The Gathering; A Story of the First Buddhist Women; Sasson

Vanessa R. Sasson [+–]

Marianopolis College

Vanessa R. Sasson is Professor of Religious Studies at Marianopolis College.

Sasson’s new book is a retelling of the story of the women’s request for ordination. Inspired by the Therigatha and building on years of research and experience in the field, Sasson follows Vimala, Patachara, Bhadda Kundalakesa, and many others as they walk through the forest to request full access to the tradition.

The Buddha’s response to this request is famously complicated; he eventually accepts women into the Order, but specific and controversial conditions are attached. Sasson invites us to think about who these first Buddhist women might have been, what they might have hoped to achieve, and what these conditions might have meant to them thereafter. By shaping her research into a story, Sasson invites readers to imagine a world that continues to inspire and complicate Buddhist narrative to this day.

Introduction

Introduction [+–] 1-6

This is an introduction to the story The Gathering tells, describing some of the relevant primary sources that inspired it and how this story continues to play a role in Buddhist life today.

Story One

Many Years Later: Vimala Remembers the Gathering Women [+–] 7-13

We begin the story with Vimala, many years later, reflecting on her life. A young novice named Darshani asks her to tell the story of the Gathering Women.

Chapter 1

The Buddha Said No [+–] 14-20

The story begins with Mahapajapati Gotami entering the forest of Bamboo Grove alone to meet with the Buddha. Her followers are waiting outside the gate. Gotami asks the Buddha for permission to ordain. Three times, he replies enigmatically that she should not ask the question.

Chapter 2

Vimala’s Story Begins [+–] 21-32

We are introduced to Vimala, a prostitute who lives on the outer limits of Kapilavatthu. Neelima, Princess Yasodhara’s maidservant, shows up and befriends Vimala who is sitting outside her brothel. Neelima tells Vimala about the journey the women are taking to ask the Buddha for ordination, despite previous refusals.

Chapter 3

The Leap [+–] 33-36

After Neelima leaves, Vimala processes the fact that the Gathering Women are journeying together to Vesali, her native city. She jumps at the opportunity, gathers her things, and flies out the door to join them, escaping the brothel she had until then been tied to.

Chapter 4

The Gathering [+–] 37-44

Vimala has escaped the brothel and is wandering around the forest looking for the women. Bhadda Kundalakesa finds her and brings her to the Gathering. She eats a meal and falls asleep, surrounded by the women who are her new home.

Chapter 5

The Past Comes Charging In [+–] 45-51

Kumari, the brothel owner, comes charging at Vimala the following morning, demanding payment for Vimala’s debts. Neelima interrupts the scene and brings them to Princess Yasodhara who barters for Vimala’s freedom.

Story Two

Many Years Later: Vimala and Darshani [+–] 52-54

We return to the present, with Vimala an old woman sitting with Darshani, who is listening to the tale. They discuss suffering and attachment to it.

Chapter 6

The Walking Begins [+–] 55-66

Vimala is finally free. She walks alongside the Gathering Women. She tells Bhadda Kundalakesa about Kumari and reveals that she had been a courtesan in her youth. They discover a devastated, half-naked woman in the forest and bring her in to the Gathering.

Chapter 7

Patachara [+–] 67-71

This chapter is told from Gotami’s perspective. She spent her day with a young woman named Mutta and helped negotiate her release from her parents. Now she meets with Vimala, Bhadda Kundalakesa, and the half-naked woman they found. Gotami names the half-naked woman Patachara.

Chapter 8

Beads and Mirrors [+–] 72-82

Vimala, Bhadda Kundalakesa, and Vimala become a trio, walking together. They discuss child ascetics and Vimala learns that the Buddha’s son is a child monk. They encounter three tribeswomen from Bharakucchaka who were displaced from their region and immigrated to the area.

Chapter 9

The Long Road [+–] 83-90

Vimala prepares for the approach of Vesali, processing what it will mean for her. They are assaulted by a man in the forest and fight him off together.

Chapter 10

Flying Horses [+–] 91-100

Vimala tells her companions about her life as a courtesan, what her training was like and how she was raised.

Chapter 11

The Flying Sage [+–] 101-108

Vimala’s story continues, with details about her first Bleeding and the deflowering that was supposed to follow. She reflects on a story she once read about a flying sage named Markandeya who flew through Vishnu’s body and fell out of his yawning mouth into the cosmic ocean’s great immensity.

Chapter 12

River Mud [+–] 109-118

Vimala teases Patachara with a handful of river mud, and Patachara scurries away in terror. Vimala realizes how traumatized her friend really is. Eventually, Patachara opens up and shares some of her story for the first time.

Chapter 13

Vesali [+–] 119-126

The Gathering Women arrive in Vesali. Vimala remembers how she barged out of the city when her young life fell apart. She enters Ambapali’s residence with the rest of the Gathering Women, amazed to be back after so many years.

Chapter 14

Hollowed-Out Mess [+–] 127-134

Vimala, Bhadda Kundalakesa, and Patachara leave Ambapali’s residence in search of Vimala’s childhood home. They find it broken, looted, and empty. Patachara finally tells the rest of her story.

Chapter 15

The Great Woman Tree [+–] 135-142

The three companions return to Ambapali’s to find the Gathering Women deep in conversation. Many are shaving their heads. Bhadda Kundalakesa explains how the journey began, after Gotami was rejected by the Buddha. She tells them the story of Gotami shaving her own head at the foot of the Great Woman Tree.

