Bhikkhun\u012b Dhammadinn\u0101
\nDharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts<\/p>\n
This article studies narratives related to the topic of women receiving a prediction or declaration (vy\u0101kara\u1e47a<\/em>) for Buddhahood. The texts in question\u2014in their received form\u2014have their place in the Indian Buddhist traditions of the Middle Period. The first episode taken up is the story of Princess Mun\u012b who receives the prediction of becoming the present Buddha \u015a\u0101kyamuni; this is found in the so-called \u201cScripture on the Wise and the Fool.\u201d The second episode is the story of Ya\u015bomat\u012b who receives the prediction that she will become the Buddha Ratnamati; this is found in the Avad\u0101na\u015bataka<\/em>. When evaluating these comparatively rare instances of predictions received by women, two aspects come up for special consideration: (a) the textual significance of variations regarding the presence or absence of a change of sex, and (b) the epistemological and soteriological consequences for female audiences of women\u2019s narratives constructed by the third-person perspective of male monastic text transmitters. The variations document that the transmitters did not always perceive the transformation of sex into a male as a categorical necessity. This transformation may not have been integral to these narratives of the bodhisattva path as articulated by the textual communities in which these texts originated and circulated.<\/p>\n Read article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ISSN 1076-9005 Volume 22, 2015 Predictions of Women to Buddhahood in Middle-Period Literature Bhikkhun\u012b Dhammadinn\u0101 Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts This article studies narratives related to the topic of women receiving a prediction or declaration (vy\u0101kara\u1e47a) for Buddhahood. The texts in question\u2014in their received form\u2014have their place in the Indian Buddhist traditions of the … Continue reading Predictions of Women to Buddhahood in Middle-Period Literature<\/span>