ii) The Buddha and the Bhikkuni Sangha


The Buddha, twelve years after his Great Renunciation and six years after his Great Enlightenment, visited his hometown, Kapilasvatu. At that time, Queen Mahapajapati, the Buddha's aunt and step-mother, asked him to ordain her as a bhikkuni. Though the Buddha did not accept her request at first, his disciple Ananda Thera managed to convince the Buddha that women, being spiritually equal to men, were entitled to a life of homelessness. The Buddha agreed and then ordained Mahapajapati as the first bhikkuni. Leaving the household life, Mahapajapati was thus the founder of the Bhikkuni Sangha.

After Mahapajapati, many women left their homes, were ordained and practiced sincerely. Women from aristocratic families and ordinary families alike, sought a life of homelessness. Queens and laborers left their parents or husbands and followed the Buddha; many bhikkunis attained enlightenment and became Arahants, fully enlightened ones. The stories of some of these women are recorded. The trend continued as Buddhism spread and records show that when Buddhism was introduced to China, many great women became bhikkunis there, too.