Theravada Buddhism: The Eight Chief Rule

Another way the Buddha attempts to maintain the principle of Buddhism was to place “eight chief rules” as a condition of accepting women to enter the monastic life. Although these rules stressed the superiority of monks over nuns, their development actually empowered women’s image in the society. The “eight chief rules” placed nuns in a subordinate position. For instance, nuns were not allowed to spend in the district without a monk during rainy season and they cannot provide advice or disregard the order of the monks (Barua, 63). Therefore, the “eight chief rules” implies that the Buddha placed more value and importance toward monks. In fact, the Buddha stated that since women entered the monastic life, his teaching would not last for 500 …show more content…
In Theravada Buddhism, the Vinaya Pitaka, specifically in Pratimoksha, contained the rules and regulations governing the monks and nuns in the Sangha community. By comparing the rules governing monks and nuns, one can immediately noticed that nuns have more rules compared to monks (Gethin, 91). This is because the list of rules governing the nuns includes the “eight chief rules” and the disciplinary regulations common to both men and women (91). Therefore, the laws for monks and nuns are almost similar as they serve to maintain discipline in the community. Additionally, the rules were often added in order to adapt for particular changes in the community (92). This shows that the rules were not based whether one was a monk or a nun, but rather depends on the current situation, which is necessary in maintaining the organization of the community. In fact, prominent nuns such as Thullananda and Candakali were responsible for the creation of certain rules in Pratimoksha. Thullanda created 36 rules, while Candakali framed 9 rules (Barua, 118). This proves that the rules were made in regards to the behaviors observed in the community. Additionally, nuns had to change and modified the rules not only to maintain discipline and peace among members, but due to the pressure and criticisms from the laity community (Schopen, 240). As a community that depends on the support of the laity, nuns must establish a positive image to encourage continuous donation and support. This shows that the strict regulations were made not because of one’s gender, but because Buddhism valued peace among all the members in the Sangha. Furthermore, allowing nuns to framed regulations demonstrate that Buddhism’s values women’s opinion in regards of maintaining the stability of the community. Overall, although the lives of nuns were governed