Program

The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Collaborative Research Fellowships in Buddhist Studies

Project

Communal Jurisdiction of Non-ordained Female Renunciants in the Southern Buddhist Tradition: Myanmar-Burma, Thailand, and Sri Lanka

Department

Religion

Abstract

There are many studies about the monastic rules and regulations of ordained bhikkhunis, however studies about the communal rules currently observed by non-ordained female renunciants in the Southern tradition are lacking. The purpose of this research is to investigate case studies of various communities of Buddhist female renunciants; nunnery schools, institutions, meditation centers, and nuns’ hermitages in Myanmar, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, in order to investigate how they regulate their monastic life and maintain communal cohesion.