Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Buddhist women'

Although a number of scholars have investigated the ways in which Buddhism has adapted to the British cultural environment, the experiences of ordained women have been afforded comparatively little academic attention. Although Buddhism in the West is typically perceived as more conducive of lay practice, the numbers of ordained women are growing (particularly within certain Buddhist groups in Britain). However, some Buddhist traditions have been embroiled in heated controversies in relation to female ordination and gender inequality which has had a significant impact on particular communities of ordained women. Research into these experiences uncovers a great deal about the manner in which Buddhism continues to develop in Britain, and a cross-tradition inquiry into the perspectives of ordained women themselves is over-due. Using ethnographic research methods, this study centres on the narratives of twenty-four ordained (and one formerly ordained) Buddhist women, drawn from seven Buddhist groups in Britain (Forest Sangha/Theravāda; Tibetan Karma Kagyu, Gelug, and Nyingma; Triratna; the Serene Reflection Meditation Tradition/Order of Buddhist Contemplatives; and Amida Trust). The thesis is driven by three over-arching research concerns: women’s motivations for ordination, their attitudes to feminism and gender equality, and the role of the British location in shaping their experiences. Whilst there is a marked level of plurality in the attitudes and lifestyles of the participants in this study, challenging any attempt at simplistic representation, overall they demonstrate a strong dedication to putting Buddhist teachings and discipline into practice. Yet, ordination is understood not only as an opportunity to further individual spiritual aspirations but also as chance to belong and contribute to the development of Buddhist communities in Britain. Although cognisant of the impact of their geographic and cultural location, the thesis accentuates the complex combination of influences which contribute to shaping ordained Buddhist women’s religious practices in 21st Century Britain.

For many people, Japanese life is increasingly marked by precarity. This is often characterized by a lack of social and familial relationships that were the foundation of Japanese society in earlier eras. Buddhism has rarely played a part in addressing these feelings of precarity because Buddhism in Japan is associated with funerals and death. Yet some women participate in and actively create what this dissertation calls “feeling Buddhism,” which combats the feelings of helplessness and social isolation that accompany precarity. Feeling Buddhism is about sensing Buddhism, physically feeling the body perform ritual acts and inhabit sacred space. It is also about the emotions, affects, and feelings that accompany these physical acts. Based in feminist ethnography, this dissertation argues that Japanese women cultivate constructive feelings through Buddhism that enable them to craft deep and meaningful connections with one another. In particular, it focuses on the Buddhist women who belong to the Pure Land Sect or Jōdoshū. Chapter One traces the history of women’s historical involvement in Japanese Buddhism to show that Japanese women have always been active participants in Buddhism. Chapter Two examines three articles written by Japanese scholar-priests to argue that they are more concerned with praising Jōdoshū and Hōnen than addressing women’s relationship with Buddhism. Chapter Three looks at two Jōdoshū women’s groups in Kyoto and utilizes theories of ritualization and affect to argue that these experiences create new and mend existing relationships though Buddhism. Chapter Four looks at the Jōdoshū nun Kikuchi Yūken and her caring labor with young women in Tokyo to argue that her work ought to be considered a form of socially engaged Buddhism. Chapter Five moves beyond Jōdoshū to examine the International Ladies Association of Buddhism and argues that the women within the organization attempt to cultivate upper-class taste and an appreciation for an internationalization.

In an era bombarded by information society has become more and more dependent on mass media communication and computerised communication technology. As "religion finds technology" (Biersdorjer 2002), religious symbols can be found in media texts. As media consumption and interpretation processes can be subjective, Hoover suggests that modernity has changed the meanings of "traditionally defined religion" (2006). The textually based study on religion is inadequate to study the socio-cultural context of the lay people as well as the changing practices of religions in the media age. This thesis selects three dramas from Da-Ai Drama (the most popular TV programme on the Da-Ai TV network) to examine how the Tzu-Chi organisation, the largest Buddhist civil organisation in Taiwan, uses its own TV network, DaAi TV network, to spread Buddhism. The narrative structure of the selected dramas shows the intricate relationship between the secular discourse on gender and the religious teachings. To further understand how Da-Ai Drama is perceived by the audience or Tzu-Chi's followers, fifteen one-to-one interviews were conducted in Taiwan and discussions from online users were collected to further understand the audience's response to Da-Ai Drama. Results from the interviews suggest that there is a reassessment of religion in an East Asian context in the twenty-first century. This thesis provides an innovative research method to explore the relationship between media discourse, gender discourse, and religious discourse. In the media age, religious teachings can be transmitted via various media platforms. Written texts are no longer the only way to transmit religious teachings. Also the media provides a greater choice of ways in which lay people may practise religions. A media approach to studying Buddhism provides a different perspective on the discussion of women in Buddhism.

Thesis advisor: John Makransky
The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to Christian theological anthropology by bringing in the "interruption" of another religious tradition, Buddhism, in order to see how key Buddhist doctrines such as emptiness and practices of meditation may inform aspects of the Christian feminist discussions of kenosis in the spiritual life, and the search for a relational self. It also seeks to enhance Buddhist-Christian dialogue by bringing the "interruption" of feminist voices from both the Buddhist and Christian traditions into conversation with each other in order to see what they might offer, not only towards the search for "right relationship," but also towards bringing about the re-integration of doctrine and spiritual practices for more effective action in the world today. In the first part of the dissertation, I lay out the background of these two concepts of kenosis and emptiness within their respective religious traditions including the Buddhist-Christian dialogues around these two concepts. I then look at how Christian feminists (Sarah Coakley and Mary Grey) as well as Buddhist feminists (Anne Klein and Rita Gross) critique the traditional interpretations of these concepts and how they reconstruct such concepts in their articulation of a relational self and in their argument for the importance of practice and its relationship with doctrine. In the second part of this dissertation, I focus on the comparison between these Buddhist and Christian feminists and how they can mutually learn from each other. I argue that Buddhist feminist discussions on emptiness and meditation enhances and deepens the Christian feminist articulations of kenosis and how an empowered self can be found through a kenotic spirituality. I also demonstrate how such a dialogue can bring us back to the rich resources within the Christian tradition, such as the image of Mary and Marian devotions. Furthermore, I show how this feminist comparison contributes back to Buddhist-Christian dialogue by including the voices of women and their concern for suffering and the importance of praxis in our interreligious encounters today
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Theology

This study presents a view of New Zealand women in Buddhism, based on information supplied by 62 women who have personally decided to undertake Buddhist practise. It excludes those from Buddhist family backgrounds. The aim of the study is to portray these women from sociological, religious, and psychological points of view. Survey techniques involved the use of interviews and questionnaires. Questions were predominantly open-ended in order to obtain both factual data and personal opinions. Chapters 2 and 3 record background data to provide an overview of the women, including their reasons for turning to Buddhism, and some of the ways in which it has influenced their attitudes and actions. Chapter 4 explains why 'conversion' is a proper term to use when describing these women's Buddhist practice even though it differs from the familiar Christian form. Chapters 5 and 6 describe what women and Buddhism each give to the other. They also include a criticism of Buddhism's patriarchal structure. Chapter 7 discusses the women's views on possible future changes to Western Buddhist communities in New Zealand.

The purpose of this research was to investigate how Buddhism affects the status of Thai women by (1) not directly addressing concerns regarding the sex trade industry, (2) not allowing for the legitimation of a bhikkuni sangha (community of higher ordained women) and (3) denying mae chis (5-9 precept nuns) access to education and other privileges. The study is significant from the standpoint of public health since there is a high rate of HIV/AIDS infection in Thailand, and also in regard to human rights because of the growing international interest in women's rights issues. This study is based on a review of key literature on the topic, along with observations and on-the-ground accounts of Thai Buddhism from travel opportunities to the country in recent years. The findings suggest that Buddhism contributes to the low status of women by defining how they are viewed based on Buddhist scripture and traditional Thai culture and by systematically failing to provide the same religious outlets for women that men are allowed.

