The Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha of the Six Schools

The author explains that the Pātimokkha is among the oldest strata of Buddhist canonical literature and functions as a formal list of training rules observed by monks and nuns. While the broader Vinaya constructs and regulates the institutional life of the Saṅgha, the Pātimokkha specifies the conduct required to preserve personal discipline and communal harmony. Because the complete disciplinary traditions of many early Buddhist schools have been lost, the surviving rules of these six schools provide crucial evidence for reconstructing the history and development of Buddhist nunneries. The translations are based primarily on texts preserved in the Chinese Tripiṭaka, supplemented by Pāli and Thai materials for the Theravāda recension. The book compares the shared core of the rules with later additions and variations arising in different traditions. It also places the research within the modern movement for Buddhist women’s education and ordination, presenting knowledge of the Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha as essential both for academic scholarship and for the responsible restoration and continuation of the Bhikkhunī Saṅgha.