Written by: Living Buddha Lian-sheng, Sheng-yen
Lu
Translated by: Harmony
Edited by: Dance Smith
Proofread by: Jessie
Chapter 39: Hindrances for women
After writing the article, "Eight Commands of Respectful Behaviors1
", I associated it with the "Devadatta" chapter of
the Lotus Sutra. It mentions that there are five obstacles for women.
Women can¡¯t become: Brahma Deva, Indra Deva, Mara, Cakravartin
(Wheel-turning King) or Buddha.
Although there are dakinis (female dharma protectors) in the Realm
of Desire, there are none above the Realm of Form. Moreover, women
have eight principle desires: for sex, good appearance, deportment,
poise, speech, and voice, delicacy, and a human form.
While reading medical books, I discovered that the biggest obstacle
for women is that every woman experiences menses 500 times in her
lifetime. In the 28-day cycle, there is a menstrual period of 5
to 7 days. During most of menstruation, a woman experiences pain,
abdominal discomfort, and a bloated feeling; she is tired and emotionally
unstable, and suffers from setbacks, feelings of despondency, etc.
Women often think that these are normal phenomena and are the "destiny"
of every woman. This kind of "destiny" is a minor obstacle.
The more serious obstacle is that women are susceptible to seven
diseases: infertility, endometriosis, vaginitis, menstrual irregularities,
ovarian cysts, pre-menstrual syndrome, and uterine fibroids. The
physiological diseases of women are really a headache - very troublesome
and painful.
In the eyes of the Buddha, women face more obstacles than men do
because women are more emotional, sensitive, and more prone to hysteria.
It was apparent that the Buddha regarded women¡¯s physiological
problems seriously when he refused to let women enter the sangha
in the beginning.
In the present age, if nuns want to achieve equal status to monks,
their primary objective should be to overcome these obstacles. At
my place here, as long as nuns learn how to practice "Treasure
Vase Breathing Practice" and "Non-leakage Yoga",
and cultivate consistently, they will be able to stop their menstrual
periods while still in their youth and never leak menstrual blood
again. Turning females into males is a very easy matter. This is
the supreme esoteric teaching of the True Buddha Tantric Dharma,
true and real.
We Tantrayana followers believe that when someone is born a woman,
she should strive to excel more than men. By diligently practicing
Tantra, eventually equality between men and women will be achieved.
Footnotes:
eight stipulated behaviors that nuns must abide by in their
behaviors toward monks