This research focuses on the role of Buddhism in the changing lives of rural women in Sri Lanka since Independence from the British in 1948 up to the present time. In this thesis I pose two questions: firstly, how important is Buddhism in the everyday lives of rural women and secondly, what impact has changes in Buddhism since Independence had upon laywomen and renunciants. I have chosen the rural village Athale, in the dry zone of southeast Sri Lanka as my area of investigation. The history of the village dates back to the times of the great hero King Dutugemunu (I61-137BCE) and it is part of a complex of villages that form a socioeconomic unit. This research investigates the lives of the rural women who belong to this village and whose religious background is Sinhalese Theravada Buddhism, a way of life embedded in their culture. The thesis examines cultural, political, educational and religious changes since Independence, especially changes in Buddhism. The socioeconomic problems of contemporary Sri Lanka resulted in the changes adapted to the spirit religion. The meditative tradition of Buddhism still flourishes under lay as well as the renunciants, in Sri Lanka. Fieldwork in Sri Lanka took place in December 1997- February 1998 and in July 2000- September 2000. The Non Government Organisations have been active in the village since 1988. The data collection method used for this research was qualitative: personal interviews, participant observation, direct observation, informal conversations and surveys were used to gather personal and demographic details and how women practise Buddhism. The findings indicate that women have incorporated different methods of practising Buddhism to suit their needs at a particular time of their lives.

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This research focuses on Buddhist women ー members of the Brasil Soka Gakkai International (BSGI) who live in Juazeiro do Norte, Ceara, and also on those who live in Aparecida do Norte, Sao Paulo, in Brazil. The purpose was to find out how these women practices Buddhism within such Christianity-based societies. In Juazeiro city, cults are around Father Cicero. In Aparecida, Our Lady of Aparecida also attracts millions of people. Two cities which are so similiar, but, at the same time, so different when manifesting their religious ways one is popular; the other, institutionalized. Similarly, each local BSGI also differs in the way they develop their proselytist activities, which turns unique the participation by the women, and the organization s leaders speeches, especially in Juazeiro. The geographical distance between Juazeiro and Sao Paulo where the BSGI headquarters is located and also the little experience of the leadership in Juazeiro, based on this Buddhist organization s guidelines, seem to us the reasons for developing, in the district, a differentiated way of supporting the local members compared to the other BSGI local communities. At the same time, such differentiated way may be one of the causes for the decrease in the number of followers shown by the district in the last years, associated with the Womens Division s relationship problems and the abandonment of this faith by top leaders of such Division. In Aparecida, thanks to the support they receive and the more experienced leadership by the Womens Division of Sao Jose dos Campos, the Buddhist Aparecida women are favored with the existence of a stronger Soka Gakkai identity. The Christianity-Buddhism syncretism was born in Japan, country where the religious loyalty is not essential. The Buddhism as practiced in Brazil takes Christian elements. Although Japanese-based, the BSGI does not permit double belonging due to doctrinal reasons. Even though the religious loyalty is a requirement, it is not always possible, and the discourse differs a lot from the action of many women who were converted to Buddhism. The way they were converted their counsciouness level at conversion is one aspect that we present. As it is very difficult to create a Brazilian Buddhism , we propose a Buddhism of frontier , where everything may happen. The space between two fluid frontiers, Buddhism and Christianity, favors the transit through their domains, which are limited by cultures and identities. For this reason, when a frontier retreats, as it is happening with the Christianity s, others advance, as it is happening with the Pentecostalism s, and the same is happening with many other Buddhist schools. Among them, the BSGI is developing, but the religious spaces will always be limited. The BSGI Womens Division exists within this universe. In order to transit, even though indirectly, within these frontiers for they are in a country with an 80 per cent of Christian population , they need a social structure (provided by the Buddhist fellow members) and a religious one (provided by the Buddhist leaders). At the absence of one of them, these women will not be able to sustain their Buddhist practice
Essa pesquisa foi realizada com mulheres budistas de Juazeiro do Norte, CE, e Aparecida do Norte, SP, para conhecê-las e saber como as integrantes da Divisão Feminina da Associação Brasil Soka Gakkai Internacional desenvolvem a prática budista nesses locais marcadamente cristãos. Em Juazeiro, o culto ao Padre Cícero move a cidade. Em Aparecida, o culto a Nossa Senhora Aparecida também mobiliza milhares de pessoas. Duas cidades tão parecidas, mas ao mesmo tempo tão diferentes na forma de manifestar a religiosidade uma popular, outra institucionaliza. Sendo assim, a BSGI em cada localidade também difere na forma de desenvolver suas atividades de proselitismo, o que resulta em uma forma singular da participação das mulheres, principalmente em Juazeiro, e no discurso de seus líderes. A distância geográfica de Juazeiro em relação a São Paulo, onde a sede da BSGI está instalada, e a pouca experiência de sua liderança, pareceu-nos ser o motivo de se desenvolver no distrito uma forma diferenciada de atender aos membros locais, muito diferente das demais localidades onde a BSGI está instalada. Ao mesmo tempo, essa forma poder ser um dos motivos da redução de adeptos apresentada pelo distrito nos últimos anos, associada à questão de relacionamento e afastamento de líderes centrais da Divisão Feminina da organização. Em Aparecida, o apoio de São José dos Campos e a maior experiência de prática das líderes da Divisão Feminina favorecem a existência de uma organização com maior identidade Soka. O sincretismo cristianismo-budismo nasceu no Japão, país em que a fidelidade religiosa não é fundamental. O budismo praticado no Brasil assume elementos do cristianismo. Mesmo sendo japonesa, a BSGI não permite o duplo pertencimento por questões doutrinárias. Apesar da exigência de fidelidade religiosa, nem sempre ela é possível, e o discurso difere muitas vezes da ação de muitas mulheres que se converteram ao budismo. Que tipo de conversão foi realizada, em que plano de consciência é um dos pontos que apresentamos. Como é muito difícil surgir no Brasil um budismo brasileiro , trazemos a proposta de um budismo de fronteira , espaço onde tudo pode acontecer. O espaço entre duas fronteiras fluidas, budismo e cristianismo, favorece o transitar por seus territórios delimitados por culturas e identidades. Por isso, quando uma fronteira se retrai, como está acontecendo com o catolicismo, outras se ampliam, como o pentecostalismo, e, nessa onda, muitas escolas budistas. Dentre elas, a BSGI está se desenvolvendo, mas os espaços religiosos sempre serão delimitados. Nesse universo vive a Divisão Feminina da BSGI. Para conseguir transitar, mesmo que indiretamente por essas fronteiras afinal, estão em um país com mais de 80% da população cristã , necessitam de estrutura social (dos companheiros budistas) e religiosa (dos líderes budistas). Faltando uma delas, não conseguem seguir praticando o budismo

This thesis explores how women in different religious communities relate to the concept of Salvation. Focusing on Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism, this short experimental film, and supplement paper, seek to provide an alternative point of view that translates this unique experience for women in religions that use heavily gendered language and that are rooted in traditional patriarchal cultures. By using the experimental film medium, viewers are able to perceive religion and film in a new way that pushes the viewer to give their own interpretation of the imagery on screen. It also allows viewers to give the imagery meaning and to be submerged in the content of the film. This thesis is an exploration so it does not provide a concrete answer but it encourages a viewer to reevaluate their own spiritual beliefs and to take into consideration an alternative perspective.

Thesis (Master of Arts)--Miami University, Dept. of Mass Communication, 2005.
Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], iv, 63 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-63).

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This work aims to introduce the Soka Gakkai International Brazil (BSGI) Women´s Division, a lay organization constituted by followers of Nichiren Buddhism, which promotes a movement for peace through culture and education under the leadership of Daisaku Ikeda. The Women´s Division, formed by adult women, is the association s biggest division, and its members, the majority being non-Japanese descendant, dedicate great part of their time to the spreading of Buddhism and the socialization in the BSGI activities. This research intended to answer the following questions: Who are these BSGI women members, who dedicate in the front of these activities even though not holding leading functions? How much has the Japanese culture influenced these women in their performance and status inside the organization? What makes these women keep going? The result of this work was based on an evaluation of the organization since its founding in Japan, in 1930, up to the present date. As a transplanted organization, the focus of this analysis was both the influence the Japanese had on the running of the organization and on the status held by its women members. Questionnaires, interviews and field research were employed for this purpose. The conclusion revealed that the denomination queen of happiness encourages these women to improve their self-esteem and to reach a world beyond their ordinary daily lives in the outskirts. Moreover, the principle of the oneness of mentor and disciple also encourages them to cope with any prejudice and stereotyping that may emerge in the organization itself
Este trabalho busca apresentar a Divisão Feminina da Associação Brasil Soka Gakkai Internacional (BSGI), uma organização formada por leigos que professam a fé no Budismo de Nitiren e promove um movimento pela paz por meio da cultura e da educação, sob a liderança de Daisaku Ikeda. A Divisão Feminina, formada por mulheres adultas, é a maior da entidade, e suas integrantes, em sua maioria mulheres comuns sem ascendência japonesa, dedicam boa parte de seu tempo no movimento de propagação e social da BSGI. Nossa pesquisa pretendeu responder às questões: quem são as mulheres que compõem a BSGI que, mesmo não estando na liderança, se dedicam em suas atividades como principais promotoras? Até que ponto a cultura japonesa tem influenciado essas mulheres em sua atuação e posicionamento na organização? O que move essas mulheres? Apresentamos o resultado da pesquisa que analisou desde sua formação, em 1930 no Japão até os dias atuais. Como uma organização transplantada, verificamos a proporção da influência japonesa na posição que as mulheres ocupam na entidade. Para tanto, distribuímos questionários às integrantes e realizamos entrevistas, além de pesquisa participativa. Percebemos que ser rainha da felicidade ajuda essas mulheres a elevar a autoestima e transitar num mundo além de seu cotidiano na periferia das cidades. E a unicidade de mestre e discípulo as faz sobrepor qualquer tipo de preconceito e discriminação existente na entidade

