Religious Identities of Buddhist Nuns: Training Precepts, Renunciant Attire, and Nomenclature in Theravāda Buddhism

Author: Salgado, Nirmala S.

Source: Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Volume 72, Number 4, December 2004 , pp. 935-953(19)

Publisher: Oxford University Press

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Abstract:

The concept of “renunciation” in contemporary Buddhism is a controversial one. This article investigates the ambiguities latent in the religious and social indicators of Buddhist nuns as “householders” or “laity” and “renunciants.” I explore these identities in textual, historical, and contemporary contexts with reference to perceptions on training precepts, ascetic attire, and nomenclature. I suggest that Buddhist nuns participate in not one but variant ideals of renunciation that are located in a politics of representation, which both includes them in a community of Buddhist renunciants and distances them from it.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfh084

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