Question asked by Bhavisha
Topic of the women's menstrual cycle is most discussed all over the world especially in religion like Hinduism that during these days woman should go temple and do puja or not.
I really want to know buddhist approach on it that should I do sadhna and go to manstery these days, especially when we r engaged in tantric ritual and sadhna. Do buddhist nuns continue their sadhna during these days?
THANK YOU 🙏
Dear Bhavisha,
Very interesting question. In Buddhism, as taught by our Guru, women can go to Buddhist temples and monasteries when they are on their monthly cycle. It’s no problem at all. They can and should also do their sadhanas too. A sadhana is daily practice and higher practices come with the commitment never to miss even a single day without doing your sadhana. So if a woman stopped doing her sadhana during her monthly cycle, she would break her commitment. So women in Buddhism, are not prohibited from religious activities due to menstuation.
There are however some execptions, for example, it is recommended that menstruating women not enter certain shrines during their cycle. These shrines are to the very wrathful deities and Dharma protectors. The reason being that during menstruation, there are natural energetic processes occuring within a woman’s body. If they are not strong enough energetically, the wrathful energies within the shrine can disrupt the natural processes within their bodies, so they become ill. It’s not to do with the deities being angry or upset, etc. Women who are well practised in their sadhanas and can control the energies in the body can enter the shrines during menstruation. In fact, even if a man’s internal energy is low or not moving correctly and he enters such shrines, the same thing can happen.
For most women, it is not recommened to enter the shrines though there is no actual prohibition against them entering, etc. Such shrines however, don’t really exist outside Tibet, and I have not heard of such things happening in any temple outside of Tibet itself.
In regards to Buddhist nuns, yes, they must continue with their sadhanas and attend pujas in their respective prayer halls and temples as usual. I hope this helps.