Introduction

It took a lot of insistence on Ānanda’s part, as well as the unfailing persistence of Mahāpajāpati Gautamī and the 500-strong entourage following her, which finally led to the Buddha grudgingly allowing women as an institutionalised category within monastic Buddhism. In doing so, he is believed to have said: If Ānanda, women had not received permission to go out from the household life and enter the homeless states, under the doctrine and discipline proclaimed by the Tathāgatha, then would the pure religion, Ānanda, have lasted long, the good law would have stood fast for a thousand years. But, since Ānanda, women have now received that permission the pure religion Ānanda, will now last so long, the good law will now stand fast for only five hundred years. ( Cūllavagga , X.1, 6) This statement has been taken literally by many, 1 and despite the generally accepted belief that the admittance of women as nuns into the order was the beginning of the end for Buddhism, numerous women have been linked to Buddhism in different ways and in different contexts as upāsikās , thēris , teachers and so on. They have all occupied significant reverential positions within Buddhism and have become immortal due to their association with the Buddha. Thus, dichotomy is evident within the fabric of its doctrine.