Richard Gombrich presents a positive slightly dramatic review of a book Ven. Anālayo, New Discoveries about the Origins of the Buddhist Order of Nuns, to the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies in May 2017. Sound quality is excellent. Mr. Gombrich describes discoveries by Anālayo with discussion of narrative techniques, and what 8 parallel sources concerning the origination stories of Buddhist ordained nuns reveal. It is persuasively argued that negativity and minimization of respect for nuns began early in Buddhist texts development, starting with dropping of names and attainments, and progressing into portrayal of nuns as a source of danger, presented (slanderously) as incapable of monastic compossure. Mr. Gombrich suggests negative assumptions about misogyny in religion is at least for Buddhism an engineered false view, based on Anālayo’s research.
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