This research into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) presents the results of 60 first-person psycho-phenomenological interviews with 30 New Zealand women. The participants were recruited from the Canterbury and Wellington regions, 10 had recovered. Taking a non-dual, non-reductive embodied approach, the phenomenological data was analysed semiotically, using a graph-theoretical cluster analysis to elucidate the large number of resulting categories, and interpreted through the enactive approach to cognitive science. The initial result of the analysis is a comprehensive exploration of the experience of CFS which develops subject-specific categories of experience and explores the relation of the illness to universal categories of experience, including self, ‘energy’, action, and being-able-to-do. Transformations of the self surrounding being-able-to-do and not-being-able-to-do were shown to elucidate the illness process. It is proposed that the concept ‘energy’ in the participants’ discourse is equivalent to the Mahayana Buddhist concept of ‘contact’. This characterises CFS as a breakdown of contact. Narrative content from the recovered interviewees reflects a reestablishment of contact. The hypothesis that CFS is a disorder of action is investigated in detail. A general model for the phenomenology and functional architecture of action is proposed. This model is a recursive loop involving felt meaning, contact, action, and perception and appears to be phenomenologically supported. It is proposed that the CFS illness process is a dynamical decompensation of the subject’s action loop caused by a breakdown in the process of contact. On this basis, a new interpretation of neurological findings in relation to CFS becomes possible. A neurological phenomenon that correlates with the illness and involves a brain region that has a similar structure to the action model’s recursive loop is identified in previous research results and compared with the action model and the results of this research. This correspondence may identify the brain regions involved in the illness process, which may provide an objective diagnostic test for the condition and approaches to treatment. The implications of this model for cognitive science and CFS should be investigated through neurophenomenological research since the model stands to shed considerable light on the nature of consciousness, contact and agency. Phenomenologically based treatments are proposed, along with suggestions for future research on CFS. The research may clarify the diagnostic criteria for CFS and guide management and treatment programmes, particularly multidimensional and interdisciplinary approaches. Category theory is proposed as a foundation for a mathematisation of phenomenology.

After China adopted the reform and open door policy in early 1980s, thanks to their knowledge on Buddhism, their familiarity of religious rituals, and their experience in temple management, vegetarian women have doubled their efforts not only to transmit their traditions their next generation but also to establish the authentic Buddhist image of temples in Southern Fujian. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
The research is carried out according to the discussions on (1) the gender and power relations within the religious institutions that were re-presented and re-produced by renaming vegetarian women as Brahma-carya upasika, and (2) the influences of being identified as Brahma-carya upasika on the life and religious practice of these vegetarian women. From a bifocal perspective, the study demonstrates that women are victim as well as agent within a religious organization in a patriarchal society. It has been discovered that vegetarian women in Southern Fujian have been suppressed yet they have also made use of the opportunities of changing their identity since the late Qing Dynasty. Study results also show that [vegetarian] women in Southern Fujian have adopted obedient attitudes instead of revolutionary means to establish their space and women culture. This could be considered as their expedient means and power yet indicates their powerlessness under the patriarchal society and religion. In other words, they have employed the least powerful approach to conducting their religious life and maximizing their power for self-development.
This thesis, based on historical, textual and field studies, explores a special religious group of vegetarian women (Caigu in Chinese) in Southern Fujian. The research is focused on examining their identify transformation as a religious group to a Buddhist organization along the process of societal change from the end of the Qing up to present time. The key issues discussed in this thesis are as following: (1) the process of institutionalization of the vegetarian women into mainstream Buddhist, (2) the elements that have exercised influences on the religious identity of vegetarian women, (3) temple managements, daily activities and religious rituals, and (4) the relationship between vegetarian women and the mainstream Buddhism in contemporary China.
劉一蓉.
呈交日期: 2005年8月.
論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2005.
參考文獻(p. i-xvi (4th group)).
Cheng jiao ri qi: 2005 nian 8 yue.
Adviser: Wai Lun Tam.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: A, page: 2616.
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstracts in Chinese and English.
School code: 1307.
Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2005.
Can kao wen xian (p. i-xvi (4th group)).
Liu Yirong.

金佩瑋.
"2003年9月".
論文(哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 2003.
參考文獻 (leaves 126-133).
附中英文摘要.
"2003 nian 9 yue".
Jin Peiwei.
Lun wen (zhe xue shuo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2003.
Can kao wen xian (leaves 126-133).
Fu Zhong Ying wen zhai yao.
論文摘要 --- p.i
Abstract --- p.ii
致謝 --- p.iii
Chapter 1. --- 序章 --- p.1
Chapter 1.1 --- 緣起與目的 --- p.1
Chapter 1.2 --- 硏究方法 --- p.3
Chapter 1.2.1 --- 論述分析. --- p.4
Chapter 1.2.2 --- 質性調查 --- p.7
Chapter 1.3 --- 理論及分析架構 --- p.10
Chapter 1.3.1 --- 佛教學向度 --- p.11
Chapter 1.3.1.1 --- 佛教看待女性的四種態度 --- p.11
Chapter 1.3.1.2 --- 不利女身的斷言多爲後來竄加 --- p.12
Chapter 1.3.1.3 --- 轉身論及法無男女論的形成過程 --- p.13
Chapter 1.3.1.4 --- 轉男身的宗教意義 --- p.13
Chapter 1.3.1.5 --- 女性曾爲一個歷史主體 --- p.14
Chapter 1.3.1.6 --- 從權力角度檢視佛教女性處境 --- p.15
Chapter 1.3.2 --- 女性主義與婦女硏究向度 --- p.15
Chapter 1.3.2.1 --- 婦女硏究 --- p.15
Chapter 1.3.2.2 --- 女性主義 --- p.16
Chapter 1.3.3 --- 佛法義理原則 --- p.18
Chapter 1.4 --- 典籍與名相 --- p.19
Chapter 1.4.1 --- 典籍使用 --- p.19
Chapter 1.4.2 --- 名相釋義 --- p.20
Chapter 1.4.2.1 --- 女身 --- p.20
Chapter 1.4.2.2 --- 成佛 --- p.20
Chapter 2. --- 重構女身成佛的論述場景 --- p.22
Chapter 2.1 --- 佛經時代的女性境況 --- p.23
Chapter 2.2 --- 建立女身成佛的系譜 --- p.28
Chapter 2.2.1 --- 佛在世勇於破禁的年代´ؤ´ؤ女性即身成就阿羅漢 --- p.29
Chapter 2.2.2 --- 部派對立及厭惡女性的年代´ؤ´ؤ女身不能成佛 --- p.34
Chapter 2.2.3 --- 大乘運動崛起的年代´ؤ´ؤ以轉身論解放女身 --- p.39
Chapter 2.2.4 --- 密教與陰性興起的年代´ؤ´ؤ所有人皆能即身成佛 --- p.50
Chapter 2.3 --- 小結 --- p.58
Chapter 3. --- 論述背後的女人 --- p.61
Chapter 3.1 --- 尋找女性的蹤影 --- p.61
Chapter 3.1.1 --- 碑銘上存在的女性 --- p.62
Chapter 3.1.2 --- 佛塔信仰體系下的女性狀況 --- p.65
Chapter 3.1.3 --- 論爭背後的女性參與 --- p.67
Chapter 3.2 --- 沒女身的協商與互動 --- p.69
Chapter 3.3 --- 義理上分析和解構 --- p.71
Chapter 3.4 --- 小結 --- p.73
Chapter 4. --- 女修行人的協商與互動 --- p.75
Chapter 4.1 --- 受訪者背景與成佛觀 --- p.75
Chapter 4.1.1 --- 受訪者背景簡述、接觸佛教以及修行槪念 --- p.75
Chapter 4.1.2 --- 不同傳統的成佛觀 --- p.78
Chapter 4.1.3 --- 成佛信念與本身傳統相應 --- p.81
Chapter 4.2 --- 抵抗與協商的話語 --- p.84
Chapter 4.2.1 --- 女身之苦與障重 --- p.84
Chapter 4.2.2 --- 抵抗與磋商 --- p.87
Chapter 4.2.2.1 --- 人望高處成男身 --- p.87
Chapter 4.2.2.2 --- 建構乘願再來的話語 --- p.88
Chapter 4.2.2.3 --- 直接向權威挑戰 --- p.90
Chapter 4.2.2.4 --- 把經教性別支配論述消弭 --- p.91
Chapter 4.2.2.5 --- 把握佛法的隨機和弔詭性 --- p.92
Chapter 4.3 --- 佛教女人的得力與消力 --- p.94
Chapter 4.3.1 --- 傳統與信仰想像 --- p.94
Chapter 4.3.2 --- 以退爲進及以傳統制傳統 --- p.96
Chapter 4.3.3 --- 建立正面楷模及女性的傳統 --- p.101
Chapter 4.4 --- 小結 --- p.101
Chapter 5. --- 去性別化與權力主體 --- p.104
Chapter 5.1 --- 從轉身到去性別 --- p.105
Chapter 5.1.1 --- 去性別化´ؤ´ؤ現代轉身論 --- p.106
Chapter 5.1.2 --- 轉身/去性別還是陽剛與陰柔？ --- p.107
Chapter 5.2 --- 女性的權力與主體性 --- p.109
Chapter 5.2.1 --- 沒女身的主體性與權力 --- p.110
Chapter 5.2.2 --- 顛覆性的主體權力 --- p.113
Chapter 5.3 --- 小結 --- p.115
Chapter 6. --- 總結´ؤ´ؤ初探女性義理學 --- p.118
Chapter 6.1 --- 新世代的衝擊與重建 --- p.119
Chapter 6.2 --- 女性義理學及性別硏究的策略與方向 --- p.121
Chapter 6.2.1 --- 轉身/去性別的新意涵 --- p.121
Chapter 6.2.2 --- 回復性別平等的新傳統 --- p.123
Chapter 6.3 --- 正視偏見與盲點 --- p.124
Chapter 6.4 --- 結語 --- p.125
Chapter 7. --- 參考書目 --- p.126

