Power ceases once no one is taking you seriously anymore. That thought came into my mind when I read the Sangha Council’s renewed threats to ban female ordination once and for all in Thailand.
And that thought was confirmed when I asked Dhammadipa Bhikkhuni, a newly-ordained female Buddhist monk, how she felt about the elders’ threat. She just chuckled. No anger. No whining against injustice. Just soft chuckles.
“I don’t think anyone can stop women from being ordained these days,” she replied when I pressed her for a comment.
Dhammadipa was among 47 women ordained at a recent mass female ordination in Songkhla, which alarmed the cleric elders and prompted their last-ditch effort to stem the expansion of the female order. Eight were ordained as Bhikkhunis and the rest as novices.
Adding to the clergy’s fear is the fact that from next year, female ordination can be held in Thailand by a Thai Bhikkhuni preceptor, without outside assistance from Sri Lankan elders as before.
According to monastic disciplines, a preceptor must be fully ordained for more than 10 years. Since Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, formerly Chartsumarn Kabilsingh, has completed this mandatory requirement, she can now perform ordinations. This will make it easier and more economical for women to be ordained domestically.
For the orthodox Thai Theravada elders, this is their worst nightmare.
While gender prejudice is the crux of the matter, the clergy insists their opposition arises from a religious technicality. In a nutshell, the clergy says the Theravada Bhikkhuni lineage is dead. Since a proper female ordination must be performed by both male and female monks, it is impossible to revive the Bhikkhuni order.
It was the same argument the elders used to attack Dhammananda and to stop other women from following in her footsteps when she became the country’s first Bhikkhuni in 2003.
Apparently, it did not work. During the past decade, there have been many studies by Buddhist scholars and monastics to dismantle the technicality argument.
The Buddha, they point out, clearly stated that monks can ordain women. The double-ordination rule came much later when some female candidates felt embarrassed about answering personal questions from monks to qualify for ordination. They were then screened and approved by the Bhikkhunis first before receiving approval from the Bhikkhus.
To prevent opposition, the revival of the Bhikkhuni order in Sri Lanka was performed by both Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis. Although the Bhikkhunis belong to the Mahayana Sect, their lineage dates back to Theravada origins.
These historical facts can be used to support female ordination. The clergy has chosen to do the opposite. To me, it goes to show these monks still have much work to do on their spirituality to transcend the mental defilement called mysogyny.
Meanwhile, the new arguments in favour of female ordination have emboldened aspiring Bhikkhunis to forge ahead with confidence.
At present there are 80 fully ordained female monks in the country. Thousands of women have been temporarily ordained as novices. Many stay on to prepare themselves for full ordination. Many of them have long practised as white-robed, head-shaven nuns or Mae Chee — Dhammadita is one of them.
“The Buddha has also made it clear that Buddhism will be strong as long as there are four pillars to support it, namely Bhikkhus, Bhikkhunis, Upasaka (male lay practitioners), and Upasika (female lay practitioners).
“I decided to become a Bhikkhuni to serve the Buddha and Buddhism,” she said, adding that efforts to get rid of Bhikkhunis are weakening Buddhism itself.
When Phra Prommethee, a Sangha Council committee member and spokesman, reiterated the Bhikkhuni ban last week, he said it would extend to other Buddhist sects. The elders will also ask the Foreign Ministry to stop foreign monks entering the country to ordain women, he said.
Again, the Bhikkhunis I talked to do not feel perturbed. “I don’t think the Thai clergy has the authority to order other sects what to do,” said Dhammananda.
The National Human Rights Commission, rights groups and some legislators have meanwhile criticised the ordination ban for violating religious freedom and women’s constitutional rights.
If worst comes to worst, women will just have to go to Sri Lanka to be ordained again, said Dhammadipa. “There’s no stopping us now.”
Sanitsuda Ekachai is editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post.