The Effects of Buddhism on Disability Rights

How the concept of reincarnation has reduced activism for disability rights in Buddhist countries

In comparison to the major world religions, Buddhism flies under the radar. The main three, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, have often found themselves at the heart of wars, picking death to prove righteousness. This is a concept not found in Buddhism. Life is the highest gift. But the Buddhist  belief in reincarnation means that people that are born into disadvantage often pay for it. This is easily seen in people with disabilities. If you are disabled, it is believed that you must have done something wrong in a past life and are consequently paying for it in this one. It is the concept of karma: you must accept your own suffering to be reborn into a better life.

On a global scale, disability rights didn’t enter the equation until post-WWII, gaining steam with veterans advocating for war-caused disabilities. In Buddhist countries it was even later. India didn’t start the conversation until the 1970s, where it wasn’t brought into legislation until 1995 and was only properly defined and rewritten in 2014. India today has one of the largest disabled populations in the world, yet a full definition of what a disability is wasn’t introduced until 5 years ago. This could stem from the cultural connotations associated with disabilities. Having a disability in India causes feelings of worthlessness and shame and often leads to disownment and abandonment by family members. Through modernization and standards put in place by the UN and World Health Organization, these views are changing on a governmental policy level. Unfortunately, just because the laws exist doesn’t mean that they are being implemented. For example, in Cambodia, it was found that fewer than 4% of people qualifying for disability receive the required financial support from the government. To add to it, statistics show that there is an extra expenditure of $40 a month for people with disabilities. The government aid only covers $5 (1/8 of the total cost) so even if those with disabilities get their monthly payment, it covers little of the true cost..

One of the reasons there is such an added cost to having a disability, besides added care, is because often completing education and finding employment is extremely difficult. According to Thailand’s National Statistics Office, 71.5% of people with disabilities over 15 are unemployed. For those living in a city this leads to few options: access social welfare, begging on the streets, or selling lotto tickets. Even so it can be hard to get access to the tickets and the work is unstable. And those in rural environments without access to services are completely dependent on familial support. Thai Buddhism even bans people with disabilities from becoming monks. This was initiated out of fear that people with disabilities would depend on the monastery for support and not be able to complete their duties. One, Monk Ti, was disrobed in 2016 on account of his dwarfism. Becoming a monk is the most noble profession one can have, one that is based on suffering and enlightenment, and yet disabilities completely prevent one from pursuing it.

A major obstacle to changes in disability rights in Buddhist countries is lack of representation. In Cambodia, little effort has been done to increase voting opportunities to those with disabilities and very few are registered to vote, let alone have access to voting areas. NGOs are working to try to set up systems that will start to cause change. In 2011, the General Election Network for Disability Access (AGENDA) was established in Southeast Asia. They are working both with organizations focused on disability and those working with elections to increase advocacy. Between 2014 and 2017, they had a 15% increase in the number of polling stations that had wheelchair accessible ballot boxes.

Through small organizations and increased awareness, stigma around disabilities in Buddhist countries is starting to decrease. The opportunity to participate in all aspects of society from education to voting is hopefully changing as well. Buddhism is built around the concept of suffering and reducing your suffering through your actions so that you may be reborn into a better life. It would be great if those with disabilities didn’t suffer more because of it. 

Devin O’Donnell

Devin’s interest in travel was cemented by a multi-month trip to East Africa when she was 19. Since then, she has continued to have immersive experiences on multiple continents. Devin has written for a start-up news site and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Neuroscience.

The Shamanistic Significance of the Mother Tree in Shaamar, Mongolia

This spiritual landmark represents the intersection between Buddhism and Shamanism within Mongolia.

Sunrise over a cluster of Yurts in Mongolia. Vince Gx. Unsplash. 

The Mother Tree is a spiritual landmark located in Shaamar, Mongolia that holds deep significance to those who practice Shamanism. Also known as the Eej Mod, the tree is believed to act as a gateway between the human and spiritual worlds. Many make the trek to the tree in hopes of having their prayers answered. 

Shamanism is a religious practice that is centered around a shaman, an individual believed to communicate with the souls of the dead and heal others. A large part of shamanistic practices revolve around one’s profound connection to the abstract and spiritual. Thus, the Mother Tree serves as a means to channel and amplify that energy. 

While Buddhism is the most commonly practiced religion in Mongolia today, Shamanism is one of the oldest, and still holds deep cultural significance in modern times. Many of those who practice Shamanism believe that the Mother Tree became a gateway to the spiritual world after being struck by lightning. It is believed that the Mother Tree marks the intersection between modern Buddhism and traditional Shamanism, like many monuments and sites in Mongolia tend to do. Rather than ignore the past, Mongolian traditions preserve it. 

Trees have a profound significance in the Shamanism tradition—Sacred Trees were often placed in the center of a Shaman’s house to allow their spirits to be freed from the body. This was believed to send a Shaman into a deep trance that would let them ascend in spirit flight, or spiritual ecstasy. 

The original Mother Tree was surrounded by a yurt, and it was very common for visitors to leave incense sticks near the site. However, in 2015, one visitor lit an incense stick too close to the tree, causing it to catch fire. Only a stump of the original tree was salvaged. Today, this stump is still visited by many and covered in ceremonial blue scarves to signify honor and respect and is soaked with milk and vodka 

Finding the Mother Tree is no easy feat; it is located off of a main road in Shaamar with nothing but a small sign that reads “Eej Mod” to guide visitors. The Tree is located a few kilometers along tracks which split from the main road, but most visitors end up traveling with locals to ensure that they find it. Every year, visitors from as far as Japan, Korea and China make the trek to the Mother Tree to experience its spiritual powers and have their prayers answered.