Amituofo recitation is the chanting of the phrase "namo Amituofo , which is a rite commonly used among Buddhists for the attainment of merit. However, the attained merits would be nullified if the initiate gets pregnant after she has done Jiezhu. This has much to do with taboos related to female sexuality. Women always have a marginalized status as the supposedly "weaker" gender having a lower social position. The association of female bodily discharges with defilement further discredits their status. Jiezhu in effect reinforces the idea of "defilement" attributed to the female body. The shame that the women feel with the male-defined negative female bodily image affirms the patriarchal hegemony.
Based on historical, textual and field studies, this thesis examines a women-oriented initiation rite called Jiezhu. Jiezhu, a once-in-a-lifetime rite of passage, is performed by menopausal women in Ninghua, Western Fujian, China.
However, ritualistic acts provide therapeutic healing. The Jiezhu woman has to go through a stage in which she has to handle the change of her role and identity as a life-giver (mothering) with the end of her procreative cycle. The ritual provides both private and public meanings to the woman and helps her relieve the physical and mental difficulties that she faces in her menopausal stage.
It is believed in the villages of Ninghua that when a woman reaches her menopausal age, she has to do Jiezhu, without which, her Amituofo recitation (nianfo) would not be efficacious. In other words, Jiezhu, as a pre-requisite for Amituofo recitation, is at the same time a purification rite.
Jiezhu appropriates the woman into a new phase of being by first providing private meanings to her. Ritualistic acts can bridge memory and imagination. The ritual program allows the woman to go back and forth the past, the present and the future. Jiezhu dramatically juxtaposes girlhood and mature womanhood, reenacts her wedding and rehearses her future funeral. Death and rebirth symbols abound. In Jiezhu, the woman "witnesses" her own funerary rites to ensure abundant personal possessions are burned for her to receive in the underworld after her death. The woman acquires spiritual strength to ease off from her menopausal stress and to allay the fears of the approach of death. Jiezhu and Amituofo recitation make up a twin tool they use to ensure a more fortunate rebirth.
Second, Jiezhu gives social meanings. The woman is given a new identity. She is now eligible for Amituofo recitation and becomes a member of the nianfo community. As social inferiority can be compensated for by a show of lavishness, Jiezhu as an expensive event creates symbolic capital. Jiezhu has become a symbol of prestige and resources that in part enhances the status of the women.
The women are also able to express their power within the limits of their traditional politics. The woman's contributions as a wife and a mother are valued and celebrated in the Jiezhu ceremony. The youthful, bright and colourful gift items given by the married daughter display a defiant tone against the association of Jiezhu with old age. Jiezhu celebrates an oft-neglected life crisis of women.
To conclude, Jiezhu on the one hand "traditionalizes", and on the other hand, as a strategic mode of action, challenges traditions through religious and social empowerment. Jiezhu preserves the established order but it also facilitates transformation in the initiate. The two dynamics of ritual are not antithetical; they produce and contend with each other.
Cheung, Tak Ching Neky.
"September 2007."
Adviser: Chi Tim Lai.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-08, Section: A, page: 3178.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 390-406).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
School code: 1307.

