Collective Aspirations and Future Prospects for Buddhist Nuns in Myanmar

Abstract

The Buddhist monastic community, comprising half a million Buddhist monks and 75,000 vocational nuns, plays a pivotal role in Myanmar society. It provides not only an important moral foundation for lay Buddhists, but also a social infrastructure in the absence of an effective state apparatus in the country. Buddhism has given Myanmar’s people a specific world view, an ethical code, and a moral basis for asserting their national and religious identity. Moreover, monks in Myanmar, due to their unique other-worldly position, have performed public roles in conflict resolution and humanitarian relief work, as well as in the dialogical process of promoting peace. However, some monks in recent years after the lifting of censorship and through the social media have advocated a particular line of Buddhist nationalism that denigrates other religious faiths and minority ethnic groups. Buddhist nuns, commonly referred to as thiláshin or ‘precept abiders’, on the other hand, have been largely apolitical in the public arena. Meanwhile, their social stature has increased greatly in recent decades, with more nun scholars and teachers exerting leadership in their monastic and local communities Buddhist nuns have also become increasingly incorporated intothe centralized structure of the state monastic organization, and now perform important public roles in the dissemination of Buddhism, particularly in ethnic-minority and border areas. This paper reflects on some of the changes that have taken place during the past few decades in Myanmar, and highlights some areas in which Buddhist nuns are likely to make positive contributions to their society in the future against the backdrop of their country’s ongoing major political transformation at present. In particular, such future directions must be understood in the context of the communal relations and networks in which Buddhist nuns operate, as they strive to enhance their reputations as credible monastics while also contributing to the well-being of their lay supporters and congregation. Broadly speaking, all of this means that there are two opposing paths for Myanmar’s Buddhist nuns to follow: one being to shore up their ‘other-worldly’ position by concentrating on Buddhist learning and disseminating the dhamma, and the other, to become more ‘this-worldly’ by engaging even more deeply with welfare issues that are not catered for by the secular authorities.