Espejo Sideral

Clarke approaches the study of family matters in Buddhist monasticism by analyzing some Vinaya texts he believes have not been given enough attention by scholars. He points out a “scholarly misperception” in the study of Indian Buddhism: the assumption that renunciation implied the severing of all family ties, an idea that explains the lack of interest in issues related to the families of Buddhist monks and nuns. The author suggests that if we look beyond the Rhinoceros sutta and the Pāli Vinaya, we see a richer picture emerge: it seems like Buddhist nuns even gave birth, nursed and raised children while remaining in the convent, that monastics did not sever all ties to their families, and were even “rehabilitated” after committing grave offenses. 

Clarke believes that this flexibility might have been allowed to attract followers in a competitive religious marketplace, and that stricter boundaries on some issues were due more to the interest in preserving a positive monastic public image in the eyes of the lay community. In the case of breaches of the monastic code, the response was frequently dealing with the problem inside the monastery, instead of expelling the monastics, to avoid negative unwanted public attention.

I found the text to be very interesting and I was certainly surprised to learn about many of the abnormal situations mentioned by the author (which were probably not as rare as we might think). I think he is right in being aware that the texts frequently reflect the ideals and we often believe that this is exactly what occurred in reality. As Clarke says, this might just be a romanticized view with little factual foundation. What I did not appreciate as much about the text was the subtle cynicism and derision with which Clarke refers to monastic jurists as “corporate lawyers”, mainly interested in preserving a positive public image of the monastery. Even though I think it was probably a very important condition to assure the survival of the monastic community, the author does not leave place for other considerations.

Clarke, Shayne. 2013. Family Matters in Indian Buddhist Monasticism. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press