bhikkhunī order

E940328

The bhikkhunī order is the community of fully ordained Buddhist nuns, established in the time of the Buddha to provide women with a formal monastic path to liberation.

All labels observed (5)

Label Occurrences
Bhikkhuni 1
Bhikkhuni Sangha 1
Bhikkhunī Saṅgha 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Buddhist monastic order
nuns’ order
religious community
aimsAt liberation from saṃsāra
nirvāṇa
associatedWith Early Buddhism
linked to: Nikaya Buddhism

Mahāyāna tradition
linked to: Mahayana

Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya
Theravāda tradition
linked to: Theravada
corePractice celibacy
meditation
monastic discipline
study of Dharma
doctrineContext Four Noble Truths
Noble Eightfold Path
linked to: Eightfold Path
ethicalFoundation Five Precepts (as lay foundation)
Ten Precepts (novice stage)
full bhikkhunī precepts
followsVinaya Bhikkhunī Vinaya
Pātimokkha for bhikkhunīs
foundedBy Gautama Buddha
linked to: Buddha
hasGenderRestriction female
hasRuleCount more rules than bhikkhu order
historicalStatus declined in many Theravāda countries
flourished in ancient India
survived in East Asian Mahāyāna traditions
memberTitle bhikkhunī
ordinationLevel higher ordination
ordinationProcedure often requires participation of bhikkhu saṅgha
requires preceptor bhikkhunīs
ordinationType upasampadā for women
originatedIn 5th century BCE (approximate)
India
presentIn China
Korea
Myanmar (limited and contested)
linked to: Myanmar

Sri Lanka
Taiwan
Thailand (revival movements)
linked to: Thailand

Vietnam
linked to: Viet Nam

Western Buddhist communities
relatedOrder bhikkhu order
religion Buddhism
requiresVows full monastic vows
socialRole provides formal renunciant path for women
supports lay Buddhist communities
textualSource Dharmaguptaka Vinaya
Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya
Pāli Vinaya

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī founderOf bhikkhunī order
Patimokkha appliesTo bhikkhuni
linked to: bhikkhunī order
Bhikkhu hasFemaleCounterpart Bhikkhuni
linked to: bhikkhunī order
Buddhism in Sri Lanka hasMonasticOrder Bhikkhuni Sangha
linked to: bhikkhunī order
Therīgāthā associatedWith Bhikkhunī Saṅgha
linked to: bhikkhunī order