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Second International
Bhikkhuni Day
September 29, 2012
This Year Honoring:
Bhikkhuni Sanghamitta Theri
Sanghamitta means
“Friend of the Sangha”
What. is a Bhikkhuni/Bhikshuni?
A bhikkhuni (Pali) or bhikshuni (Sanskrit) is a
fully-ordained female Buddhist monastic.
A bhikkhu/bhikshu is a fully-ordained male
monastic.
Both bhikkhus & bhikkhunis are ordained by
receiving the precepts of the Vinaya (monastic
discipline).
Sites associated
with the life of
The Buddha
“Buddhism”, Kevin Trainor, Ed.
Beginnings of the Bhikkhuni Order
Many Enlightened Bhikkhunis
The Thirteen
Great Arahant
Bhikkhuni
Disciples, mural
in Wat Pho,
Bangkok,
Thailand
The Fourfold Sangha
The Buddha said: “I will not pass
away…until I have bhikkhu
disciples...bhikkhuni disciples...layman
disciples… laywoman disciples who are
accomplished, disciplined, skilled,
learned, expert in the Dhamma.”
From the Mahaparinibbana Sutta.
Mural of Fourfold Assembly at Wat
Pho, Bangkok, Thailand
The Early Spread of Buddhism in India
And then to Sri Lanka
Sanghamitta’s
Contribution
www.buddha101.com
Emperor Asoka, Bhikkhuni Sanghamitta’s Father
•By the time of Emperor
Asoka (304-232 BC),
Buddhism was well
established in India.
•Asoka had most likely
been exposed to
Buddhist thought, but
later said that he hadn’t
understood it.
From War to Peace
• About 150 years
after the Buddha’s
death, Alexander
the Great of
Macedonia rose to
power and was
expanding his
empire.
The Indian Army on elephants tried to repel
Alexander the Great’s Invasion
Chandragupta’s Empire
Patna
Kalinga
Ujian
Bhikkhuni Sanghamitta’s Parents
King Asoka
Asoka’s queen
Chandragupta’s Empire
Kalinga
India before Asoka's invasion of Kalinga
Battle of Kalinga
http://indiansaga.com/history
The Bollywood
version is available
on Netflix
Pillar in
Lumbini,
Nepal,
birthplace of
the Buddha
Marking
Ashoka’s visit
to Lumbini
Wikipedia
• Asoka made
Ahimsa (nonviolence) a policy.
• He was a devotee of:
– Love
– Truth
– Tolerance
– Vegetarianism
One of the many pillars erected by Emperor Asoka
Accomplishments of Asoka
• Built universities
• Built water transit
systems and
irrigation systems
• Built roads
After her
father’s
conversion,
Sanghamitta
was raised
according to
Buddhist
teachings.
Sanghamitta Marries Agribrahmi
Bhikkhuni Sanghamitta
Clay image
made by
Ven.
Dhammananda
Bhikkhuni,
Nakhonpathom
Thailand
Asoka Sent out Missionaries
to Spread Buddhism
www.buddha101.com
Princess
Annula and
the other
women first
established a
Lay-Women’s
Monastery
A ‘Liberated’ Woman!
She is recorded to have said to her father,
“My brother’s word has importance to me,
King, together with the request of the great
Queen and the thousand women. Further, I
suppose, this is not just my brother’s word
and many are waiting for the going-forth,
which I also desire to give, Great King, and
so now I must go.”
Bhikkhuni
Sanghamitta
sails to Sri
Lanka with a
cutting from
the Bodhi
tree.
Wikipedia
Many–headed Naga serpent/dragon
Sanghamitta
took the form
of a Garuda to
chase away
the Nagas
Wikipedia
Bhikkhuni
Sanghamitta,
with the
Bodhi-Tree
sapling,
lands in Sri
Lanka,
greeted by
King Tissa.
Sanghamitta & the Bodhi Tree
are Escorted to Anuradhapura
The Bodhi Tree in
Anuradhapura,
Sri Lanka is said to
be the oldest living
tree in the world.
Sanghamitta’s Stupa
As it was found
After being restored
Bhikkhuni Sangha Spreads to China
In 429 CE, Sri Lankan Bhikkhuni Devasara traveled to China with a group of
bhikkhunis to establish a bhikkhuni sangha there.
Sri Lankan Bhikkhunis Establish Unbroken Bhikkhuni Lineage
China’s bhikkhuni lineage has continued to the present day in an unbroken
upasampada (ordination) lineage. This lineage eventually spread to
Taiwan, Korea, and Vietnam.
