Thai Bhikkhunis have their own limitations, not just because they number only 25 compared with the approximate 200,000 male monks here. They lack legal recognition – a denial that accompanies various withholdings of public benefits, and it highlights a persistent issue of discrimination for women across the country.
A revived campaign to grant Bhikkhunis legal recognition launched quietly at the end of July, with advocates hoping that minimal fanfare would help them evade the conservative religious opposition that has prevented the movement from strengthening for more than 80 years.
“This is a basic human rights issue,” says prominent former senator and lawyer Paiboon Nititawan, an organizer of the Bhikkhunis’ rights movement.
For more read: Thailand’s female monks (cautiously) lobby for legal recognition by the Christian Science Monitor
See also
- Buddhist text’s true author identified as Thai woman – BBC News
1st International Congress on Buddhist Women’s Role in the Sangha: Bhikshuni Vinaya and Ordination Lineages held at the University of Hamburg from July 18-20, 2007
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First female Geshe: Geshe Kelsang Wangmo 2012/10/06
- Committee for Bhiksuni Ordination in the Tibetan Budhist Tradition
Last edited by tenpel on June 22, 2013 at 10:08 am
Tibetan Buddhism – Struggling With Diffi·Cult Issues 