Boundary between sacred and secular as observed in “Living without a Man”: A Case Study of Women in Western Bhutan

Abstract

Some laywomen in Bhutan practice the “changing of clothes to red.” These women, also known as Ani/Anim, are recognized as laywomen and are distinct from nuns, although they adopt a nun-like lifestyle. Some of these women practice celibacy, which is not initially required of laywomen. Previous studies in South Asia show that a woman’s life course is widely perceived as being limited to two options that reflect binary opposition: a secular path devoted to the family and a religious path achieved through the renunciation of the family (cf. Yagi 1999). In Buddhist studies, laypeople are distinguished clearly from monks/nuns, as are households and monasteries, thus suggesting their complete separation (cf. Kuramoto 2014). Some women are not nuns but live nun-like lives. Their lifestyles show one can live astride the boundary between renunciation and non-renunciation and move flexibly and dynamically (cf. Pommaret 2015). Between December 2017 and September 2024, I conducted 16 months of research in Paro Dzongkhag, Thimphu Dzongkhag, Punakha Dzongkhag, and Wangdue Prodang Dzongkhag in Bhutan. Herein, I report my findings and present how Bhutanese people approach the boundary between monks/nuns and laypeople, as well as renunciation and non-renunciation, not only from a dogmatic perspective but also from the perspective of religious practice and narrative among laypeople. Specifically, I focus on the relationships between laywomen who are celibate and childfreeness for religious reasons and the religious beliefs in their communities, as well as the relationships between the physical representation of “wearing red clothes” and “living as a good Buddhist.