Are all previous Buddhas in EBT males?

According to the texts, there have been. They’re referred to as paccekabuddha, or “lone Buddhas.” It’s comparable to the rarity of extreme genius. Geniuses are rare, and it’s even rarer to find ones who’d want to teach.

Unlike some Christian sects, Buddhism doesn’t demand that you believe every word. It outlines different paths for different temperaments. An example of the “bare bones Buddhism” given to the laity can be found in suttas like Sn 2.2, a dialogue between a Brahman ascetic and Kassapa Buddha on behaviors akin to a “carrion-stench.” Historically, lay Buddhist practice has been very simple.

3 Likes

In order to become a Buddha, she first had to become male, using supernatural powers, in the story in the text itself.

The story is often used to stress the universality of Buddha-nature, and that all beings can attain Buddhahood, regardless of gender.

But if that is the case, why in the source text, does she first need to become male before she becomes a Buddha? The endless questions these strange scriptures give us.

Most teachers of the Lotus Sūtra actually contradict the text of the sūtra itself to give a different spin on the story.

Chan Buddhists have traditionally used the story as a precedent for “sudden awakening”. But this also contradicts the text itself, as her/his becoming a Buddha is indicated to be preceded by many aeons of bodhisattvayāna practice of the 6 perfections, and is not “sudden” at all.

On the wikipedia article concerning the Dragon’s Daughter, it says:

According to Schuster, the Lotus Sutra’s argument “is directed against the notion that some bodies (male) are fit for the highest destinies, and other bodies (female) are not.”

But if Schuster is correct, that this is the “argument” of the story, why change her into a man? Questions, questions…

This is further complicated by other areas of the sūtra, where it is stated that one of the benefits of being a votary of the Lotus Sūtra, is that if a woman becomes a votary, that will be her last birth as a woman ever, and she will take on male births from then on.

5 Likes

thank you for these very interesting points. Do you have by any chance a reference for where this statement appears in the Lotus Sutra? (I have to admit that my philological interest is quite recent; in the past I have mainly relied on Sensei’s teachings (he also has specific encouragements for female members) and some of Nichiren’s writings, so that even though the Lotus Sutra sits in my library, and have read many parts of it, I can’t remember reading the quote you mention).

T262.54b26/Ch 23, also in the appendix to the Threefold Lotus (Samantabhadrasamādhisūtra)

If there is a woman who hears this chapter on the Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King and is able to accept and uphold it, that will be her last appearance in a woman’s body and she will never be born in that form again. If in the last five-hundred-year period after the thus come one has entered extinction there is a woman who hears this sutra and carries out its practices as the sutra directs, when her life here on earth comes to an end she will immediately go to the world of Peace and Delight where the buddha Amitayus dwells surrounded by the assembly of great bodhisattvas, and there will be born seated on a jeweled seat in the center of a lotus blossom. He will no longer know the torments of greed, desire, anger, rage, foolishness, or ignorance, or the torments brought about by arrogance, envy, or other defilements. He will gain the bodhisattva’s transcendental powers and the truth of the birthlessness of all phenomena. Having gained this truth, his faculty of sight will be clear and pure, and with this clear pure faculty of sight he will see the buddhas, the thus come ones, equal in number to the sands of seven hundred twelve thousand million nayutas of Ganges Rivers.

There is also this:

“‘Over an immeasurable number of existences, because of the organ of your eye you have been greedily attached to forms. Because of this attachment to forms, you have been greedy for and coveted mere dust. And because you coveted dust, you have taken on female form, being born in existence after existence with this deluded attachment to forms. Forms have destroyed your eyes, making you the slave of sexual desire. Hence forms cause you to keep passing through the threefold world. Driven on by these evil forces, you have been blinded and made incapable of sight.

This is all from the translations hosted at NichirenLibrary (Watson), rather than my own.

3 Likes

Absolutely.

As with Einstein’s work, I only trust what I can verify.
Einstein was really disturbed by quantum mechanics. Oh well.

I treat the EBT’s similarly. Things I can’t verify go on the shelf.
Like suttas about walking on water. I can’t walk on water.
It’s not important, it’s not what I need, so on the shelf that goes.
Suttas about psychic powers? On the shelf. Ignored.

I’m only interested in the Dhamma for all.
So on the shelf goes everything gender asymmetric.
There are other asymmetries: e.g., lay vs. monastic.
So I also avoid suttas directed specifically at bhikkhus (i.e., “a bhikkhu
shall do X to attain Y”).

Fortunately there are oodles of suttas that are gender symmetric and
accessible to laity.

The fact that these suttas are still verifiable and effective is actually a bit…
…mind blowing.

:pray:

5 Likes

do you have references please? I thought this happened only in the Gospels!

1 Like

dn/en/dn10.po:"walking on water as if it were earth; flying cross-legged through the sky "
dn/en/dn28.po:"earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying "
dn/en/dn02.po:"walking on water as if it were earth; flying cross-legged through the sky "
dn/en/dn34.po:"the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying "
dn/en/dn11.po:“as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying cross-”
an/en/an05/an5.023.po:"the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying "
an/en/an06/an6.002.po:"diving in and out of the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if "
an/en/an03/an3.060.po:"diving in and out of the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if "
an/en/an03/an3.101.po:"out of the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; "
an/en/an10/an10.097.po:"earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying "
pi-vi/en/pj/pli-tv-bu-vb-pj3.po:"Then, walking across the water, a god from the realm of the lord of death "
mn/en/mn012.po:"out of the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; "
mn/en/mn108.po:"earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying "
mn/en/mn073.po:"earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying "
mn/en/mn006.po:"diving in and out of the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if "
mn/en/mn077.po:“as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying cross-”
sn/en/sn51/sn51.17.po:"diving in and out of the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if "
sn/en/sn51/sn51.11.po:"the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying "
sn/en/sn16/sn16.09.po:"water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying cross-legged through the "
sn/en/sn12/sn12.70.po:"out of the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; "

What’s interesting about these suttas is that they generally have the Buddha telling us that these powers are gimmicks not to be trusted. Indeed here we have a human flying on water. This is very real and wonderful.

