Recently, two questions were posted that seem to be related. I don't know if they are by the same anonymous person, but I will group them together here.
1. Anonymous said...
Why do the most famous Tibetan monks reincarnate in male form rather than in female form? Consequently, the most popular or highly visible Tibetan monastic teachers in the West seem to be mostly males.
Why don't more Tibetan monastics learn to speak and write English? Many Westerners have learned to speak and write Tibetan in order to translate ancient texts, probably a very tedious and lonely task which doesn't pay into one's senior care.
Many years ago at LMB, there was Western a nun who had given up her Engineering career and donated her savings. When she needed surgery for a life threatening medical problem, no fund was set up for her, whereas the male Tibetan teachers are usually taken care of. Why such different treatments of monastics?
2. Anonymous said...
In reference to the nun who had given away savings from her engineer career: Am i to understand that Monastics cannot receive medicare or medical? Or is it by choice?
Response:
There are three points here are: gender inequality, language obstacles, and financial support.
First let me say that I don't want to be an apologist for the way things are. I myself am a Western Buddhist nun living in the West. If you are a nun (or monk) I'd be happy to discuss the vinaya with you privately. If you are not ordained, then some of these rules aren't for you to know.
More than any specific complaint is the general one, "Why aren't things the way I want them to be?" or "Why aren't things easy?" or "Why aren't things perfect?" Those are slightly different questions. Things are uncomfortable because we are still in samsara, under the control of our own karma and delusions. But these conditions could still be perfect for our practice. One of the advantages to being in the human realm, as opposed to the god realm, is that things are just uncomfortable enough to urge us to get out of samsara, not to take it easy.
Gender issues are the stuff of college degrees these days; for example, at UC Santa Cruz you can major in Feminist Studies. I don't see any reason to blame Buddhism in particular for gender differences. I've noticed that even self-proclaimed feminists still unconsciously focus on the alpha male, even as they stand in front of a female teacher asking why there are no female teachers.
Nevertheless, Tibetan women in my generation have been significantly influenced by Western women leaders, becoming more confident and pursuing higher studies. Just a handful of very intelligent and determined women have affected the lives of hundreds--probably now thousands--of Tibetan and Himalayan nuns; namely, Betsy Napper with the Tibetan Nuns Project, Karma Lekshe Tsomo with Jamyang Nunnery, Jampa Tsedroen (Carla Roloff) with her support of nuns in South India as well as important research and translation to benefit Western Buddhist nuns, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo with her Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery, and Tsenla who established the Kopan Nunnery, Kacho Gakyil Ling. Tsenla is Tibetan but received a Western education by English nuns, and then went on to be the first Tibetan woman to take ordination with Lama Yeshe. She lives in the United States now, translating and teaching.
We are living in pioneering days. I sometimes wonder if we made pledges in our past lives to take rebirth here and now to help establish the Dharma in the West, in modern times. We are the ones who are charged with the task of translating the Dharma, both literally and figuratively. It's a time of challenge, but also of creativity.
Language issues: I'm pretty sure there are more Tibetans who speak English than there are Americans who speak Tibetan. Still I am amazed at how much progress has been made in my lifetime by Western translators. Back in the 70's it seemed like there were only about five Dharma books that everybody read. Then in the 80's, maybe ten. Within the past twenty years we have seen the Lam-rim Chenmo appear in English (in the three-volume set, The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path), Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand (in two completely separate translations), and the many-volumed release of The Library of Tibetan Classics (Wisdom Publications). This is only a sampling. I have several of Arya Nagarjuna's works on my shelf. The source texts for the FPMT Master's Program are provided in English. And the FPMT Education Office is just launching a systematic re-translation of all the source texts for its Basic Program.
Financial Support: I'm not familiar with the specific case of the engineering nun. The organization certainly didn't tell her to give up her savings. Maybe she did that because she wanted the merit (good karma), or maybe she was very enthusiastic about a particular project. Moreover, many of us start out with no savings, so it still comes down to the fact of being broke.
It's true that paying for medical expenses is problematic in this country, not just for nuns but for most people. It's not practical to tackle this problem on an organization-wide scale because other countries don't have this problem. The best we can do is to provide medical insurance through the local centers, but if a particular nun (or monk) is not affiliated with any particular center then there is no safety net. (However, Santa Cruz County has a safety net for low-income residents called Medi-Cruz.)
To the follow-up question: No, there is no particular reason that a nun or monk can't use Medicare or Medical. On a related subject, I also advocate that American monastics and monastics living in America should make sure they are making adequate Social Security contributions (or that such are being made on their behalf). I want people to know not to opt out of Social Security. (There is a way for members of religious orders to opt out, but you shouldn't do this because it is irrevocable. You can't get back in once you opt out.) During times when I have lived only on offerings I have still reported self-employment income, even though I was below the taxable income level, simply so that I could make regular Social Security contributions. Even if I am living at a Dharma center in my old age, the Social Security payments can help with expenses. Plus, Medicare is tied to Social Security. You don't get Medicare if you are not eligible for Social Security. (I'm not a tax adviser; I just want my fellow monastics to be aware of this.)
Part of the comment by anonymous says "male Tibetan teachers are usually taken care of." The Tibetan monks we see over here are usually teachers--not just teachers but lamas--so, yes, they are usually taken care of. However there are thousands of regular monks and nuns living in the Himalayas and in India who don't have any such medical support. They are plagued by unhealthy living conditions. I can't even visit those monasteries without immediately getting sick. So we must be careful about our comparisons and generalizations. In general, the living conditions over here are much healthier. And in general, male and female Western monastics are treated relatively the same.
I hope some of this was helpful, or at least interesting.
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