དགེ་སློང་མ། | Glossary of Terms
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དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
- bhikṣunī
- Term
The term bhikṣuṇī, often translated as “nun,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term bhikṣu (to which the female grammatical ending nī is added) literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist nuns and monks—like other ascetics of the time—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity. In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a bhikṣuṇī follows 364 rules and a bhikṣu follows 253 rules as part of their moral discipline.
For the first few years of the Buddha’s teachings in India, there was no ordination for women. It started at the persistent request and display of determination of Mahāprajāpatī, the Buddha’s stepmother and aunt, together with five hundred former wives of men of Kapilavastu, who had themselves become monks. Mahāprajāpatī is thus considered to be the founder of the nun’s order.
- nun
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
A fully ordained female practitioner observing 364 Vinaya vows.
- nun
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
A fully ordained nun.
- nun
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
A fully ordained female practitioner.
- nun
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
See also “monk.”
- nun
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
Fully ordained Buddhist nun.
- nun
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
A fully ordained female practitioner.
- nun
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
This term refers specifically to a nun who has received full ordination, the highest level of ordination available in the Buddhist tradition, observing 364 Vinaya vows.
- nun
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
A fully ordained nun. Also rendered here as “bhikṣuṇī.”
- nun
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
Fully ordained nun. See also “monk.”
- nun
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
A fully ordained female practitioner observing 364 Vinaya vows.
- bhikṣuṇī
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
A fully ordained nun.
- bhikṣuṇī
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
- bhikṣuṇī
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
Fully ordained buddhist nun.
- bhikṣuṇī
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
- bhikṣuṇī
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
A fully ordained nun. Also rendered here simply as “nun.”
- bhikṣunī
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣunī
- 苾芻尼
A fully ordained Buddhist nun. See also “bhikṣu.”
- fully ordained nun
- དགེ་སློང་མ།
- dge slong ma
- bhikṣuṇī
- 比丘尼