In a society that urges every woman to "regard her son as her master and her husband as her god", Buddhist nun Ketumala is an outlier. The 40-year-old walked away from traditional expectations of marriage and children as a teen, and has instead spent more than two decades as an advocate for the importance of women in religion.In a society where a popular saying urges women to «regard her son as her master and her husband as her god», Buddhist nun Ketumala is already an outlier.
Superstition and discrimination
Ketumala’s battle for recognition and respect for nuns in Buddhism runs parallel to the broader challenge for women’s rights in modern Myanmar.
Mastery of the mind
Ketumala admits she was not interested in religion in her youth, but found her path to enlightenment through reading about Buddhist philosophies, crediting Sayarday U Zawti Ka’s tome ‘A House Where Mindfulness Is’ with giving her clarity.
For me it was doing good things together for the religion and for the country. But what I realised was that the monks have egos.
This article was written by AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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