Chapter 16

Bhadda Kundalakesa [+–] 143-154

Bhadda Kundalakesa reflects on her own story now, and eventually shares it with Vimala. She tells her about her childhood and how she married a thief who almost killed her. And how she killed him first instead.

Chapter 17

Muttering and Mad [+–] 155-163

The Gathering Women finally leave Ambapali’s for the last leg of their journey. Vimala is pensive, reflecting on some of the women she has met on the journey and wonders how she fits in. Kisa Gotami, in particular, has had an effect on her. We learn Kisa Gotami’s story.

Chapter 18

Motherhood Lost and Found [+–] 164-177

The Gathering Women finally stand before the Buddha. He sits in meditation like a man on fire, surrounded by his monks. Rahula, the Buddha’s son, is there and notices Princess Yasodhara. He runs to her as the women watch. Questions about motherhood and family swirl.

Chapter 19

Ananda [+–] 178-187

Ananda, the Buddha’s chief attendant, is now introduced. He sees the women and asks Gotami why they have come. She explains, and he goes to see the Buddha on their behalf, asking about their right to ordination. A discussion between the Buddha and Ananda ensues. Eventually, the Buddha says yes.

Chapter 20

The Eight Heavies [+–] 188-204

The women meet with the Buddha. He officially gives them permission to ordain, but he introduces eight rules they must agree to first. He leaves the women to debate their response. Vimala listens for a while, but then steps outside and meets Mogallana. He discusses his own view with her. She is left without an answer. She does not know if she will continue. Some women decide to leave because of the extra rules. Most remain.

Story Three

Many Years Later: The Great Immensity [+–] 205-210

Darshani, the young novice, is upset with this ending. Why did the women stay, given the rules attached? Why not leave and create a community of their own without the Buddha, without the men? Vimala tells Darshani the end of the Markandeya story.

End Matter

Notes [+–] 211-264

These notes are divided by chapter and share some of the research that went into the writing of this book.

Study Questions 265-266

Bibliography 267-277

Acknowledgements 279-280

Reviews

Dr. Sasson has once again gifted us with a tale that brings early Buddhist women to life. Animating her well-researched evidence with an evocative imagination and vivid prose, she helps us feel their suffering, understand their diverse motivations, respect their wise insights, and be inspired by their resilient strength.
Paula K. R. Arai, Ph.D., author of Women Living Zen

Vanessa Sasson's absorbing story about the founding of the Buddhist nuns' order is a bold blend of elements that are often kept apart: scholarship on Buddhist narrative traditions, familiarity with the concerns of contemporary female monastic communities, a sharp feminist sensibility, and vivid storytelling. While she does not shrink from asking some hard questions about gender inequity in Buddhism, Sasson's narrative brims with tenderness for her characters and delight in a tradition and a history that she clearly cherishes and respects. Sasson brings to life scenes and characters and conversations with humor and humanity. I can't wait to read this book with my students.
Amy Langenberg, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Eckerd College

The Gathering for the first time portrays the lives of the early Buddhist women in such a way that they come alive. It is a novel, first of its kind, to break through the barrier of male voices, and it is told vividly in such a moving and engaging way. The reader will not be able to stop once they start reading, but will have to continue to the very last page, and yet still they will want more.
Bhikkhuni Dhammananda (Chatsumarn Kabilisingh)

In reconstructing so many lives and letting their stories intersect to write about the implications of the Buddha’s teachings for women then and today, Sasson accomplishes quite a feat. The novel ought to be seen as balancing itself on the precarious spot of working with feminist angst against patriarchal nature of religion while also aspiring to understand the condition of being human.
Asian Review of Books

Buddhist communities around the world continue to wrestle with the Buddha’s restrictions. In most, women monastics remain subordinate to monks, and in some cases, their fate is even bleaker than that of the Gathering women. In many Theravada lineages, for instance, full ordination is illegal for women, and women monastics often face poverty and harassment. In recent years, the movement to revive women’s ordination has gained momentum, and just last year, 144 Bhutanese women became the first nuns in history to receive full ordination in the Tibetan lineage. Just like the Gathering women, women monastics have proved persistent in pushing for what seems impossible, even in the face of continued discrimination.

In a world where such inequality persists, The Gathering offers a different way to explore these tensions. In encouraging us to take seriously alternative modes of scholarship that center on storytelling, Sasson opens up new ways of understanding these ongoing quests for ordination. Structuring the book as a novel, she invites us into the inner lives of the first women who sought ordination, encouraging us to sit with conflicting truths. And by not glossing over the story’s complexities, she offers a more expansive view of the messiness of monastic life and the relationship between renunciation and freedom.

Just as the Gathering women help one another imagine new pathways that at first seem inconceivable, Sasson helps us to glimpse new possibilities as we reckon with the realities of our time, acknowledging that there is no easy path forward. After all, a monastery “is for those who are not awakened yet,” as Vimala comes to realize. “It is a place for the aspiring, for those who hope they can do more with themselves than ordinary life permits.” In this way, Sasson’s novel encourages us to aspire for something greater—for ourselves, for our communities, and for the future of Buddhism.
Tricycle

Vanessa writes in a style that blends a sense of warmth and familiarity with a touch of humor, employing dialogue, inner thoughts, and descriptive details, as all good stories should. And before we know it, the reader is transported to ancient India and into another story, which doesn’t merely bring the characters and their interactions to life but plants us squarely in their world.
There is so much contained within this book, with examples of lives that act as contemporary mirrors ... I simply urge you to read it.
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The Gathering

A Story of the First Buddhist Women

Vanessa R. Sasson [+–]

Marianopolis College

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