I was debating about bringing up the Jains and the similarities to Buddhism, esp., in this regard. It may be a good thing to discuss in another thread.jcsuperstar wrote:i think one of the jain Tirthankaras was female
19th Tirthankar, Malli Nath,
oh and it seems only one sect of jains believes it
But in relation to this thread:
The Digambara Jains have naked monks; and nuns who wear white; and believe that only men can attain moksha (roughly equivalent to enlightenment). The Digambaras believe that there have been NO female tirthankara and there never will be one as they are unable to attain moksha of any kind.
The Svetembara Jain sect believes that women can attain enlightenment and that one of the previous tirthankaras was a woman. The Svetembara monks and nuns both wear cloth robes.
But if we look at the history of Jainism, I believe the Digambara was the original. In the Pali Canon, the Jains were called naked ascetics. When the Buddha ordained women and stated that women can attain enlightenment, it must have looked pretty revolutionary in the context of the social structure at the time. Then later, perhaps as late as the 4th to 8th century AD, the Svetembara sect developed, perhaps in a 'one-upmanship' to Buddhism by stating that a previous tirthankara was female.
So, by today's standards some of us might think that no female samma-sam-buddhas appears backward, but in the Buddha's time, allowing a women's Order and stating that they can and do attain enlightenment, must have been seen as very revolutionary.