!!!!!! !!!!!!!! Towards the Discussion of Transgenderism and Buddhism. Dustin Hall

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1 Towards the Discussion of Transgenderism and Buddhism Dustin Hall

2 2 Buddhism is one of the most populated religions of the world with practitioners on every continent. Its accessibility allows Buddhists to come in contact with cultures not dreamed of by its founder, Shakyamuni; transgendered persons constitute one such culture. Presently, transgendered individuals are beginning to raise their voices in discussions of international egalitarianism. In many areas, challengers continually respond with hoarse voices demanding repression of all persons who are not naturally part of the binary, heterosexual norm. The transgender dialogue broaches that of an earlier discussion of gender and sexuality within early Buddhist scripture and exposes a critical error among orthodox Buddhists regarding their treatment of transgendered persons. Using the commentarial and interpretive work on Buddhist texts by Buddhaghosa, this essay reviews the orthodox notion of gender and examines how this influences the way in which kathoeys are treated in the Thai orthodox Theravada Buddhist tradition. Gender Construct In 21 st century Western traditions, the dialogue of transgenderism demonstrates that the ideas of gender and sexuality are beginning to move beyond the binary male/female anatomy and heterosexual orientation to include multiple genders/sexes and their many combinations. In orthodox Buddhist traditions, however, the idea of a plurality of gender and sexuality has always been present; even so, transgenderism appears to be anachronistic to these notions. The Pārājika of the Vinaya piṭaka provides the orthodox construct of gender/sexuality within Buddhism because of its focus on the ideal monk and thereby the ideal person, but what is missing from this formal idea are persons who are transgendered.

3 3 The Pārājika of the Vinaya piṭaka identifies four persons: male (purisa), female (itthi), inter-sex (ubhatovyañjanaka), and paṇḍaka., Leonard Zwilling explains the word paṇḍaka ultimately may be derived from apa + aṇḍa + ka, without testicles indicating that the term paṇḍaka can be interpreted metaphorically as we do in English when it is said of a weak or pusillanimous person that he (or even she) has no balls. 1 These categories divide gender based on anatomy, (primary sexual characteristics) and behavior (secondary sexual characteristics). In this sense, the paṇḍaka has been categorized as an inferior gender because of the inefficacy of either their primary and/or secondary sexual characteristics. The ideal gender of more orthodox, Theravada Buddhist traditions is a male who is in alignment with his biological and sociological role. Buddhaghosa examines the paṇḍaka category closely in his Samantapāsādikā and divides it further into five persons: jāti or prakṛtipaṇḍaka (impotent), īrṣyapaṇḍaka (voyeur), pakṣapaṇḍaka (impotent half of the month and potent the other half), āsekap- or āsecanapaṇḍaka (gay persons), and āpatpaṇakḍa (orgasm via special effort or artifice). Each of these categories somehow lacks male-ness either by the inability to perform and procreate (primary sexual characteristic) or by the nature of their performance being not male, i.e. being penetrated like a woman (secondary sexual characteristic). Because of this, persons in this category are viewed negatively. Vasubandhu and Buddhaghosa criticize paṇḍaka, John Powers demonstrates, by saying they possess, to an extreme degree, the defilements of the senses[,] they lack the ability to engage in introspection and thus cannot eliminate mental afflictions[,] Leonard Zwilling, Homosexuality as Seen in Indian Buddhist Texts, in Buddhism, Sexuality, 1 and Gender, ed. José Cabezón (New York: State University of New York Press, 1992), 204.

