Female Lay Ascetics and Abhidhamma in Buddhist Cambodia Today: Learning Experiences in Thailand

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This study focused on the two prominent female lay ascetics (daun chi in Khmer), probably the first women in the Cambodian Buddhist society who "completed Abhidhamma studies and became Abhidhamma teachers". The research activities conducted during the research grant period were as follows: 1) gathering basic information about lay ascetics' life in Cambodian Buddhist temples, 2) collecting the life history data in detail on the two key informants mentioned above, including their experiences in Thailand where they stayed for Abhidhamma studies during the 1990's, 3) collecting information about the present situation of Abhidhamma studies both in Thailnad and Cambodia, and 4) participant-observation of the "Training Seminar for Daun Chis" held in 2012. As a result, I was able to figure out a few aspects of dynamism that are occuring in the monk/lay boundary and in the gender order in the Theravada Buddhist society.