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

问35：尊者，一个人的性别会在修行进步速度方面造成差别吗？

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.

我经常注意到女性更用功，对她们的老师和他的教导有强力的信心，结果他们更快培养出定力而不是相反，依次又更快生起观智。因此，我常常发现女性修行比男性进步更快。但我也注意到，有的女性打妄想浪费了她们的时间，没有任何进步。她们没有进步或只有一丁点进步有几种原因，诸如懒惰、年纪大、健康不佳等等。当然，也有男性和出家男众严格按照禅修指导用功，修行进步很快。