人間佛教是當代漢傳佛教發展的主流，而佛教女性的參與是人間佛教僧團主要特徵之一。這點在台灣尤其明顯。以佛光山為例，八成以上的出家眾為女性。因此佛教女性的參與是不可忽視之研究命題。自20世紀80年代開始，佛光山開始了國際化的過程。本文以香港佛光道場為個案，以道場中的佛教女性為研究對象，結合台灣和香港的社會處境，探討佛教女性在香港佛光道場中的角色和作用。
本文有兩條主線：佛教女性觀和佛教女性實踐。女性在佛教中處於何種地位，扮演何種角色，發揮何種作用受佛教對女性的看法影響。有鑑於此，本文將追本溯源，首先概述傳統佛教女性觀的基本情形，進而分析近代太虛、印順對佛教女性觀的調適，重點分析星雲大師的佛教女性觀。另一條主線便是佛教女性的實踐。文章以隸屬於台灣佛光山的香港佛光道場展開深描，力圖展現當代佛教女性參與佛教的方式，在佛教發展過程中扮演的角色及信眾對佛教女性的評價。
本文分為八個部份。第一章首先介紹問題緣起，然後就本文相關的研究現狀進行了回顧與反思。接著交代了本文所運用的研究方法。最後說明了本文的研究意義。第二章按照原始佛教、部派佛教和大乘佛教的順序回顧了早期佛教的女性觀，進而探討到漢傳佛教的佛教女性的信仰現實。第三章介紹了人間佛教的三位代表人物太虛、印順和星雲對佛教女性的看法，尤其從理論和實踐層面重點論述了星雲的佛教女性觀。第四章進入本文的案例。首先詳細介紹了香港佛光道場的發展歷程及其設施、人員構成和組織結構。第五章歸納了佛光女性實踐信仰的三種方式。第六章介紹佛光道場文化、教育、慈善和共修四項活動。第七章以佛光道場住持滿蓮法師為個案，將佛光山的女性生命歷程階段化，並分析佛光道場出家女性的素質以及佛教女性之間的合作。
本文從香港佛光道場佛教女性的“思想層次（星雲大師的佛教女性觀）、“制度層次（佛光山及佛光道場的組織形態）、“個人層次（出家女性的個人生命史）、“文化層次（佛教女性所處的香港背景）等多角度，在結合理論模型和田野材料的基礎上，本文得出下列結論：首先，就女性的虔信度上來說，佛教女性信仰佛教的動機較為純潔，她們主動選擇佛教，追尋自己的信仰家園。其次，佛教女性不僅人數眾多，參與時間長，頻率密集，同時參與方式也多樣化，包括教育、文化、慈善、共修等多種多樣的活動。第三，因佛光道場佛教女性是參與、建設、繁榮佛教的典範，總體上獲得了信眾的認可。最後，佛教女性對自我的認同也是其能夠在佛光山發展中發揮重要作用的原因之一。
Being the mainstream of contemporary Chinese Buddhism, Humanistic Buddhism is characterized by the full participation of women in its religious practices, which is particularly evident in Taiwan. Taking Fo Guang Shan for an example, it has a larger female monastic population-over eighty per cent -of contemporary Buddhist order. Buddhist women’s full participation in contemporary Chinese Buddhism therefore deserves a comprehensive study. This present study, being organized as a case study of Fo Guang shan in Hong Kong, one of Fo Guang Shan’s worldwide branches, aims to explore the active and positive roles played by Buddhist women in Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Community, in particular, during its “stepping out for internalization and globalization since 1980s. Of course, the localization of Fo Guang shan in Hong Kong against the social contexts of Hong Kong and Taiwan is also taken into consideration.
The focus of this study is twofold: 1) to provide an overview of major views of women in Buddhism and 2) to examine and analyze the contemporary Buddhist women’s participation in Buddhism. Indeed, Buddhist views of women exert their significant influence on women’s studies, practices and status in Buddhism. Thus, this study first traces the historical development of major views of women in Buddhism to identify its basic and general types. While, a big emphasis is put on the investigation of Tai Xu’s, Yin Shun’s and the founder of Fo Guang Shan Monastic Community-Master Hsing Yun’s views of women. The discussions on the contemporary Buddhist women’s participation in Buddhism in this study are mainly exemplified by the female monastics working for and in Fo Guang Shan in Hong Kong, such as their studies and practices of Buddhism, their responsibilities for preserving and teaching Buddhist teachings and guiding lay Buddhist followers in Hong Kong and their positive contributions to the society.
Chapter One explains the reasons for developing this study on contemporary Buddhist women’s participation in Buddhism. Also includes a detailed literature review of this topic, the methodology adopted in and the significances of this study. The early Buddhist views of women along its chorological order of development are then presented with a specific introduction to Chinese Buddhist views of women in Chapter Two. Next, Tai Xu’s, Yin Shun’s and Master Hsing Yun’s, the three representatives of Humanistic Buddhism, are analyzed respectively. A detailed explanation on the history, organization and the monastic environment of Fo Guang Shan in Hong Kong, my particular case study, is provided in Chapter Four. Chapter Five puts forward the three major ways of women’s engagement with Buddhist activities of Fo Guang Shan in Hong Kong and provides its followers’ evaluation on their female monastics. Chapter Six illustrates how the Fo Guang Shan in Hong Kong follow and practice Fo Guang Shan’s main objectives: to promote the Drarma through culture activities, to foster talent through education, to benefit society through charity and to purify people’s mind through cultivation. The final Chapter is devoted to the Venerable Man Lian, the general secretary of Fo Guang Shan in Hong Kong to illustrate the high quality of female monastics in Fo Guang Shan.
It is therefore clear to find that this study, by taking Fo Guang Shan as its specific example, explores the contemporary Buddhist women in Buddhism from the aspects of “conceptions (i.e. Master Hsing Yun’s views of Buddhist women), “systems (the organization and structure of Fo Guang Shan), “cultural and social contexts (for Buddhist women’s development in contemporary Chinese society) and “personal circumstances (the life story of particular female monastic). It shows, out of both theoretical and fieldwork data analyses, that the contemporary Buddhist women identify and express Buddhism as their personal religious beliefs much more actively and confidently. It also shows there is a large number of Buddhist women who are not only frequent visitors to Fo Guang Shan in Hong Kong but active participants in various religious activities for education, charity and cultivation. And the female monastics of Fo Guang Shan in Hong Kong gain a high evaluation from their followers because of their full contribution. Accordingly, their high level of identification as monastic women also makes them be able to play an important role in the process of internationalization and globalization of Fo Guang Shan.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
王富宜.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 199-210).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstracts in Chinese and English.
Wang Fuyi.
中文摘要 --- p.I
Abstract --- p.III
致谢 --- p.V
目錄 --- p.VII
圖目錄 --- p.X
表目錄 --- p.XI
Chapter 第一章 --- 绪论 --- p.1
Chapter 1.1 --- 研究緣起與研究問題 --- p.1
Chapter 1.1.1 --- 研究緣起 --- p.1
Chapter 1.1.2 --- 研究問題 --- p.5
Chapter 1.2 --- 研究回顧 --- p.8
Chapter 1.2.1 --- 佛教女性觀的研究 --- p.9
Chapter 1.2.2 --- 佛教女性的歷史研究 --- p.12
Chapter 1.2.3 --- 佛教女性的調查研究 --- p.15
Chapter 1.2.4 --- 台灣佛光山的研究 --- p.18
Chapter 1.2.5 --- 研究特點和研究不足 --- p.19
Chapter 1.3 --- 研究方法與材料 --- p.20
Chapter 1.4 --- 研究意義 --- p.24
Chapter 第二章 --- 傳統佛教的女性觀 --- p.25
Chapter 2.1 --- 早期佛教的女性觀 --- p.25
Chapter 2.1.1 --- 經典中的女性觀 --- p.26
Chapter 2.1.2 --- 制度上的女性觀 --- p.29
Chapter 2.1.3 --- 比丘尼僧團的成立 --- p.32
Chapter 2.2 --- 大乘佛教的女性觀 --- p.34
Chapter 2.3 --- 中國比丘尼僧團的成立及其發展 --- p.36
Chapter 2.3.1 --- 東晉南北朝時期 --- p.37
Chapter 2.3.2 --- 隋唐時期 --- p.38
Chapter 2.3.3 --- 宋元明清時期 --- p.39
Chapter 2.4 --- 小結 --- p.40
Chapter 第三章 --- 人間佛教的女性觀 --- p.42
Chapter 3.1 --- 太虛、印順的佛教女性觀 --- p.43
Chapter 3.1.1 --- 太虛的佛教女性觀 --- p.43
Chapter 3.1.2 --- 印順的佛教女性觀 --- p.46
Chapter 3.1.3 --- 太虛、印順女性觀的意義 --- p.47
Chapter 3.2 --- 星雲的佛教女性觀 --- p.49
Chapter 3.2.1 --- 星雲的佛教女性觀的背景 --- p.50
Chapter 3.2.2 --- 星雲的佛教女性觀的理念層面 --- p.51
Chapter 3.2.3 --- 星雲的佛教女性觀的實踐層面 --- p.55
Chapter 3.2.4 --- 星雲的佛教女性觀的特點 --- p.58
Chapter 3.3 --- 小結 --- p.59
Chapter 第四章 --- 香港佛光道場的歷史和現狀 --- p.62
Chapter 4.1 --- 香港佛光道場的歷史發展 --- p.63
Chapter 4.1.1 --- 香港佛教之歷史發展 --- p.63
Chapter 4.1.2 --- 台灣佛光山來港發展歷程 --- p.65
Chapter 4.2 --- 香港佛光道場的環境和氛圍 --- p.72
Chapter 4.2.1 --- 香港佛光道場的環境 --- p.73
Chapter 4.2.2 --- 香港佛光道場的氛圍 --- p.75
Chapter 4.3 --- 香港佛光道場的人員和組織 --- p.78
Chapter 4.3.1 --- 香港佛光道場的人員及組織 --- p.78
Chapter 4.3.2 --- 香港佛光協會的人員及組織 --- p.81
Chapter 4.3.3 --- 法師、信眾和義工的溝通 --- p.86
Chapter 4.4 --- 小結 --- p.90
Chapter 第五章 --- 香港佛光道場的女性參與 --- p.92
Chapter 5.1 --- 出家女性的僧伽參與 --- p.93
Chapter 5.1.1 --- 出家女性僧伽參與的概況 --- p.93
Chapter 5.1.2 --- 信眾對出家女性的認知 --- p.96
Chapter 5.1.3 --- 信眾對出家女性的評價 --- p.98
Chapter 5.2 --- 在家女性的個人參與 --- p.101
Chapter 5.2.1 --- 在家女性個人參與的動機 --- p.101
Chapter 5.2.2 --- 在家女性個人參與的情形 --- p.108
Chapter 5.2.3 --- 在家女性個人參與的結果 --- p.112
Chapter 5.3 --- 在家女性的社會參與 --- p.115
Chapter 5.3.1 --- 在家女性社會參與的機制 --- p.115
Chapter 5.3.2 --- 在家女性社會參與的原因 --- p.118
Chapter 5.3.3 --- 在家女性社會參與的影響 --- p.122
Chapter 5.4 --- 小結 --- p.124
Chapter 第六章 --- 香港佛光道場的宗旨及體現 --- p.128
Chapter 6.1 --- 以文化弘揚佛法 --- p.128
Chapter 6.1.1 --- 文化活動的類型 --- p.128
Chapter 6.1.2 --- 文化活動的體現 --- p.132
Chapter 6.1.3 --- 文化活動的功能 --- p.133
Chapter 6.2 --- 以教育培養人才 --- p.135
Chapter 6.2.1 --- 教育活動的類型 --- p.136
Chapter 6.2.2 --- 教育活動的制度 --- p.138
Chapter 6.2.3 --- 教育活動的作用 --- p.140
Chapter 6.3 --- 以慈善福利社會 --- p.142
Chapter 6.3.1 --- 慈善活動的理念 --- p.142
Chapter 6.3.2 --- 慈善活動的投入 --- p.144
Chapter 6.3.3 --- 慈善活動的類型 --- p.147
Chapter 6.4 --- 以共修淨化人心 --- p.152
Chapter 6.4.1 --- 共修活動的類別 --- p.152
Chapter 6.4.2 --- 共修活動的過程 --- p.154
Chapter 6.4.3 --- 共修活動的功能 --- p.156
Chapter 6.5 --- 小結 --- p.158
Chapter 第七章 --- 香港佛光道場的住持--滿蓮法師 --- p.160
Chapter 7.1 --- 滿蓮法師的個人成長經歷 --- p.162
Chapter 7.1.1 --- 預備期 --- p.161
Chapter 7.1.2 --- 養成期 --- p.164
Chapter 7.1.3 --- 執事期 --- p.166
Chapter 7.2 --- 滿蓮法師的領導才能 --- p.168
Chapter 7.2.1 --- 領導理念 --- p.169
Chapter 7.2.2 --- 領導素質 --- p.170
Chapter 7.2.3 --- 領導策略 --- p.172
Chapter 7.2.4 --- 領導模式 --- p.173
Chapter 7.3 --- 滿蓮法師的佛教女性觀 --- p.175
Chapter 7.3.1 --- 滿蓮法師對佛教女性問題的態度 --- p.175
Chapter 7.3.2 --- 滿蓮法師對佛教女性問題的認識 --- p.177
Chapter 7.4 --- 小結 --- p.181
Chapter 第八章 --- 結論 --- p.184
Chapter 8.1 --- 研究結論 --- p.184
Chapter 8.2 --- 研究反思 --- p.189
Chapter 附錄一： --- 香港佛光道場信眾調查問卷 --- p.191
Chapter 附錄二： --- 訪談問題提綱 --- p.197
Chapter 附錄三： --- 參考書目 --- p.199