But it goes on the shelf as well. :smiley:

6 Likes

The teachings are tested by practicing them, not critiquing them through our conditioned wordly views. This to me seems like just trying to get the teachings to fit the mold of how we think the world should be. It has nothing to do with practicing to eliminate suffering.

5 Likes

While I’m all for testing the teachings by practicing them, I think there is also some merit in critiquing them, particular when the teachings do not necessarily match hundreds of years of Buddhist history. For instance, while the Buddha did teach that all human beings can overcome suffering, it’s certainly discouraging to have Buddha after Buddha be male, particularly when there are already so few female figures in early Buddhist history to begin with. For me, it doesn’t have to do with the content of the Dhamma itself but rather how the teachings are practiced. How can I feel in my heart the teachings of someone I in no way relate to? This is largely why I access the Dhamma largely through the early bhikkhunis and modern female teachers, because there are so few early male teachers that I really relate to or feel a kind of saddha for (except for the Buddha and maybe Ananda - but Ananda is awesome and there is no disputing that).

Thus, for the teachings to describe the overcoming of suffering and then not portray certain people as overcoming suffering to the same degree, it’s, for lack of a better word, frustrating.

3 Likes

All samma-sam-buddhas are male, perhaps because it is only a male that can be accepted as one in a male-dominated society. If a female will not be accepted as a savior type of teacher by the masses, then the teachings will not be renewed and followed. Another perspective could be that a samma-sam-buddha only comes when males are dominating the world for too long, causing havoc and then the Dhamma dies-out.

It is mostly a moot issue when we consider that 99.99999999999999999999% of all people alive right now will never be a samma-sam-buddha. This is because a samma-sam-buddha only comes when the Dhamma has died out and the Dhamma is re-discovered by the enlightenment of the samma-sam-buddha.

The Svetembara sect of Jainism, has a female tirthankara (samma-sam-buddha equivalent) by the name of Malinatha. They also have a list of 24 prior tirthankaras and only one (Malinatha) was a woman.

4 Likes

Whether one finds the EBTs on the whole consistent with everything humanity has learned over the past 2500 years depends, as you note, on how literally its passages are taken. And how literally many such a passage is taken is often a matter of faith. It’s very hard to have fruitful debate once reason runs headlong into faith, and both parties are likely to find the encounter unsettling.

3 Likes

Suffering cannot be ovecome due to anicca nature (not getting what one’s desire is suffering [yampiccham na labhati tampi dukkham]).

It is when the person reached Arahantship and after parinibbana of the Arahant will the suffering ceased.

This is an important point.

It seems highly unlikely that there haven’t been female Buddhas, but, presumably, the misogynistic sentiments of the time wouldn’t allow for them to exceed the role of paccekabuddha. Parallels can be easily drawn to modern day. Even in the 21st century, women often don’t get the leadership roles that they’re clearly qualified for. One can only imagine how much worse it was 2,500 years ago.

3 Likes

So you don’t feel in your heart the teachings of the Buddha? Sorry to be so blunt, but it seems ridiculous to me that you can’t resonate with teachings because they are from a male. That’s purely attachment to sex. No different than those who think teachings of females are inferior.

I feel just as strong of a resonance with female teachers as male, without ever considering what body parts they have, as if that’s relevant.

I agree that it’s very important to acknowledge historical and present misogyny and to eradicate it. To pretend that you can only “resonate” with female teachings implies that liberation is not the goal.

Again, I would think that this should imply respecting teachers based on the impact of their teachings or how well they lead to the elimination of Dukkha, not filtering them by what genitals they have.

I feel that I understand where you’re coming from, and I agree with you. My underlying point is that the only purpose of the practice is to overcome suffering. We can only improve Buddhist culture today. Trying to change history to fit our current social views is a fruitless endevor and leads us further from the goal.

4 Likes

As I understand it, it’s sometimes easier to confide in someone who you share lived experiences with. Women tend to understand other women better than men; men tend to understand other men better than women; gay people tend to understand other gay people better than straight people; and so on. Through this understanding, certain issues can be communicated more personally and effectively. In an enlightened world, none of these social divisions would matter, but our world is far from enlightened at the moment.

Or maybe the male teachers she’s encountered just weren’t very good. :sweat_smile: No offense intended, many of the male teachers I’ve listened to didn’t resonate with me either. They mumble incoherently on topics that vaguely sound like Buddhism, rarely giving any actual sutta commentary. That’s why these days I just stick with the meditation practices that were already taught to me, and the texts.

3 Likes

So much suffering of all kinds in Samsara!
I so resonate with the words of the Buddha, when he urges us not to waste a moment in striving for liberation!

8 Likes

i have found it helpful to be aware that history is not what happened; it is always the, or a, story which purports to define what happened. It may reference observable events, or not. It may reference unobserverable events, or not. It always offers a point of view. It is inevitably commentary.

This is my opinion, but one useful for me; it reminds me to challenge “The” as more likely “a” history; reminds me there is creativity (or construction) in the Story, and that what seems to really matter is what it inpires or teaches. And that no matter what that is, my personal real test is what i do with my time, my intentions, my efforts, … even if this sense of self is merely a vehicle.

Hope this helps, but of course disregard it if not.

3 Likes