4 4 [and] they are controlled by unquenchable lust and are slaves to their libidos. 2 They are not allowed to be ordained as monks, and if they are discovered as having been ordained, they are immediately evicted from the saṅgha. Transgenderism is anachronistic to this orthodox notion of gender. There is nothing that describes an individual who is in the process of or who has realigned with another gender. Where in the orthodox tradition does transgenderism fit? Thailand is a country that is steeped in the Theravada Buddhist tradition and has a bold transgender presence. It has dealt with the inclusion of kathoeys, transgendered individuals, in Buddhism first hand, but, because of the gender construct as it is understood, in Thai Theravada Buddhism, there is no room in the saṅgha for a transgender monk. There is an argument, however, that breaks the gender mold and allows for kathoeys to participate in a religion that so intrinsic to their nationality. Treatment of Transgendered Persons Kathoey is the present term used for individuals who are transgender in Thailand. The history of this term shows that it first referred to any persons who breached either the physiological or cultural gender norms, but towards the end of the 20 th century its meaning changed. Peter A. Jackson explains: Until the 1970s, both males and females could be called kathoey, with [inter-sex individuals] as well as cross-dressing men and women all being described by this term. However this indigenous term ceased to be used for cross dressing masculine females, John Powers, Sex and the Single Monk, in A Bull of a Man: Images of Masculinity, Sex, and 2 the Body in Indian Buddhism, (Cambridge: Harvard University, 2009), 82.

5 5 who are now universally referred to as tom, [ and] it is interesting that around the same time masculine homosexual men were being labeled with the newly borrowed term gay and the feminine lesbian partners of tom were being called dee. 3 Consequently, with the increased use of homosexual terms in Thailand, the meaning of kathoey changed to encompass only the inter-sex and transgender community. The change in meaning of the term is reflective of the change of opinions about certain groups of people. For the homosexual community, unfortunately it became more negative, but for kathoeys as transgender persons, the same compassion and pity, and even humor, remained. Prior to discussing the treatment of kathoeys in Thailand, it is important to understand how intrinsic Buddhism is to the Thai culture. There is no doubt that a direct connection between the religion and the government exists in Thailand. Jane Bunnag states, In Thailand the first Administration of the Buddhist Order Act, which came into force in 1902, during the reign of Rāma V, stated that religious affairs were as important as the administration of the state, in that systematically administered they will be sure to attract more people to the study and practice of Buddhism under the guidance of Buddhism, thereby leading them to the right mode of living, in accordance with the buddha s instructions. 4 Essentially, this merges political power and religious merit and defines what it means to be Thai: to be Thai is to be Buddhist. 3 Peter A. Jackson, Thai Research on Male Homosexuality and Transgenderism and the Cultural Limits of Foucaultian Analysis, Journal of the History of Sexuality 8, no. 1 (July 1997): 60, Jane Bunnag, The Way of the Monk and the Way of the World: Buddhism in Thailand, Laos, 4 and Cambodia, in The World of Buddhism, ed. Heinz Bechert and Richard Gombrich (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1984), 161.

6 6 There are no restrictions in Thai Buddhism in regards to who can be a Buddhist, but there is strong resistance against who can or cannot be a monk. In order to accrue the highest merit in Thai Buddhism, one must be ordained into the saṅgha. Bunnag explains, According to orthodox Theravada Buddhism, only a monk which is to say a man who has given up secular society can have any hope, though far from a guarantee, of achieving Nirvāna. The layman who remains rooted in the material world can entertain no aspirations to reach Nirvāna in this life. 5 Bunnag points out that not only does an individual have to be a monk to able to attain the final awakening but traditionally only men were allowed to do so. Presently, though, there are developments within the Thailand allowing women to be ordained; in 2003, Dhammananda Bhikkhuni became the first fully ordained woman in Thailand. Kathoeys, however, are only allowed to be lay persons. What holds back kathoeys from being ordained into the saṅgha is the argument that they are paṇḍaka, and, as previously noted, being paṇḍaka means an individual s primary and/or secondary sexual characteristics are not normal and/or are perverse. The importance of gender and sexuality in the Buddhist monastic discipline is simple enough to understand: it is ideal for the monk/nun to be physically normative so as to fully attain the control over desires through abstinence and to remain an admirable individual to which the laity will look up and want to support. Kathoeys argue that they are a physically normative individuals, though, that they are not paṇḍaka. It is true that when a person undergoes a realignment surgery they are not able to produce sperm and ejaculate (female to male) or be able to ovulate and bare children (male to female); however, the individual can still achieve orgasm and experience the sense of 5 Bunnag, Buddhism in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, 162.