碩士
佛光大學
佛教學系
101
The primary purpose of this thesis is to analyze the ways in which women of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) supported Buddhism, given their social status and conditions during the time. Buddhism in the Qing was greatly influenced by the four great masters of the late Ming at the popular level, which pushed for the integration of the three teachings, as well as the Qing Imperial government, which advocated respect for Confucianism and emphasis on the Dao as its basic governing principle. Therefore, in approaching the topic of this thesis, it is necessary to take into consideration the social status and influence of women in society, as well as in Confucian thought. This allows for an understanding of the role of religion in the lives of Qing women, as well as the ways in which religion was integrated into their secular lives. To address the above issues, this thesis covers four main areas: the education of women in the Qing; the religious policies of the Imperial government; secular views toward the role and social function of popular religion, and the meaning of tales involving Bodhisattva Guan Yin 觀音and Princess Miao Shan 妙善to women of the Qing. Primary sources used in this study includes Peng Ji Qing’s 彭際清 (1740-1796) Biographies of Pious Women (Shan nü ren zhuan善女人傳) and Susan Mann’s Precious Records of Lan Gui: Chinese Women of the Late Ming till the Golden Period of the Qing. In addition, various forms of literature from the Qing will be used, including the True Records of the Qing (Qing shi lu清實錄), popular novels during the period such as the Causes and Conditions of Awakening (Xingshi yinyuan醒世因緣) and The Golden Lotus (Jin ping mei金瓶梅), as well as religious policies of the Qing government, directives for Buddhist worship by the Imperial family, tales of Princess Miao Shan, education of women during the Qing, Pure Land beliefs, and economic and charitable activities at the time. These will be complemented with the studies of modern scholars pertaining to these issues, in order to provide for a comprehensive understanding of the topic at hand. It is the hope of the author that this endeavor will provide for a modest contribution to the limited material currently available on the relationship between the support of Buddhism by modern women and their predecessors in the Qing. May this work also inspire new findings, as well as further scholastic research into the roles and contributions of women in the development of Buddhist history.

abstract: Many religious textual accounts describe provocative women: The Great Whore from the Apocalypse, Saint Mary Magdalene from the New Testament, and the Daughters of Mara from the Buddhist tradition are all accused of fornication or the seduction of men. However, when artists have depicted these subjects, the women are rarely shown transgressing in the ways the texts describe. The Great Whore is often masculinized and shown as the equal of kings, Mary Magdalene assumes divergent attitudes about prostitution in early Renaissance Europe, and the Daughters of Mara are comparable to other Buddhist deities, recognizable only from the surrounding narrative. Therefore, in this inquiry, I seek out the ways that artists have manipulated misogynistic religious narratives and introduced their own fears, concerns, and interpretations. Artistic deviations from the text indicate a sensitivity to cultural values beyond the substance of their roles within the narrative. Both the Great Whore and her virtuous counterpart, the Woman Clothed in the Sun, have agency, and the ways they are shown to use their agency determines their moral status. Mary Magdalene, the patron saint of prostitutes and a reformed sinner, is shown with iconographical markers beyond just prostitution, and reveals the ways in which Renaissance artists conceptualized prostitution. In the last case study, the comparison between the Daughters and the Buddhist savioresses, the Taras, demonstrates that Himalayan artists did not completely subscribe to the textual formulations of women as inherently iniquitous. Ultimately, these works of art divulge not just interpretations of the religious traditions, but attitudes about women in general, and the power they wielded in their respective contexts.
Dissertation/Thesis
Masters Thesis Art History 2020

Is a Female Buddha Possible in Non-Esoteric Buddhism? Buddhism today can broadly be divided into two forms: Tantric (esoteric) and non-Tantric (non-esoteric) Buddhism. Tantric Buddhism‘s answer to the above question is unequivocally positive: it never questioned the possibility of a female Buddha. In non-Tantric Buddhism, this question has long been a subject of debate, and thus far, it is assumed that a female Buddha is impossible. In my view, this latter conclusion is problematic and is not well supported in the traditional canonical literature. Therefore, the focus of this thesis is to further investigate the relationship between non-Tantric Buddhism‘s perspective on gender and soteriology. I will argue that the premises employed to rule out the possibility of a female Buddha in non-Tantric Buddhism are flawed, and that such a view cannot be attributed to the Buddha himself. I will advance my argument based on two pieces of evidence: (1) that the premises used to rule out a female Buddha are not supported by the Buddha‘s own teachings as recorded in canonical texts, and (2) such premises are employed only in the commentaries, and therefore in the hermeneutic works of later scholars. Of an enormous corpus of literature representing the views of many different Śrāvakayāna and Mahāyāna schools in several languages, my research will focus on Theravāda and Sarvāstivāda sources to present the Śrāvakayāna perspective in the first half of the thesis, and non-Tantric Mahāyāna sources in order to present the Mahāyāna perspectives in the second half.

On the fourteenth day of the lunar month, a few minutes before eight o'clock, Quán Sử Pagoda - the most important pagoda in Hanoi - is crowded. Middle-aged and old women are everywhere, wearing the brown robes and the Buddhist rosaries that mark them as dệ tử- laydevotees of the Buddha. In the large, main hall there are nearly two hundred devotees, sitting on grass mats that flow out the doors and onto the balcony that surrounds the pagoda. They are waiting for the sutra recital to begin, and some of them have been waiting for as long as an hour in order to get a good place, close to the altar. Gently waving their purple fans, they chat to their neighbours, or quietly count on their prayer beads: Nam-mô A-Di-Dà Phật... Nam-mô A-DiDà Phật... Nam-mo A-Di-Dà Phật. Women make up the vast majority of people who consider themselves devout Buddhists in Hanoi.

