I feel I need to explain my real issue here.
Since I joined this board, I haven't seen anyone take the suttas at face value the way they are being taken here. We have discussed, debated, picked apart and put back together countless topics. Everyone has offered invaluable insight, especially Bhante and Will, who I have always appreciated since my days at ES. But for some reason, I'm getting the vibe that in-depth discussion on the status of females in Sammasambuddha-hood is being nixed. I am being told to downplay it because it has no pertinence to my everyday practice. But neither does a lot of stuff we talk about on here. And those discussions are never discouraged.
If the belief pertains to skillfulness and social structure, then obviously that's understandable. But if the belief is absolute, meaning no matter the social structure or age or whatever, a woman still cannot become a Sammasambuddha, even if they posses every single other perfection...no one has offered an explanation of
why. Basically what we're all saying is "that's the way it is, just don't worry about it". Everything else I have studied in Buddhism - literally, everything else - has a good reason to be taken as true. If it didn't, I wouldn't be Buddhist. But there is nothing said so far to support the absolute interpretation that has been offered here.
Forgive me if I'm being just a tad bit picky. But I expect the standards of the board to be upheld in every discussion, not just the discussions that are convenient and light. All of a sudden, we get to a discussion of a fundamental Buddhist idea, and some of the most knowledgeable members here fold?
Sure, I'm a beginner and I'm inexperienced. Maybe that's why I'm speaking this way. But when I am experienced along this Path, women still won't be able to attain Sammasambuddha-hood. I can't wait to see how I will react then.
Dhammakid