3. The Sutras that Accept Women as Lower State Bodhisattvas.

Most of the Mahayana sutras fall into this category. This includes such texts as the `Saddharmapundarika` , the `Sumatidarikapariprccha` , the `Astasaharikaprajna-paramita` , etc. In these sutras women are acknowledged as "good-knowing advisors" or spiritual "good friends" ( `kalyanamitra` ), but they are relegated to the lower Bodhisattva stages. To be consistent with the Mahayanist egalitarian view toward all sentient beings, the motif of sex transformation was introduced into these sutras. If a woman's virtue, merit and wisdom are extraordinary, she may, through a sex change, become a Bodhisattva or a Buddha in her present or future life. Transformation of gender symbolizes a transition from the imperfect condition of a human being represented by the female body to the mental perfection of a Bodhisattva and Buddha represented by the male body. Thus, in response to the challenge from `Sariputra` , who represented the traditionally negative attitude toward women, the Dragon Girl in the `Lotus sutra` , who is depicted as very intelligent and having penetrated into the most profound Dharma, changes herself into a male Bodhisattva and then immediately becomes a Buddha.7

Here the transformation of gender from female to male is a prerequisite for the Dragon Girl's realization of Buddhahood. Though the case of the Dragon Girl demonstrates the possibility of women's realization of Buddhahood, the notion of the dichotomy, namely, the notion of maleness and femaleness still exists.

4. The Sutras that accept Women as Advanced Bodhisattva and imminent Buddhas.

The `Vimalakirti Sutra` and the `Srimala Sutra` belong to this category. In these two `sutras` the position of the female reaches its hightest peak. The doctrinal basis for this culmination lies in the Mahayana doctrines of `sunyata` (emptiness), `Tathagatagarbha` , non-duality, etc. Instead of attempting to identify maleness with Bodhisattvahood and Buddhahood, the sutras in this category claim that notions of duality--either male or female, subject or object, etc.--are merely mental attachments contradicting the teaching of emptiness. The characteristics of "maleness" and "femaleness" are simply illusory and irrelevant. On this basis, the female bodhisattva refuses to undergo sexual change. When asked by `Sariputra` to transform herself, the Goddess in the `Vimalakirti Sutra` said, "I have been here for twelve years and have looked for the innate characteristics of femaleness but have not been able to find them. How can I change them?"8 Then the Goddess changed `Sariputra` into a female. This is to reinforce her assertion that every one and every thing transcends gender distinctions when one views the world as empty. This Viewpoint is concretely illustrated by `Sariputra's` transformation.

The Ch'an School belongs to the tradition of `Tathagatagarbha` thought which advocates the universal enlightenment and the transcendence of differences in the realm of hsiang or external characteristics. No wonder that it is in the Ch'an School that Chinese Buddhist nuns received more recognition and respect than in any other schools. This positive attitude toward women is definitely related to the doctrines on which the Ch'an School is based.

Most of the records of the Ch'an Bhiksuni masters are found in the collections of biographies of the Ch'an masters, such as the Cheng-te ch'uan-teng lu, Hsu-ch'uan-teng lu (the Sequal of the Transmission of Lamp), Wu-teng-huei-yuan (the Collection of the Five Lamps), Wu-teng ch'uan shu (the Complete Collection of the Five Lamps), and many others. There are about three dozen of `bhiksunis` recorded in these historical Ch'an literature. Most of these records, with a few exceptions, are brief. They do not provide much information of life stories about these female Ch'an masters, but they contain their concise Ch'an talk. Of the recorded Ch'an bhiksuni masters, we find only Tsung-chih, Liao-jan, Liao T'ieh-mo, Yuan-chi, Shih-chi and the anonymous nun, who had an encounter with T'an-kung, are prior to the T'ang dynasty. The others belong to the five post-T'ang sub-sects of the Ch'an School, mostly Lin-chi Sect, of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties.

In the teaching of the First Patriarch of the Ch'an School one finds the doctrine that laid the foundation of Ch'an's positive attitude toward women. The First Patriarch Bodhidharma's teaching is contained in the Two Entrances and Four Practices, which was recorded by his disciple T'an Lin and cited in the Leng-chia shih-tsu chi (Records of the Masters and Disciples of the Lanka School