碩士
國立台北護理學院
中西醫結合護理研究所
97
Menopause is the natural transitional period of life, and "a period of change in health system", which will lead to many physical and psychological symptoms, so more attention should be paid to the health problems during this period. This study investigated the effectiveness of Buddhist-music treatment on the climacteric symptoms and the impact on the meridian system of Perimenopausal women. We adopted the Quasi-Experimental research design for our study, using convenience sampling as the screening method for eligible cases. The experimental group (n = 42) received intervention of Buddhist Music 3 times per month, from 19:30-21:30 of about 2 hours duration each time, for a total of 12 times. The control group (n = 30) did not receive any intervention. Subjects with the total number of study times <=9 was assgined to subgroup A(n=20), while those with the total number of study times >9 was assigned to subgroup B(n=22). The effect on the climacteric symptoms and on the meridian system before and after the intervention were evaluated, and the results served as a basis of the effectiveness of the measures. After the intervention of Buddhist Music treatment, there were a stastiscally significant difference in the average meridial values and menopause distress scale Our study showed Buddhist music study may help to improve the menopausal symptoms and the actual situation of the Meridians and body organs.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
地理環境資源學研究所
90
This research attempts to investigate laywomen and nuns interact in homes、mediation centers and Buddhist temples. The goal is to make women─laywomen or nuns actively participate in the public field. Through depth interviews and participation observations, the research subjects are nuns’ and laywomen’s .daily life and religious practice. Results and discussions have one point. It’s a very important place─mediation centers. Laywomen and nuns can interact over there. The places are also mediums between the sacred and secular space.

This dissertation focuses on representations of Chûjôhime, a legendary eighth-century noblewoman, in medieval Japanese Buddhist narratives. Through an examination of literary, religious, and cultural discourses on women in medieval Japan, this study considers how reception histories and conditions surrounding the production of pictorial Buddhist narratives are linked. By examining the socio-historical and religious conditions in which the legend of Chûjôhime developed and expanded from a doctrinal Buddhist tale of female salvation in the Kamakura period (1185-1333) to a popular text for the religious and cultural edification of women in the Muromachi period (1392-1573), and analyzing its literary structure, and the gender criticism it employs, I demonstrate how this narrative was used to establish a place for women in the literary, religious and socio-historical arenas, at a time when women’s participation in religious institutions and society, as well as their economic power, were gradually declining. This dissertation offers a new approach to understanding the role of women as agents, as it traces a dialogue that questions feminine disclosure and the significance of texts and images as means of empowerment, oppression, and socio-religious criticism by re-evaluating the place of gender in the history of medieval Japanese Buddhism.
Arts, Faculty of
Asian Studies, Department of
Graduate

碩士
玄奘大學
宗教與文化學系碩士班
105
For modern-day Buddhist Priests, social work in prisons is one of the most relevant tasks in their service. The writer of the essay has been engaged in prison programs since 2013, leading teams in teaching a “Body, Mind, and Spiritual Improvement Consultation” workshop within a drug rehabilitation center. Most team members are unfamiliar with service work in prison programs, and have limited knowledge on drug abuse issues and rehabilitation methods. Their only initiative is their passion in helping others, and devotion to volunteerism. However, service in prison programs differs from regular Buddhist activities. While public policies are welcoming towards religious groups exerting their educational influence in prison programs, it would be even more informative towards modern prison correctional needs if the courses include more investigation into human behavior and humanitarian philosophies, as opposed to theological principles alone. Therefore, this study was based on the writer’s field research experience of working as a counselor in a drug rehabilitation center, as well as the writer’s courses of counseling and accompanying the drug users. This study focuses on integrating Buddhist beliefs into counseling and rehabilitating people from addiction. This study suggests that training for counseling substance abusers should be provided by specialized agencies, and social services also require more detailed supervision. This study aims to assist and engage more Buddhist Chaplains who are currently serving in the field of prison and rehabilitation centers, or chaplains who wishes to gain more insights and experiences in the same field.

碩士
南華大學
宗教學研究所
104
The elder have a different life experience to show the value of life is not the same? In this study, elder women as an object of study, by way of in-depth interviews from three major directions : First, the religious life of elder for the spindle, native faith background influence the meaning of life phenomenon. The second , from the thoughts of religious practice context, the Buddhist faith in their lives helpful and resistance. Finally, the main religious activities, study respondents to participate in religious activities, experiences and feelings and continued participation in the driving force. 　　Study found that elder women to participate in the Buddhist community, Influence of Buddhism on the personal meaning of life, showing : (1) From the patron saint of life and death to escape the faith that life show Egoism and Altruism spirit to the body of life oriented to understand the meaning of life, but also to strengthen the role of women caregivers.(2) Family Religion task of women is to maintain family harmony and happiness, Buddhist way of continuation of the traditional ancestor worship, reserved family ethics and spiritual beliefs promote harmony and stability, it can be regarded as a model of faith ethics.(3) Faith experience guided self reflection, to make life reproduction of confidence, Buddhism become internal support, guidance in life in trouble.(4) To know the Buddhism practice Dharma, Buddhism share experiences, life should not be limited to the family, so that elder to enhance the self-value of life. (5) Old people's perception alive should do homework cultivation of the mind, in order to safety through the process of dying, " Buddhism reciting " possible opportunity crossed life and death, suffering, "Become attached" is the "altruistic" concept to create kindness relationships, for the meaning of life in old age and inject new thinking. 　　Therefore, in this study, the largest useful for elder faith through religious community activities and social integration, to share their faith experience, is not limited to old age pension or family status, the verification of their Buddhist faith influence. Religion in the elder who are showing, by faith in the meaning of life Transformation.

碩士
國立暨南國際大學
東南亞研究所
98
After World War II, Thailand, a country that hadn’t been colonized, was trying to modernize itself by means of capitalism and industrialization like other countries in post-colonial Southeast Asia. Through planning and establishment for policy and system, “gender equality” was proverbially discussed in public, thus encouraging women to be more educated, to receive professional vocational training and to engage themselves into job markets. In other words, in the country’s process of industrialization, unlike traditional agricultural societies, Thai society was in the process of generating its “modern women”. This study examines the case on the Thai TV soap opera Jam Loey Rak, which has been well received by the audience with high ratings for quite some time. Through textual analysis, the soap opera attempts to communicate and characterize cultural boundaries of “The Good Women”of Thailand. It shows that the Thai society, as a Buddhist country, has expectations on gender roles and relations, having a very high consistency with conditions of “ ‘The Good Women’ and the Buddhist Five Precepts and Five Virtues”(which was) instructed by Buddha for Yu-ye on Theravada Buddhism Scripture《玉耶經》. In the play, we repeatedly see that the opera plots women who yield to the “Five Precepts and Five Virtues” as “Good Women”; once women violate these “Five Precepts and Five Virtues”, the audience tends to view these scenarios with dismay. Values and trends expressed by the drama are consistent with past studies. A late industrialist country like Thailand, with good intention for “advancement of women” and “equality of gender relations” through national policy and system, was perhaps seen as “a myth of civilization and modernization” to the country. That is to say, the way it regarded ‘to seek “gender equality or modernity” as an index of civilization and modernization’ neglected the deep-rooted fact of “local traditional gender culture” as well as the power of “Patriarchal”. We clearly understand that the developmental direction of the government of Thailand is attempting to force the country to lean towards gender equality. In this case, the patriarchal values presented from Jam Loey Rak can be detrimental against development of gender equality.