Zara Irshad

Zara is a third year Communication student at the University of California, San Diego. Her passion for journalism comes from her love of storytelling and desire to learn about others. In addition to writing at CATALYST, she is an Opinion Writer for the UCSD Guardian, which allows her to incorporate various perspectives into her work.

In Bhutan, a History of Matriarchy and the Question of True Equality

Much like the diverse landscape of Bhutan, women’s representation and access in the country features impressive peaks as well as low-lying valleys.

Paro Taktsang, a Himalayan Buddhist sacred site and temple complex, located in the upper Paro valley. Arian Zwegers. CC BY 2.0

The tiny Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan is known for its ornate fortresses, or dzongs; the breathtaking Paro Taktsang, or Tiger’s Nest, temple complex, which clings to a steep cliffside; and its matriarchal traditions—but while Bhutan has much to be proud of in terms of gender parity, it still has a long way to go in creating true equality and professional mobility for its women.

Traditional society in Bhutan, which lies in the Eastern Himalayas between China and India, is matriarchal, and Bhutanese women do not have to contend with any institutionalized forms of discrimination. Participation in decision-making in the local and national spheres is accessible to all genders, with female involvement reaching as high as 70 percent at the grassroots level. Women account for nearly half of land owners, a figure that increases to 60 percent in rural regions. Summing up her own experience as a Bhutanese woman before moving to the Netherlands, journalist Karma Pem Wangdi writes, “My life has been created and shaped by the fact that our society has generally allowed us women the same freedoms and equality of opportunity as men.”

Nevertheless, entrenched inequalities lurk beneath the surface. Lily Wangchuk, the first and only woman president of a Bhutanese political party, referred in 2013 to “huge gender gaps” in societal attitudes, which have inspired her to continue pursuing her political ambitions. Wangchuk, whose Druk Chirwang Tshogpa party was eliminated in the first round of elections that year after garnering only 6 percent of the vote, told the Indian business news publication Mint: “During my campaign, my male opponents said, ‘[How] can a woman assume such an enormous responsibility?’ If I quit now I will be proving them right.”

Writing the previous year, Wangdi pointed specifically to gaps in economic and governmental participation, with far fewer women than men in the civil service workforce, and women making up just 8.5 percent of the National Assembly and 24 percent of the National Council. On the personal level, female reproductive rights lag in certain aspects: while women in the public and private sectors receive three months’ maternity leave with 100 percent of wages, abortion is illegal except in certain specific cases, leading many women to cross into India and seek abortions in unsafe conditions.

Thimphu Dzong, which has been the seat of the Bhutanese government since 1952. Robert GLOD. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Attitudes toward abortion may be traced to the tenets of the Buddhist religion, which has otherwise played a key role in many facets of gender parity, given that its tradition and values view men and women as equal. In terms of participation in the public sphere, two factors are broadly to blame, the first being a historical lack of education for women. In the 1950s and ’60s, when Bhutan began to prioritize national development and education, more boys than girls were sent to India for formal learning—a disparity that stemmed not from gender discrimination but rather from fears about girls’ safety during the long journey to school.


Also of concern is the burden on women as caretakers and unpaid workers in the home, which may hinder or entirely preclude professional development. In the case of divorce, Bhutanese law grants custody of children under nine years old to the mother, a statute that may further ingrain the stereotype of women as primary caregivers. A 2001 study found that, in rural areas, women were responsible for cooking, washing clothes, and preserving food for over 80 percent of households; urban regions presented an even starker figure, with more than 90 percent of households leaving cooking, cleaning, washing, and food purchasing to women. These time-consuming tasks undeniably present a barrier to engaging in activities outside the home: A 2012 study revealed that nearly 62 percent of women felt their household responsibilities prevented them from taking a more active role in public life.

Bhutan’s Punakha Valley. Andrea Williams. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Fortunately, Bhutan has recently made strides toward closing gender gaps in various arenas, and thus envisioning an end to the self-perpetuating cycle in which women—missing role models in positions of power—lack the structural support needed to pursue such positions themselves. In 2016, more girls were attending school than boys, with 98 percent vs. 97 percent enrolled at the primary level, respectively. Bhutan’s first woman Dzongda (District Governor) was elected to office in 2012, and its first woman minister in 2013, ushering in a wave of successful woman candidates in 2016: that year witnessed a 68 percent increase in female representation compared to the previous election in 2011.
With evolving attitudes toward gender representation, however, come increased pressures brought on by a globalized and digital media: in 2013, Siok Sian Pek-Dorji, executive director at the Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy, told Mint that the changing media landscape has created “a pressure to conform that is eroding the natural confidence of Bhutanese women.” Just last month, in March 2019, Bhutan gained an advocate for media representations of women in the form of Namgay Zam, who was appointed as the executive director of the Journalists Association of Bhutan. Speaking with the International Federation of Journalists, she addressed the lack of managerial role models for women, and pointed to the fact that a preponderance of male media magnates leads to the perpetuation of gender stereotypes.

Zam, looking toward a future in which Bhutanese women take their rightful place at the helm of Bhutan’s civil society as well as its media sector—thus fully realizing the matriarchal ideals on which the country was built—commented: “I think top-level management need to rethink gender representation at the workplace. Women also need to believe in themselves more. Hopefully, things will change for the better sooner than later.”




TALYA PHELPS hails from the wilds of upstate New York, but dreams of exploring the globe. As former editor-in-chief at the student newspaper of her alma mater, Vassar College, and the daughter of a journalist, she hopes to follow her passion for writing and editing for many years to come. Contact her if you're looking for a spirited debate on the merits of the em dash vs. the hyphen.