Wisdom Quarterly; Andrew Olendzki (trans.), Soma Sutra, "Mara Meets His Match" (SN 5.2)
Visions of enlightenment are best leading to the highest bliss (allwomenstalk.com). |
Mara and nun Uppalavanna |
The nun Soma has entered Andhavana (Blind Man's Grove) near [the ancient city of] Savatthi
to practice meditation.
Mara, the embodiment of delusion [the great obstacle to enlightenment], the great, sees her there
and desires to make her waver and abandon her concentration. He
addresses her with a verse:
That which can be attained by seers --
The place so hard to arrive at --
Women are not able to reach,
Since they lack sufficient wisdom.
Burmese ten-precept Buddhist nun studies text next to monks (as1974/flickr.com). |
.
[Soma replies:]
What difference does being a woman make
When the mind [heart] is well-composed,
When knowledge is proceeding on,
When one rightly sees into Dharma?
Indeed, for whom the question arises:
"Am I a man or a woman?"
Or "Am I even something at all?"
To them alone is Mara fit to talk!
- For Bhikkhu Bodhi translation of this sutra, see below.
- Andrew Olendzki (Tricycle Magazine)
- AUDIO: Dr. Olendzki's Dharma talks
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
Andrew Olendzki on Ganges, India |
This, in my view, is the definitive statement in the Buddhist
tradition regarding the equality of the sexes.
Whatever other words have
crept into the literature -- from ancient times to the present --
whatever [sexist or patriarchal] attitudes may have been expressed by theras [elders], lamas, roshis, or teachers over the ages, this position of thoroughgoing equality in light
of the Dharma is plainly stated by Soma, one of the Buddha's
contemporary nuns [herself an enlightened elder or theri].
Soma was the daughter of the chief priest of King Bimbisara of
Magadha and was an early [adopter of] the Buddha's teaching. She spent
many years as a lay supporter before eventually becoming a nun [bhikkhuni], and
achieved awakening -- like so many of her sisters [fellow nuns] -- not long after
joining the [monastic] order.
A practicing nun lives joyously. |
Soma not only refrains from getting offended (perhaps remembering Buddha's teaching to always "forebear the fool[ish]"), but calmly points out how ludicrous the statement is when viewed in light of the Buddha's higher teaching about the nature of personhood. [The liberated heart/mind is a wondrous thing.]
The Enlightened Buddhist Nun Soma
Bhikkhu Bodhi translation (Soma Sutta, SN 5.2) edited by Wisdom Quarterly
The Buddha teaching the nuns (CW) |
Buddha Girl, the American nun, 2012 (WQ) |
When she had walked for alms in Savatthi and had returned from her alms round, after her meal, she went to the Blind Men's Grove for the day's abiding (meditation).
Having plunged into the Blind Men's Grove, she sat down at the foot of a tree to meditate.
Then Mara the Tempter, desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in the nun Soma, desiring to make her fall away from concentration (samma-samadhi), approached her and addressed her in verse:
That state so hard to achieve
Which is to be attained by the seers,
Can't be attained by a woman
With her two-fingered wisdom.
Then the nun Soma, having understood, "This is Mara the Tempter," replied to him in the following verses:
What does womanhood matter at all
When the mind is concentrated well,
When knowledge flows on steadily
As one sees correctly into Dharma?
One to whom it might occur,
'I'm a woman' or 'I'm a man'
Or 'I'm anything at all' --
Is fit for Mara to address.
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