Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda, who wrote What Buddhists Believe, declares that...
"The Buddha was the first religious teacher who gave religious freedom to women" (Page 293)
Women have the religious freedom to fully...
"...participate in a religious life."
Although Sri Dhammananda said women are equal to men in Buddhism, he taught that it was not necessarily practiced. Wikipedia says that one Bernard Faure said,
"ancient and medieval Buddhist texts and traditions, like other religions, were almost always unfavorable or discriminatory against women, in terms of their ability to pursue the noble Eightfold Path, attain Buddha-hood and Nirvana. They would have to be rebirthed into a man before they could..."God always has wanted to connect with His human beings whom He created, and He included both the men and the women. I will not deny, however, that women often got put aside, thinking their intelligence (or lack thereof) wouldn't be able to cope with "man's world," and that, yes, their position was, most definitely, in the kitchen.
Adam and Eve were given equal opportunity to commune daily with God in the Garden of Eden. God often told Moses to call the men, women and children to collective assemblies, so we read in the Old Testament of the Bible, to hear what He wanted to tell them (Deuteronomy 31:12; Nehemiah 8:2).
Since ancient days there have been 'honorary' women. Moses sister Miriam played a pivotal role in keeping him alive (Exodus 2:1-10). She was also a leader among the women of Israel and even led them in song (Exodus 15:20-21 NIV). This upon the whole multitude of the Israelite's successful escape from Egypt, and Pharoah and his soldiers. Those Bible verses term her, "a prophetess".
There was Deborah whom we read was also a prophetess who even joined the men in a battle (Judges 4 & 5) and Huldah who was another prophetess (2 Kings 22:13-20 & 2 Chronicles 34:22-28).
A lethal tent wife (as opposed to housewife) was Jael who stepped out of her "kitchen" to sweet talk an exhausted, enemy army commander into coming into her tent and falling asleep. That was a fatal move for Commander Sisera as Jael gruesomely took a tent peg and hammered it into his temple, effectively killing him while he slept (Judges 4:17-22).
Other examples of women of influence were Ruth and Esther (see the respective books of the Bible of the same names). What about the woman who was above rubies in worth (Proverbs 31). What a woman she was!! She was an amazing person. Her greatest outstanding characteristic, however, was that...
"...She feared God" (Proverbs 31:30).
Every single last woman of God can attain to this too. Every woman in the world has this potential. So do the men. Proverbs 31 was a mother's advice and wisdom given to her son. He was to hopefully be guided by that in finding a woman of noble character to be his wife. If he was to look for such a one, then he himself would have had to be equally noble to desire such a help meet for life.
These were godly women. They could fully engage in a relationship with God whether they were in the kitchen or not. If this is what Sri Dhammananda is alluding to as far as Buddha allowing women opportunity to fully engage in religious life freely, God was actually ahead of him in such initiative.
Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead for all people no matter their gender. Since He did that, than that is saying God and Jesus give full sway to one and all to have full communion and full relationship with Him once they become His child. The only hindrance to this is in the human party in this equation. A person can have as much or as little of God as they wish. He stands steady and faithful, ready to hear from us.
We have learned in previous Burning Quest entries that the Buddhist engages on his or her path to enlightenment under his or her own steam. Any advancements are their own effort. They use their minds and control their desires, thoughts and actions making them as good as possible. This is their religious task in which they can have full freedom to participate, whether male or female. Furthermore, should either a man or a woman wish to, either may become a monk or a nun, respectively, and join the Sangha. There seem to be no restrictions.
Followers of Jesus Christ may serve their Savior; whether male or female. The Bible does say that women are "the weaker vessel" (1 Peter 3:7) BUT it does not say she is an inferior being. It is other human beings that squelch others.
The Bible also says that the husband is the head of the wife, but this still does not mean he is the superior person. NO. It is a role, God-given, at that. The general principle throughout the Bible is that the role of spiritual leadership belongs to the male, but we also read of women such as Priscilla (Acts 18:2, 16; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19), Aquila's wife, who was very active in God's service. There are Phebe, Tryphena and Tryphosa (Romans 16); Anna (Luke 2:36-38); all devotedly serving the Lord out of gratitude and love for Him.
Even to this day a majority of mission or church workers are female. Notable ones such as Amy Carmichael who went to India; Gladys Aylward who went to China; Ann Judson who served with her husband Adoniram in Burma; Corrie ten Boom who helped heal Europe after WWII with her message of God's forgiveness; Darlene Deibler Rose, missionary to Papua, who survived a Japanese prisoner of war camp in New Guinea during WWII; Isobel Kuhn who served with her husband in China and then to the Lisu of Burma; Anne Graham Loetz, speaker and writer; Beth Moore, writer of in-depth Christian study guides; and many more. They have, and have had full freedom in Christ to serve Him through serving others.
Yet godly order in regards to the protective chain of authority and spiritual leadership is seen throughout Scripture, to be the man's responsibility. This, not because the male is superior to the female, but because it's God's order; His covering and blessing for His people:
God>husband>wife>children.
Yes, Women have had and still have hurdles to overcome. However, for the godly woman it is good and necessary to see and understand the role that God has given to her. Search the Scriptures to see His views on the matter.
~ERC September 2018~
Should you wish to pursue this subject further please read the following:
Dare We Question Authority?
Dad's Daily Devotional Duty
Sarahs' Daughters
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