Questions of ordination legitimacy for newly ordained Theravada bhikkhuni in Thailand

摘要

In Thailand the widespread assumption that bhikkhuni ordination has already been disrupted and that as a result Theravada Buddhist women can no longer be ordained has been challenged by a group of women who have received the full monastic precepts from foreign saftgha and practise Theravada Buddhism in yellow monastic robes. Public concerns have centred on whether such bhikkhuni ordinations are possible, and how women could become bhikkhuni in a 'correct' way. Both supporters and opponents are often vocal in discussing ordination ceremony procedures, based on their interpretation of the vinaya, the monastic disciplines. This paper argues that it is not a matter of 'right' procedure, but rather of the authority of the religious institution or tradition that validates one's ordination. Even if a woman is ordained as a bhikkhuni by the 'right' procedure, her status remains unstable unless the religious authority of her country sanctions her ordination. In other words, it is only a political decision made by a religious institution - in the case of Thailand, the National Sahgha - that can reinstate 'legitimate' bhikkhuni ordination.