Spring Break
Examining woman's role in religion
Women's Center hosting weekly "Women in Religion" series
Lauren Sigel
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: News
| |
|
Exposing gender differences in religion is the focus of the OSU Women's Center's term-long lecture series, "Women in Religion." Lectures in the series take place each Wednesday of fall term.
Wednesday, associate professor of philosophy Dr. James Blumenthal gave a lecture on the role of women in Buddhism, delving into the history of the religion.
"The original Buddha said that nuns and monks were to live a homeless life," Blumenthal said.
"Around 500 B.C, the only women that left the household to travel to town were prostitutes, who shaved their armpits. So that nuns were not mistaken for prostitutes, they didn't shave their armpits."
"Buddhism is essentially following the path that the Buddha taught [to find] perfect wisdom and compassion. Although the practice of Buddhism is progressive, there was still a caste system in India and it was very hard for anyone - let alone women - to forget their rank and lead a different life," Blumenthal said.
"At times, they were considered as being on the same level as the Sudras, the lowest of the four castes, so their freedom was extremely limited."
According to Blumenthal, a woman who was both Chinese and Tibetan was the first woman to bring Buddhism to Tibet.
More often than not, the woman in a Buddhist family is often the spiritual head of the household.
"I lived in Nepal with a Tibetan family, and although the husband [was once] a monk, the wife would always wake up at 4 in the morning to chant Buddhist prayers and would always go on retreats, public lectures and maintain the family shrine. She was extremely devout," Blumenthal said.
Nick Armstrong, a junior majoring in English, attended the lecture for his Quests for Meaning: World Religions class.
"I thought it was very informative and good," he said. "I like learning about different religions, especially Eastern religions."
According to Buddhist studies, the wife occupies an equal position with the husband. The religion, unlike others, does not restrict the educational opportunities of women or their religious freedom.
Buddha unhesitatingly accepted that women were and are capable of realizing the Truth just as much as men are.
"When Buddhists talk about feminine and masculine things, perfect wisdom is embodied as feminine, and perfect compassion is embodied as male. You need to achieve both of these things to achieve nirvana," Blumenthal said.
The Women's Center will continue to host "Women in Religion" through next term.
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Comments by registered users are approved by default.