My dissertation, The Female Body, Motherhood, and Old Age: Representations of Women in Hell in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Japan, examines the literary and visual representations of women in hell in late medieval and early modern Japan, with particular attention to the female body, motherhood, and old age. My focus is the late Muromachi and early Edo periods, when a constellation of new hells began to be conceptualized that had serious ramifications for representation of women. I examine a group of otogizōshi texts and hell paintings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which were disseminated widely through different media (picture scrolls, screen paintings, and narrative texts) and which generated a set of motifs representing women in the afterlife. I relate the emergence of these motifs to the larger history of the discursive construction of the female body and the evolution of representations of hell in premodern Japan. I argue that in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, representations of women in hell in these texts and paintings shifted in their focus to domestic relationships, specifically mother-child and wife-husband relationships. This change is best exemplified by the late medieval set of gendered hells (The Hell of Barren Women, The Hell of Two Wives, and Children’s Limbo), which represent the body of the woman from three perspectives: 1) as infertile (as in the Hell of Barren Women), 2) as related to animals (such as the serpentine queen in Daibutsu no go-engi (The Venerable Origins of the Great Buddha) and the serpent-women in the Hell of Two Wives), and 3) as stigmatized or punished for excess desire/attachment in their mother-child and wife-husband relationships (as in the Hell of Two Wives). This dissertation also analyzes woman as erotic object, as mother, and as aging body from a comparative Japan-China perspective. By comparing similar motifs that emerged at approximately the same historical moments—the snake queen falling into hell in Daibutsu no go-engi with the snake queen in “Empress Xi turning into a python,” and Datsueba (Clothes-snatching Hag) with Meng Po (Lady of Forgetfulness)—I am able to highlight distinctive features of these new hells for women as well as compare the differing functions of hell shown by these Japanese and Chinese examples. In Chapter 1, “Women Falling Into Hell in Early Medieval Japan,” I analyze three early medieval tales of women journeying to and from Tateyama hell in the eleventh-century Dai Nihonkoku Hokkekyō genki and twelfth-century Konjaku monogatari shū in order to provide background for my later discussion on the new concerns for women that emerged in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I show how the salvation of the deceased female protagonists depended on the proper rituals being performed by family members and I make clear the significance that motherhood was accorded in early medieval Buddhist tales of women in hell. I then examine how representations of women evolved and became more complex in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with the emergence of the Hell of Barren Women, where childless women are punished, and the Hell of Two Wives, in which two serpent women coil their bodies around a man with whom they had become involved in a triangular relationship. In Chapter 2, “Barren Women Hells and Daibutsu no go-engi (The Venerable Origins of the Great Buddha),” I show how the Hell of Barren Women stresses the reproductive responsibilities of women. The representations of the Hell of Barren Women, reflecting a growing female audience in the late Muromachi and early Edo periods, are clear evidence of a belief that it is motherhood that is a woman’s passport to salvation. In Chapter 3, I examine “The Serpentine Queen and the Chinese Tale of Empress Xi Hui Turning Into a Python.” A comparison with Daibutsu no go-engi shows that the Chinese stories about Empress Xi focus more on the feelings and observations of the living, while Daibutsu no go-engi stresses the accumulation and elimination of negative karma. Chapter 4, “The Hell of Two Wives: Transformed Women and the Jealousy of Joint-Wives,” examines the motif of the “transformed woman” found in the Lotus Sutra, the eleventh-century Hokke genki, and the mid-sixteenth century Dōjōji engi, showing how a negative connection between women and the dragon-serpent body was established, and how the animalized female body relates to the question of desire. The entwined threesome in the Hell of Two Wives not only exemplifies a domestic narrative of betrayal and resentment; it also shows a transition from a general stigmatization of the female body towards a more specific condemnation of lust, jealousy, and resentment—which are all gendered female. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, women’s roles evolved to reflect a desire to maintain the stability of family. At the same time, these representations began focusing more on situations in which women’s efforts to control body or mind met with failure. Chapter 5, “Old Women as Keepers of the Borders: Datsueba and Meng Po,” analyzes two figures of hags in hell: Datsueba in Japan and Meng Po in China. While Datsueba watches over the dead as they descend to the depths of hell to receive judgment, Meng Po cares for them as they make their way out of hell to achieve reincarnation. I argue that both Datsueba and Meng Po reinforce the border of hell by depriving the deceased of their social identities, but while Datsueba punishes and purifies the deceased, Meng Po focuses on the transitional stage between death and the next life, and her memory-erasing function shows that, paradoxically, in Chinese hell deceased souls are not liberated from the basic Confucian relationships that are so important to the living.

碩士
輔仁大學
宗教學系碩士在職專班
102
Religion plays a pivotal role in human society, and all the beliefs and values transferred by doctrines, scriptures, religious leaders, preachers and others tangibly or virtually dominate people’s thoughts, words and deeds, and even construct a system of ethical ideal normative guidelines. It can be seen that not only the religion is relevant to human secular lives, but religious culture has the importance of shaping and constructing the cognitive concepts of believers. The influence of religion is so great that the religious doctrines are all the fundament of thought of believers; if the universal values of gender equality are put into practice, this will be a great help for the establishment of social justice of gender equality. However, it is regrettable that we find that women, in religious field, as in other fields which take male as the center of knowledge, are so marginalized and weak for their voice. Even the conservatism and closure of religion sometimes indirectly become the tenacious bastions of the gender discrimination within the religion. As for the Buddhism, we seem to easily find the arguments from the Buddhist scriptures which demonize and hurt women. Therefore, this paper focuses on how the Buddhist scriptures translated into Chinese exactly presented the opinions on female and whether the opinions on female in these scriptures were really their true appearance. Based on literature analysis and the historical analysis, this study explored the opinions of five kinds of filths, nine kinds of evils, ten kinds of wicked, five kinds of obstacles as well as the saying that women should not become Buddha which biased women in the Buddhist scriptures translated into Chinese; the researcher also attempted to rediscover the voice of women in Buddhist, reconstruct the historical role of the nuns in the Buddhist scriptures and explore the implicated female consciousness through the analysis and discussion of the “Verses of the Elder Nuns” of the doctrines during the Theravada Buddhism period, hoping to restore the religious potential powers and wisdom of women by this way. At the end of this paper, the author reflected how “Verses of the Elder Nuns” inspired the ethics of genders today, to make people of different genders gain the spaces of respect and development in her or his cultural value system, and ultimately go forward towards the ideal of gender equality.

This study analyses the role and influence of rural Khmer women on their families and society, focusing on their formation of religious identity. Based on literature research, the role and influence of Khmer women is examined from the perspectives of history, the belief systems that shape Cambodian culture and thinking, and Cambodian social structure. The findings show that although very few Cambodian women are in high leadership positions, they do have considerable influence, particularly within the household and extended family. Along the lines of their natural relationships they have many opportunities to influence the formation of religious identity, through sharing their lives and faith in words and deeds with the people around them. A model based on Bible storying is proposed as a suitable strategy to strengthen the natural influence of rural Khmer women on forming religious identity and use it intentionally for the spreading of the gospel in Cambodia.
Research Institute for Theology and Religion
M. Th. (Missiology)

碩士
國立體育大學
休閒產業經營學系碩士班
101
Heart is the Temple: The Life Story of A Woman Who Had Changed Her Ideal from a Pure Artist to Buddhism Abstract The subject of this study, Miss Chen, was a female Buddhism practitioner who worked as a mentor and was deeply involved in temple volunteer activities. As a daughter, a wife, a mother in family, or as an employee, a colleague, a boss at work, what are the differences between female and male in the role of work and leisure? How these different roles influence a woman’s life, especially after her middle-age trauma, the divorce? These questions raised my motivation for this study. Life story method had been applied in this study. The data had been collected by 6 times of semi-constructive in-depth interviews, a participant observation in a volunteer activity, and reflection notes. The data had been coded and analyzed, following the triangulation method for reliability. The life story of Miss Chen could be separated into three periods. The first period was the Adolescence. Because of her parents’ open-minded attitude of discipline and admiration from teachers and classmates, she grew up with great freedom. The second period was the Marriage. She gave up the ideal of pursuing pure art career, but walked into marriage, and becomes a professional woman who looked after four kids and company finance at the same time instead. With expand of the company, her husband and mother-in-law thought she was too extroverted, and this factor finally led them to divorce. The third period was the Resurrection. At the beginning, the role of a divorced woman perceived a lot of negative images and disadvantages in running her business. Because of the previous marriage’s violence, she still suffered from head injury. That’s the reason why she started practicing Buddhism. After ten years of practice, she had been fully recovered from the past. Her Buddhism practice was not only as a leisure philosophy practice, but also become the faith of her life. After Immerged her life experience with Buddhism, helping others had become her lifelong goal and ideal. From the life story of Miss Chen, I found that male is the subject term of work and female is the subject term of family, and leisure is also decided by male during marriage. When it comes to family, it is still female who needs to give up or delays her goal and ideal of her life. For those female who has devoted themselves into work and gained achievements, they are not only lack of supports from family, but also have to face a lot of pressures from family and the society. Miss Chen’s Buddhism started as a leisure practice, but ended in salvation and self-realization. Her devotion of Buddhism practice is very much similar with the essence of serious leisure and provides the form of faith. After the process of constructing Miss Chen’s life story, I am more aware and careful for the superiority and hegemony as being a man. Key words: sex role, work, leisure, life story.