by PD Dr. Ute Hüsken

Proponents as well as opponents of the re-establishment of the Buddhist nuns’ order in the Theravada tradition repeatedly refer to the legend of the establishment of the Bhikkhunisamgha as given in the Pali Vinaya-Pitaka. Both do so with good reason, for the events depicted there give no consistent picture of the events that led to the Buddha’s consent to ordaining women as Bhikkhunis. In this paper will be demonstrated, on the basis of internal evidence, that diverse and at times even conflicting agenda are voiced in this canonical account.