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| Women Practitioners and Their Precepts in Contemporary Theravada Buddhism=現代上座部佛教中的女性修行者及其戒律 | ||
| 作者 | Ito, Tomomi (著)=伊藤友美 (au.) |
|---|---|
| 出處題名 | 國際佛教善女人大會（第11屆）=Sakyadhita International Conference on Buddhist Women(11th) |
| 出版日期 | 2009.12.28 |
| 出版者 | Sakyadhita: the international association of buddhist women |
| 出版者網址 | http://www.sakyadhita.org/ |
| 出版地 | HCM City, Vietnam [胡志明市, 越南] |
| 資料類型 | 會議論文=Proceeding Article |
| 使用語言 | 中文=Chinese; 英文=English |
| 附註項 | 會議地點：越南胡志明市；時間：2009.12.18 - 2010.01.03；大會主題：傑出的女性修行者與典範=Eminent Buddhist Women |
| 摘要 | In contemporary Theravada Buddhist countries it has been generally believed for some time now that women’s full ordination lineage is already lost and can never be restored. Thus, in Thailand and the surrounding countries, women practitioners usually take eight precepts as the discipline for their renounced religious practice. It has been pointed out that eight-precept practitioners are not always accorded the religious status of world renunciants and that their lack of definite status as renunciants has an effect on their social recognition. On the one hand, they are said to be female renunciants replacing bhikkhuni (fully ordained Buddhist nuns); on the other hand, they humbly call themselves upasika (laywomen) doing religious practice and do not compare themselves to bhikkhu (fully ordained Buddhist monks) in terms of status or religious authority. The obscure position of women practitioners who dedicate themselves to religious practice and factually live as renunciants, but are neither fully ordained nuns nor secular laywomen is not necessarily desirable. Some women who take practitioners’ robes behave in contradiction to their precepts; some even go begging, return home, and support themselves and their family members with the alms they have collected. Although in Thailand nowadays there seem to be far fewer cases than the past, such behavior can erode people’s confidence in women practitioners; therefore, strict and constant observance of discipline is considered essential for women to be respected as renunciants. In Thailand, a group of renounced women practitioners (mae chi in Thai) established the Institute for Thai Mae Chi in 1969 to consolidate their discipline and status as factual renunciants, even though legal and religious authorities do not sanction them as renunciants. In Thailand both temporary lay practitioners and permanently renounced mae chi take the same eight precepts and the same white robes, so it is difficult to distinguish them from one another. Originally, the eight precepts are intended for lay Buddhists to observe on such occasions as full-moon or new-moon days (wan phra in Thai) and during short-term retreats, in order to engage in temporary religious practice in a monastery. Because of the nature of the eight precepts, it is difficult to restrict someone from taking and abandoning the precepts and practitioners’ robes frequently and from going back and forth between the monastery and the secular world. Therefore, no matter how strictly a group of mae chi may impose disciplines on themselves, it is not easy for the general public to recognize mae chi as “renunciants” who are different from occasional lay practitioners. This paper will examine Theravada Buddhist women’s eight-precept discipline in terms of its inherent meaning and actual practice by groups of Theravada Buddhists in the present day. The study will focus on Thailand, in particular, with occasional references to other Theravada Buddhist countries. The paper will also highlight several attempts to enhance renounced women practitioners’ social recognition by promoting a stricter observance of the eight precepts and by taking alternative systems of precepts. 在信奉現代上座部佛教的各國中，普遍認為女性具足戒（比丘尼戒311戒）的戒脈完全中斷，並已無法恢復。因此，泰國及其周邊諸國，如緬甸、柬埔寨、老撾等國的女性修行者，大多信守八戒（八關齋戒），並以此來規範她們的出家修行生活。一直以來，並沒有人認為信守八戒、被稱作“在家信徒”的修行者擁有“出家者”的地位，這在很大程度上影響了社會對這些女性修行者的認識。雖然在一方面，八戒修行者被看作是受過具足戒的比丘尼（女性出家者）的代替品，但另一方面，儘管她們把自己稱為“修行的優婆夷（女性在家者）”，卻仍無法與擁有宗教權威的比丘（男性出家者）相提並論。 對於專注於修行、實際上以“出家者”的身份存在的女性修業者來說，她們既不是完全意義上的出家者，也不是生活在世俗社會的在家者，這種對她們社會定位的模糊看法，並不是她們所期望的。在身穿女性修行服及此類服裝的人之中，既有其行為違背八戒的人，也有以這種衣著扮相進行乞討，並以其收入來養活自己和家人的人。這些行為，是女性修行者不被社會承認為真正的出家修行者的主要原因。因此，對於八戒的嚴格且持續地持戒，是女性修行者作為“出家者”得到社會尊重的不可或缺的前提。1969年在泰國，被稱作“麥齊”（音譯，“mae chi”in Thai）的八戒女性修行者團體，為了強化持戒和真正的“出家者”的地位，成立了“泰國麥齊協會”。但是，她們自己所宣稱的“出家者”的地位，在法律上和佛教界都未得到認可。 在泰國，一段時間守持八戒、不久又重新回到世俗生活中的在家女性和一直守持八戒的麥齊穿著同樣的白色法衣，從外表很難區分二者。本來，八戒是在家佛教徒在滿月、新月的時候（泰語中稱作“wan phra”（佛日）），或者進行短期限定修行的時候需要遵守的戒律。八戒本身，在限制短期內放棄遵守八戒、 |
| 點閱次數 | 1370 |
| 建檔日期 | 2010.01.15 |
| 更新日期 | 2015.08.18 |
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