Disappearance of the Bhikkhuni Sangha in India and Sri Lanka
Between the 11th and 14th centuries CE both the Bhikkhu and Bhikkhuni
Sanghas died out in India and Sri Lanka due to invasions, war, and famine.
Sanghamitta Shrine, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
Ayutthaya Historic Park, the ancient Thai Capital
•The Bhikkhu Sangha revived multiple times.
•The Bhikkhuni Sangha was not revived.
•In 1928, the Thai Bhikkhu Sangha decreed that the
bhikkhuni lineage had died out and could not be revived.
One Major Thing Prevented the Spread
of the Bhiksuni Order to Tibet
Bhikkhunis Worldwide!
Today there are now bhikkhunis &
bhiksunis in the U.S., India, Italy, Germany,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka,
Thailand and Vietnam.
Mahayana Bhikshunis Helped Revive
the Bhikkhuni/Bhiksuni Sanghas
in the Theravada & Tibetan Traditions
Unmoonsa Bhikkhuni Monastery & Sangha University, South
Korea
Mahayana ordination almost identical to
Thai ordination ceremony
“In all the Mahayana
schools whether in
Tibet, China, Korea, or
Vietnam, they follow
mostly a Dharmagupta
Vinaya. Dharmagupta is
one of the Theravada
sects. ”
Ajahn Brahm
Bhikkhuni Tao Fa Tzu
First Thai woman to become a bhikkhuni
1908 Born Voramai Kabilsingh
Shatsena
1955 Ordained as a samaneri (10
precepts)
1971 Lacking full ordination in
Thailand, she traveled to Taiwan
for bhikkhuni ordination
Established Sondhammakalyani
Temple outside of Bangkok
Bhiksuni Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
1963 Left London for India to study Buddhism
1964 Second Western women to receive novice
ordination (shramanerika)
1965 Lived in a remote cave in the Himalayas for
12 years
1973 Received full bhiksuni ordination in
Hong Kong
2000 Established Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery
in the Himalayas
Bhiksuni Pema Chodron
-Born in NYC in 1936
-Graduated form UC Berkeley
-Elementary school teacher for many
years
-In her mid-thirties traveled to the
French Alps where she met Lama
Chime Rinpoche
-Ordained as a novice in 1974
-1981 fully ordained in Chinese
lineage in Hong Kong
-Currently abbess of Gampo Abbey
in rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
-Author of many books on
Buddhism
Bhiksuni Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Ph.D.
-
1982 Fully ordained in South
Korea
1986 Established Jamyang
Foundation for the education of
Himalayan nuns
1987 Co-founded Sakyadhita
(Daughter of the Buddha)
International Association of
Buddhist Women
2000-present Associate
Professor, Theology &
Religious Studies, USD
Bhiksuni Thubten Chodron
1971 B.A. History, UCLA
1977 Ordained as a nun in
Dharamsala, India
1987 Full ordination in Taiwan
2003 Established Sravastri Abbey
in Washington State
1998 International Full Ordination
Ceremony in Bodhgaya, India
Bhikshunis-to-be pay respects to their
preceptors, Bhiksunis Thubten Chodron &
Karma Lekshe Tsomo
1988 –Five Sri Lankan ten-precept nuns
(including Ayya Khema) were ordained at Hsi
Lai Monastery in Los Angeles by Taiwanese
bhikkhus and bhikkhunis.
Ayya Khema
(b. Berlin 1923 – d. Buddhahaus, 1997)
-1979 first Western woman to
ordain as a Theravada
samaneri .
-1987 co-organized the first
international conference of
Buddhist nuns, resulting in
the founding of Sakyadhita.
-First Buddhist nun to address
the U.N. in N.Y. in 1987.
-1988 fully ordained in the
Los Angeles Chinese
temple Hsi Lai
(Taiwanese).
The inspiration for the creation of the Alliance for Bhikkhunis
Theravada Bhikkhuni reestablished
in Sri Lanka.
• 1996 – The Korean Bhikkhu Sangha and Sri
Lankan monks sponsored another bhikkhuni
ordination for 10 Sri Lankan dasasilmatas in
Sarnath, India.
Bhikkhuni Kusuma
Bhikkhuni Kusuma was one of 10 Sri Lankan women ordained in 1996 in
Sarnath, India. Now there now almost 1000 bhikkhunis in Sri Lanka.
