In Buddhism, distinctions are made for the tentative purpose of human communication and not to be used as a basis for discrimination. The Buddhist principles of ontological truth of radical interdependence, and temporal continuity through cycles of birth and death problematize any rigid conceptions of identities and boundaries. The moral sphere of Buddhist ethics is all-inclusive which embraces the human and non-human worlds as one continuum. The Buddhist distinction of male and female indicates a tentative and mutually non-exclusive existence. Through these principles, Buddhist societies have illustrated remarkable level of sexual tolerance as differences are primary, and identity is tentative.

However, Buddhist institutions, especially the Theravada Thai Sangha has traditionally functioned as an all-male religious organization. The long history of absence of female monk order in Theravada countries has generated a situation of a male-female segregation which borders on sexual discrimination. The all-male monk order is the "field of merit" for the devoted female Buddhists. The technical, historical, and legal prohibitions against the reestablishment of female monk in Thai Theravada Buddhism could be seen as a violation of the women's rights to religious practice.

This paper is an attempt to offer philosophical arguments against using sexual distinction as a form of sexual discrimination. It will explore the Buddhist arguments for tolerance in general and for sexual tolerance in particular. The well-known Eight Heavy Rules, indicating an "institutional subordination" of the female monk order under the male monk order will be critically analyzed. It will be argued that Buddhist sexual tolerance, as has been practiced in Buddhist societies, needs to be practiced within the Sangha itself.

SUWANNA SATHA-ANAND is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. She was selected as a fellow of Asia Leadership Fellow Program, International House of Japan and Japan Foundation in 1998.

She is an expert on Buddhist Philosophy and Chinese Philosophy, and has published nine books in Thai and many articles, both in Thai and English. Her main published works are Views of Humankind in Eastern Philosophy (Chulalongkorn University Press 1990, in Thai) and Mahayana Buddhism in Buddhadasa's Philosophy (Chulalongkorn University Press 1993, in Thai). Both works deal with the philosophy of Theravada Buddhism, the Zen tradition in Mahayana Buddhism, and Chinese Philosophy. Her recent works in English focus on religion in contemporary society and women studies, including "Truth over Convention: Feminist Interpretations of Buddhism", in Courtney W. Howland (ed.), Religious Fundamentalisms and the Human Rights of Women (New York: St. Martin Press, 1999) and "Female Ordination and Women's Rights in Buddhism", Humanitas Asiatica (Dec. 2001).