7 7 wholesomeness as a person. Is there something more than just form and movement that defines gender in all its aspects: physically, emotionally, psychologically, and even spiritually? According to authoritative Buddhist commentaries, primary and secondary sexual characteristics, indeed, are not the only elements attributed to the differences observed between each gender, but also a third element called indriya (power). Buddhaghosa explains in his Samantapāsādikā that although gender characteristics are connected with a particular indriya, i.e. itthindriya as femininity and purisindriya as masculinity, the possession of these powers has no inherent connection with the possession of a particular set of sex organs. 6 This power is something innate in humans and is equally important in the sense of feeling like a whole individual. Though indriya has no necessary connection with a person s sex organs, nonetheless an individual can find themselves unaligned with their indriya and body and desire a sense of wholeness that is taken for granted in many people. This evidence argues that kathoeys are, in fact, not paṇḍaka. If an individual undergoes a realignment then that person should not at all be viewed as less-than, rather they should be viewed as a physically normative human being because body, actions, and indriya are congruent. The argument to enter the saṅgha continues, but the voices of kathoeys are not falling on deaf ears in the Thai culture. Discourse about Kathoeys prior to the 1970s shows a progression from philosophical to medical explanations that coincide with earlier Buddhist commentaries about kathoeys existing as a product of karma. Peter Jackson explains hows this affected the kathoey community. He states: 6 Zwilling, Homosexuality as Seen in Indian Buddhist Texts, 206.

8 8 The shift from Buddhist to scientific discourse also preserved the historical ethical position regarding kathoeys. In Thailand, a person who is considered different or disabled because of his or her karma is commonly an object of pity or compassion, or in earlier, less charitable times they may have been considered freaks or a laughing stock The idea that the kathoey is a biological phenomenon supports such attitudes by adding further argument to the belief that kathoeys are not sinful because their behavior is beyond their control and based in karma, or, now, genetics. 7 The term kathoey, post 1970s, changed its meaning from an all encompassing other to only inter-sex and transgender individuals and affected the community minimally. This schism can be directly linked to the introduction of Western education in the Thai culture and the inclusion of Freudian psychology into the Thai academy. The Thai culture adopted the more negative terms of gay, tom, and dee to describe homosexuality, something it considered to be a psychological disorder, but the kathoey community, persons whose condition is based on karma, continued to be viewed with compassion or, at worst, humor. Conclusion The general Thai community, the laity, remains compassionate towards the transgendered community. With the foundation of the orthodox gender construct, however, the Thai saṅgha still views kathoey as paṇḍaka, and, therefore, remains adamant that the community should not be ordained into the monastic discipline. For an individual to be considered paṇḍaka, one s primary and/or secondary sexual characteristics are not physiologically normal and their attitudes suggests an unquenchable lust for sex. A transgendered person cannot qualify as having either of 7 Jackson, Thai Research on Male Homosexuality and Transgenderism, 63.

9 9 these deficiencies. It is true they lack the ability to procreate, but, on all other accounts, especially including the indriya, the individual is a complete, normative human being. The orthodox construct of gender has created a critical error in regards to the inclusion of transgendered persons into Buddhist monasticism, but, in regards to the attitude towards kathoey from the Thai laity, and with the progression of the saṅgha including women into the monastic order, it is only a matter of time before ordination is based on what is in an individual s heart and not what is between one s legs. [2268]

10 10 Bibliography Bunnag, Jane. The Way of the Monk and the Way of the World: Buddhism in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. In The World of Buddhism, edited by Heinz Bechert and Richard Gombrich, London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, Jackson, Peter A. Thai Research of Male Homosexuality and Transgenderism and the Cultural Limits of Foucaultian Analysis. Journal of the History of Sexuality 8, no. 1 (July 1997): Powers, John. Sex and the Single Monk. In A Bull of a Man: Images of Masculinity, Sex, and the Body in Indian Buddhism, Cambridge: Harvard University, Zwilling, Leonard. Homosexuality as Seen in Indian Buddhist Texts. In Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender, edited by José Cabezón, New York: State University of New York Press, 1992.