Abstract: Presuppositions for a valid ordination with respect to the restoration of the bhikshuni ordination in the Mulasarvastivada tradition

by Dr. Petra Kieffer-Pülz

The four presuppositions for a valid ordination as a Buddhist monk or nun are: (1) a valid object (vastu): the person to be ordained has to be qualified for receiving ordination; (2) a valid formula (karmavacana): the succession of the parts of a karmavacana and its pronunciation have to be correct; (3) a valid boundary (sima): the determination of the boundary demarcating the space for ordination has to be in conformity with the respective rules, and (4) a valid assembly (parsad/parisad), i.e. the communities (sangha) performing the ordination have to be valid with respect to the number and qualification of its members. I will deal with these four presuppositions in the light of a possible introduction of the bhikshuni lineage from China, i.e. from the Dharmaguptaka tradition, into the Mulasarvastivada tradition.

The congress is organized by the Studienstiftung für
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: Dr. Petra Kieffer-Pülz

Biography of Dr. Petra Kieffer-Pülz

Petra Kieffer-Pülz studied Indology, Tibetology and Archaeology in Berlin, Basel, Bern and Göttungen. Her dissertation (concluded 1989 under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Heinz Bechert) deals with Buddhist monastic boundaries (sima).

From 1984-96 she was research assistant at the Sanskrit-Wörterbuch der Turfan-Funde (Academy of Sciences in Göttingen), from 2001-2007 research assistant at the Martin-Luther-University in Halle.

Main publications are: Die Sima. Vorschriften zur Regelung der buddhistischen Gemeindegrenze in älteren buddhistischen Texten, Berlin: Reimer-Verlag 1992; "Die buddhistische Gemeinde", in: Der Buddhismus I. Der indische Buddhismus und seine Verzweigungen, ed. Heinz Bechert et alii, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer-Verlag, 2000, pp. 281-402.