Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

The gender discrimination of the Hindu tradition was serious during the time of the Buddha in India. The Buddha, after his enlighten ment, tried to change the patriarchal society, denying social caste system and allowing women to become bonzes. Even though the Buddha tried to change the Hindu society, Buddhism has been changed differently from the Buddha's original teachings for negating the discrimination between the monks and the laity as well as the discrimi nation between man and woman, while Buddhism spread into many countries for a long period under the influence of the patriarchical social and cultural system. After the Buddha passed away, the following gender discriminating thoughts were widely spread in Buddhism: Achieving enlightenment by changing female-gender into male-gender, the Eight Special Rules, the Buddha's 32 Auspicious Aspects, and the Five Obstacles for Woman. The thought that woman could not accomplish Buddhahood with her female body is different from that of Emptiness which is the essential teaching of Buddhism and is also contrasting to the Theriga tha, the collection of hymns written by nuns.Even though the Buddha tried to change the patriarchal Hindu society, it was not successful due to the deadlock of the old social customs to awaken the masses. For the modern period, the liberation movements for slaves and women have been widely spread increasing the self awakening of the masses. In this essay, the issue for 'Feminism in Buddhism' is appropriate to the needs of the times and to revive the Buddha's original teachings for social reform.In this paper, I briefly introduced the feminist studies in religion, its viewpoint, and the present situations in 'Woman's studies in Buddhism,' 'A New Buddhist Movement,' and its prospects. Also, I introduced WonBuddhism(Wonbulgyo) as an example of a new Buddhist movement for the post-patriarchy; finally, I presented a few suggestions for the post-patriarchal Buddhism.Sot'aesan, the founder of WonBuddhism, insisted the equal rights between man and woman. Accordingly, the female clergy like the male clergy has full leadership in WonBuddhism unlike other religions. In spite of it, there is still unbalance of power between men and women within the order of WonBuddhism; further, it is difficult to realize the system of the joint supreme-masters of man and woman, and it is still difficult to organize each system for men and women. It is considered that there are two following reasons; firstly, it is due to the status of the clergy woman in WonBuddhism is not obtained by their own efforts, but given by the male leader; secondly, the Order is mainly depending upon men for intellectual works such as dharma interpretation and education. In the other words, the clergy woman could not realize their important status to keep their positions. Through the feminist movements of Buddhism and WonBuddhism in the world, the traditional Buddhism can formulate plans for a new Buddhist community. The Buddhist movements to overcome the dualism of the sacred and the mundane, and of man and woman should be essential ways for the new prospect of Buddhism.