The ordination and social relations: temporary samaneri and their families 237 7.3.1 Importance of families 237 7.3.2 Motivations to become temporary samaneri and the prevalence of ‘repaying the debt’ to parents 239 7.4 Temporary samaneri ordination and women’s empowerment 246 7.4.1. Access to sacredness and social values: the saffron robes that ordinary women can wear 249 7.4.2 The gendered notion redefined: women and repaying the debt to parents 250 CHAPTER 8 - CONCLUSION 255 8.1. Contributions 255 8.1.1 Power, freedom, and gender 256 8.1.2 Materiality and religion 259 8.1.3 Religion in society and empowerment 261 8. 2 Potential future research 263 8.3 Summary 265 Appendix 1: Interview questions and themes 267 Appendix 2: Questionnaire distributed to urban, ‘ordinary’ lay people 271 Appendix 3: Questionnaire distributed to lay visitors to Songdhammakalyani Monastery and Nirodharam 275 Appendix 4: Buddhist precepts 279 Appendix 5: The other bhikkhuni sites 281 Appendix 6: Additional Figures 284 Appendix 7: Selected personal pronouns in Thai 288 Appendix 8: The eight garudhamma 289 Appendix 9: Description of the project of temporary samaneri ordination at Songdhammakalyani Monastery 291 Selected Glossary 295 Bibliography 298 7 Acknowledgements Undertaking a PhD is a very long journey and one that is not possible without help and support from others. It is not even possible for me to name everyone who contributed to this journey. First, I would like to express my thankfulness to all the people I interacted with during my fieldwork. Without them, this thesis could not have come into existence. My deep gratitude goes particularly to Bhikkhuni Dhammananda, the abbess of Songdhammakalyani Monastery, and Bhikkhuni Nanthayani, the abbess of Nirodharam, who kindly let me stay at their monasteries. Their wisdom, kindness, and dedication to Buddhism are beyond my words to convey in such a ‘worldly’ thesis. Other bhikkhuni and novices at the two monasteries are also among those to whom I feel deeply thankful. Special mention should be made of Bhikkhuni Dhammavanna, Bhikkhuni Dhammathiti (who was a sikkhamana during my fieldwork) and Bhikkhuni Dhammaphawita (who was a laywoman during my fieldwork) at Songdhammakalyani Monastery and Bhikkhuni Munitsara, Bhikkhuni Warayani and Bhikkhuni Warathinna at Nirodharam. They not only cooperated with the project, but also guided me most sincerely in a way of living. Thanks are also extended to bhikkhuni and novices elsewhere, who both answered my questions and gave me advice.
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