The position of nuns in Thai Buddhism : the parameters of religious recognition

Abstract

The material presented and the conclusions I hope to reach in this thesis are based on an eight-month period of fieldwork, from December 1978 to July 1979, mainly in a large Bangkok Wat. The participant observation method was used in an attempt to assess the nature and characteristics of the status and role of an hitherto unstudied group — female Buddhist ascetics — which does not form part of the traditional sociological paradigms of Theravada Buddhism. It is hoped that this will help to illuminate some of the points which need to be kept in mind in any study of Theravada Buddhism, and of several particular areas of Thai Buddhist society. This study necessarily involves an examination of three basic areas of discussion: the status of women in Buddhism, the status of Buddhism in Thailand, and the status of women in Thailand. Of these three areas, the first has been the subject of some scholarly discussion, but based on Buddhist texts rather than Buddhist practice , 2 and the second has received a good deal of attention. Until recently, however, the status of w omen in Thailand has received only scant, and somewhat cavalier attention from scholars inevitably interested in other aspects of Thai society…