First Modern Bhikkhuni Ordination in
Sri Lanka
• 2003 - First bhikkhuni higher
ordinations in modern times on Sri
Lankan soil. (American Bhikkhuni Ayya
Sudhamma, Thailand’s Ven. Dhammananda, and
Burmese born Ayya Gunasari & Ayya Saccavadi
were ordained at this time.)
Bhikkhuni Dhammananda, Ph.D.
1945 Born Chatsumarn Kabilsingh in Thailand
(daugher of Bhikkhuni Tao Fa Tzu)
1975-2000 Professor of Buddhist philosophy at
Thammasat University
2001 Received samaneri ordination
2003 Received full bhikkhuni ordination in Sri Lanka
Now abbess of one of the
few bhikkhuni temples in
Thailand. In June 2011
she had five bhikkhunis
living with her.
In 2006, in a secret ceremony in the ancient ruins at Ayutthaya in
Thailand, three more Thai women ordained as bhikkhunis −
Bhikkhunis Rattanavali, Dhammamitta, and Silananda.
Ayya Tathaaloka
1968 Born in Washington, DC
1987 Ordained as an anagarika,
traveled & studied in India, South
Korea & Thailand
1997 Ordained as a bhikkhuni
in Los Angeles at
2005 Founded Dhammadharini
Vihara in Fremont, CA and
Aranya Bodhi Hermitage in N.
CA.
Ayya Sobhana Bhikkhuni
Trained by Bhante
Gunaratana of
Bhavana Society
2006 Higher
ordination in
Dambulla, Sri Lanka
Abbess of Aranya
Bodhi Hermitage in
Northern CA
Hamburg Congress, 2007
Bhikkhunis and bhikshunis ordained earlier help
to mentor and ordain new bhikkhunis.
Rocking the Boat
• 2009 − With Ayya
Tathaaloka as preceptor
and Ajahn Brahm as
certifying acariya, four
samaneris were
ordained as bhikkhunis
at Bodhinyana
Monastery in
Serpentine, Australia.
• Ajahn Brahm was then
“delisted” from the
Ajahn Chah lineage.
Ajahn Brahm and other monks
Bhikshuni
Tenzin Palmo
hugs a Thai
maechee while
teaching at
Wat Suan Mokh,
Thailand, 2007
“Every now and then, when she senses anguish or a need
for solace, Tenzin Palmo approaches one of the women she's
chatting with and gives them a bear hug. This motherly
embrace is the manifestation of kalayanamitta (true
friendship).”
"That's why you need a female monk," she says after
hugging a woman in tears. "Because [male] monks can't do
that."
August 2010 Bhikkhuni
Ordination of four
bhikkhunis at Aranya
Bodhi Hermitage,
Northern California
October 2010
Bhikkhuni
Ordinations at
Dharma Vijaya in
Los Angeles
Three More North American Bhikkhunis
Spirit Rock Meditation Hall – Oct. 17, 2011
L-R: Ayya Nimmala, Sate Saraniya Hermitage, Ontario, Canada; Ayya
Santacitta and Ayya Anandabodhi, Aloka Vihara, San Francisco, California
A Sima of Flowers
Alliance for Bhikkhunis
Alliance for
Bhikkhunis
(AFB) was
founded in 2007
to support the
creation of a
Bhikkhuni
Sangha in the
U.S. and its
revival overseas.
Bhikkhunis near Joshua Tree National Park,
Mohave Desert, Southern California, USA
What Do We Do?
• AFB educates lay practitioners about the
essential role bhikkhunis play in preserving
the Dhamma.
• AFB offers financial assistance to provide
monastics with their four requisites: food,
clothing, shelter and medicine/health care
AfB Raises Funds for Financial
Assistance for Monastics
Contributed to the
construction of living
quarters .
Contributed to a “new
used” kitchen trailer for
Aranya Bodhi Monastery in
Northern California.
Health Insurance and Medicine
•Paid for bhikkhunis’
medical and dental care.
•Paid insurance premiums
for some bhikkhunis with
no health insurance.
Assist in Travel to Conferences,
Retreats, and Travel for Vassa
Bhikshunis chanting at Sakyadhita conference in Bangkok, Thailand 2011.
Inform and
Connect
•Present
Magazine
(Online)
•Website
bhikkhuni.net
•Facebook
International Bhikkhuni Day
I’ve been waiting for
bhikkhuni ordination
for such a long time…
From Santi Forest Monastery Website
Alliance for Bhikkhunis
Protecting bhikkhunis, we protect
ourselves and future generations.
May all beings be happy!