Women in Buddhism: The Buddha's Wife (video)

Ayya Vimala Nyani (Buddhist Insights, Oct. 5 premiere); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Princess Bimba or Yasodhara was a Central Asian beauty who became an enlightened nun

The Foremost Theris of Old, Session 11: Ven. Yasodharā, with Ayya Vimalanyani

(Buddhist Insights) About The Foremost Theris of Old: The Buddhist texts focus heavily on the male monastic community (sangha), but we can still see glimpses of the lives of the early females.

• The Buddha's wife: Great Yasodhara (Wisdom Quarterly)
• VIDEO: What happened to the Buddha's WIFE?
• Princess Bimba of many names: Yasodhara, Bhadda Kaccana, Bhaddakacca, Bimbadevi, Rahulamata (Malalasekera)

The family before reunion seven years later

The Pali language texts preserve a list of 13 outstanding Buddhist nuns (bhikkhunīs), together with a few of their discourses and a collection of their poems (the Therīgāthā).

The texts in Chinese, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and other source languages preserve lists of up to 50 outstanding elder nuns (therīs), that is, women with ten or more rains retreat experience, and sutras not found in the Pali canon.

This material is supplemented in all traditions by later works, such as the apadānas and commentaries. In each session of this course, Ayya Vimalanyani focuses on one nun and traces the development of her life, her story, and her teachings through the historical layers of texts.

She also explores how a common core diverges over time in the different traditions and also how similar motifs play out in the lives of different therīs.

Incorporating material from different source languages provides a broader overview of the richness of the Buddhist tradition that shows how regional differences and cultures have influenced the texts and shaped the roles of females.

The Buddha and the nun Bhadda Kaccana

This also helps in understanding modern attitudes towards nuns, female practitioners, and women in general in Buddhist societies. Included is material from Ayya Vimalanyani’s new translation of the Chinese bhikkhuni vinayas (nun's monastic disciplinary code).

Vinaya, on the one hand, seems to have had a great influence on the preservation and interpretation of sutra texts and, on the other hand, often seems to be in striking contradiction to the actual practices described in sutras, apadānas, and commentaries.

Vinaya plays a key role in the (re-)establishment of the Theravada and Mula-Sarvastivada bhikkhunī monastic communities. It also shapes the expectations placed on the nuns from outside, which can often be experienced as discriminatory and restricting.

Therefore, these tensions between the disciplinary code texts and the descriptions of actual practice are worth exploring and understanding.

• Session 1: Introduction
• Session 2: The lists of foremost nuns
• Session 3: Mahāpajāpatī (the Buddha's foster mother)
• Session 4: Khemā (foremost in wisdom)
• Session 5: Uppalavaṇṇā (foremost in psychic powers)
• Session 6: Excursion into Bhikkhunī Vinaya (nun's code)
• Session 7: Paṭācārā (and Somā)
• Session 8: The ascetic nuns (Kisāgotamī and others)
• Session 9: Bhaddā Kuṇḍalakesā
• Session 10: The legend of the Seven Sisters
• Session 11: Yasodharā (the Buddha's wife)
• Session 12: Bhaddā Kapilanī
• Session 13: Thullanandā