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Should Bhikkhunis Be Sent To Probation Monasteries?

Copyright notice.. picture by Kim Traynor cc-by-sa

Note: This post is not for everyone. Those who claim to be bhikkhunis and supporters of the movement, and monks and nuns in general will find this interesting.

Did you know that bhikkhunis (nuns) are not allowed to sleep alone or travel alone and if they do, they are sentenced to 2 weeks of rehabilitation and lose their full status as bhikkhunis during this period? In my last article Are Theravāda Bhikkhuni Ordinations Valid?, we discussed whether or not the bhikkhuni ordinations are valid. In this article, we will assume that today’s bhikkhuni ordinations are valid and then explore the heavy rules and consequences that are at stake. You will learn that bhikkhunis who claim to be serious about the rules are likely to be already breaking some of the heavy rules of the bhikkhuni vinaya.

What Is A Probation Monastery?

In Theravāda Buddhism, we have special monasteries for bhikkhus (monks) who break recoverable heavy rules which are called saṅghādisesa rules. A bhikkhu (monk) who breaks these rules needs to spend 6 nights and some extra bonus nights in special monasteries which are called parivāsa monasteries. They are also often nicknamed “Prison Monasteries”, but they are really probation or rehabilitation monasteries.

Parivāsa means “probation period.” It sounds similar to vassa, which means “rainy season,” but it is very different to a trained ear. A monk who breaks any of the 13 saṅghādisesa rules must undergo penance and probation and loses his full status as a monk during this time. Such monks lose their seniority and must get their food last if they are mixed with other monks. Lastly, the monk must announce his offense to every resident monk each and every day of his 6-day minimum sentence called mānatta (which means “state of paying respect”).

Practicalities. Because a bhikkhu observing penance must notify every bhikkhu in
the monastery of his penance, it is impractical for him to observe penance in a
monastery with many bhikkhus in residence or coming and going on visits. Thus the
texts agree that a wise policy is to choose a monastery where only a few (but no
less than four) other congenial bhikkhus are living and where visiting bhikkhus are
rare.
The Buddhist Monastic Code II p. 314

Bhikkhuni Rehabilitation

Bhikkhunis also have these rules and similar ways to purify their offenses, but they must undergo the rehabilitation period for two weeks with a minimum of four bhikkhus and four bhikkhunis (usually five or six is needed for each group, with a total of 10 or 12 monastics). The initial two-week time is longer than a bhikkhu’s 6-day period, but it is capped and can never exceed two weeks because there are no bonus nights added for concealing the offense.

Some monks have been sentenced to months or even years but that will never happen to bhikkhunis. If the ordinations of bhikkhunis are legitimate, then all bhikkhunis who sleep alone and travel alone have “warrants” on their heads and must go to special (purifying/rehab) monasteries for two weeks and be demoted from their full bhikkhuni status until restored by both saṅghas.

While these rules are oppressive for women, they are nearly verbatim in all of the active or inactive Buddhist traditions. Bhikkhu Sujato, who is the leading vinaya teacher1 for most of the Western Bhikkhunis, lists six other translations from different Buddhist traditions (outside of Pāḷi Theravāda Buddhism as the seventh) in his book. Even so, there are just a few words that differ from the Pāḷi version.

Furthermore, the mūla (root) texts, called Pācittiyapāḷi, define “alone” as “without another bhikkhuni.” The proximity is defined as arm’s length for sleeping and “within earshot” during travel. If she separates even for a moment during the night, she incurs a thullaccaya offense; if separated at dawn, she incurs a full saṅghādisesa offense. Contrary to what the book Bhikkhuni Vinaya Studies says, it does not matter if she is in the same room or building, etc.23

It is also said with this quote here:

ekā vā rattiṃ vippavaseyyāti saha aruṇuggamanā dutiyikāya bhikkhuniyā hatthapāsaṃ vijahantiyā āpatti thullaccayassa. vijahite āpatti saṅghādisesassa.
Staying one night at the time of aruna (morning), a second bhikkhuni should be within an arm’s reach. If she is not, it is a saṅghādisesa offense.
Pācittiya pāḷi (root non-commentary text) mmpara 692 (for this rule)

While it seems ancient to think that women are more susceptible to sex than men, a study claims that 20% of all U.S. women have either been raped or have been a victim of attempted rape. Furthermore, Susan Blackmore once said that women can acquire sex anytime they wish and can even get paid for doing so.4

The requirement for another bhikkhuni to be present is to provide moral support, whereas a laywoman might not provide the same moral restraint as a bhikkhuni would. It should be noted that consensual sex with a nun is referred to as rape in the same way as statutory rape is used today. It is a very serious (garu) karmic crime for the man.

Again, these rules sound oppressive, but that is what being a bhikkhuni of an ancient tradition means. We have only touched the surface with heavy rules. It is also prohibited for bhikkhunis to live outside the village. There is no such thing as disregarding a rule and blurting out, “It is just a light rule.”

The modern 10-precept nuns who are called thilashin5 in Myanmar, however, do not have heavy penalties for such rules, but they are expected to follow rules of respect as well. By being a bhikkhuni, one is forced to live with monks and to always be respectful to and be controlled by monks. The way to equality is to become a monastic that is not a bhikkhuni and instead ordain with 10 precepts like thilashin do in Myanmar. By doing so, one can become self-reliant on requisites and develop a separate community.

  1. He is the leading vinaya teacher for Western bhikkhunis because he has written The English Bhikkhuni Vinaya Book—in the same sense that Ajahn Thanissaro, author of the BMC, is the leading vinaya teacher for Western bhikkhus. ↩︎

  2. The commentary to the rule says:
    Hatthapāsoyeva hi idha pamāṇaṃ, — “Arm’s reach is the distance in this precept.”
    Hatthapāsātikkame ekagabbhopi na rakkhati — “Exceeding that distance in one room also does not guard against āpatti.” ↩︎

  3. How do they go to the toilet? Even during my time, in 2001, with toilets that were shared and external to where one sleeps, one could see monks carrying containers to the toilet in the morning. Let me tell you that “piss pots” actually look like plastic saucepans. The same practice of using a pot inside the kuṭi was probably practiced in the time of the Buddha. ↩︎

  4. The Meme Machine is a popular science book by British author Susan Blackmore on the subject of memes. Blackmore attempts to constitute memetics as a science by discussing its empirical and analytic potential, as well as some important problems with memetics. ↩︎

  5. Like the maechi of neighbouring Thailand and the dasa sil mata of Sri Lanka, thilashin occupy a position somewhere between that of an eight-precept lay follower and a fully ordained monastic. However, they are treated more favourably than maechi, being able to receive training, practice meditation, and sit for the same qualification examinations as the monks. ↩︎

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