Lzh Dg Bu Pm 2 Pc 9Teaching Someone of the Opposite Gender Alone
Pāli / Sanskrit:Dhammadesanā
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Discourse on Teaching the Dharma to Someone of the Opposite Gender
Background
This passage appears in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically in the Pātimokkha of the Theravāda tradition. The Vinaya Piṭaka is not a collection of dry punitive commands, but a set of guidelines for bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs to practice the Noble Path with care and purity.
The discourse on “Teaching the Dharma to Someone of the Opposite Gender” (Dhammadesanā) reflects an important practice in the early Buddhist monastic community. When the Buddha completed his awakening, all people, male or female, had the right to receive the Dharma. However, in order to protect purity of mind and avoid misunderstandings from the outside society, the Buddha set forth distinct rules of communal life for male and female monastics.
Main Content
The discourse teaches that when a bhikkhu needs to explain the Dharma to a bhikkhunī, or conversely, or when a monastic needs to guide a layperson of the opposite gender, certain pedagogical principles should be observed. These principles do not arise from discrimination, but from wisdom concerning human psychology and the ease with which things may go astray when men and women are alone together in an intimate setting.
In the spirit of the Vinaya Piṭaka, when teaching the Dharma to a person of the opposite gender, the Dharma teacher should maintain the presence of a third person or ensure that the teaching takes place in a public, not secluded, place. This is not because the Dharma is secret or shameful, but because the reputation of both the teacher and the recipient needs to be protected. It is a practical way to prevent unnecessary suspicion from the community and to preserve the mind from disturbance.
This discourse also reflects the balanced attitude of Theravāda Buddhism: open and inclusive, in that the Dharma is taught to all, yet careful, in that the manner of teaching must be suitable and pure.
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