問35：尊者，一個人的性別會在修行進步速度方面造成差別嗎？

Q35: Venerable Sir, does one』s sex make a difference in making faster progress in practice?

問35：尊者，一個人的性別會在修行進步速度方面造成差別嗎？

I often find that women work harder along with strong faith in their teacher and his guidance. As a result, they develop concentration sooner rather than later. This in return arouses insight knowledge faster. Thus, I often find women make faster progress in practice than men do. I also found, however, some women who wasted their time with their wandering thoughts, and made no progress. There are several reasons why they make little or no progress in their practice such as laziness, old age, poor health and so on. Of course, there are also men and monks who make fast progress in their practice when following the instructions strictly.

我經常注意到女性更用功，對她們的老師和他的教導有強力的信心，結果他們更快培養出定力而不是相反，依次又更快生起觀智。因此，我常常發現女性修行比男性進步更快。但我也注意到，有的女性打妄想浪費了她們的時間，沒有任何進步。她們沒有進步或只有一丁點進步有幾種原因，諸如懶惰、年紀大、健康不佳等等。當然，也有男性和出家男眾嚴格按照禪修指導用功，修行進步很快。