The nun Somā has entered Andhavana (Blind Man's Grove) near Sāvatthi to practice meditation. Māra, the embodiment of delusion, sees her there and desires to make her waver and abandon her concentration. He addresses her with a verse: This, in my view, is the definitive statement in the Buddhist tradition regarding the equality of the sexes. Whatever other words have crept into the literature—from ancient times to the present—whatever attitudes may have been expressed by Theras, Lamas, Roshis … [Read more...]
It Can Be Very Simple
Ajahn Sundarā, a senior nun from the Amaravati community in England, spent the three-month vassa, or rains retreat, at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in the summer of 2001. She spoke to us just before her departure. Thank you, Ajahn, for taking the time to talk with us this morning. Let me start by asking you something simple: What do you feel is the essence of dharma? [Laughter.] This is not such a simple question... The essence of dharma is liberation. Liberation from dukkha, … [Read more...]
Full Ordination for Nuns Restored in Sri Lanka
After a hiatus of one thousand years, Theravadin women once more have the opportunity to ordain as bhikkhunis and thus become full members of the Sangha. Traditionally the Sangha is composed of fully ordained nuns (bhikkhunī), fully ordained monks (bhikkhu), novice nuns (sāmaṇēri), and novice monks (sāmaṇera). From the 3rd century BCE when King Ashoka’s son, Mahinda, and daughter, Sanghamitta, brought the ordination lineages of both monks and nuns from India to Sri Lanka, there was a long, … [Read more...]
Cherish the Nuns
After his awakening the Buddha made a return visit to his home town of Kapilavastu. An influential Sakyan chief (and cousin to Siddhartha) named Mahānāma had the thought that, since many young men of good families had gone forth to join his growing monastic community, it would be good if some youths from the Buddha’s own family joined also. So before long a contingent of six Sakyan princes, including the well-known cousins Baddhiya, Anuruddha, Ānanda and Devadatta, snuck away from town and … [Read more...]
The Four Assemblies and Theravāda Buddhism
Introduction In this paper I examine two significant developments in the Theravāda tradition from the viewpoint of the Pāli canonical teaching that the four assemblies—bhikkhus, bhikkhunīs, male lay disciples, and female lay disciples—are the necessary foundation for the Buddha’s teaching to thrive. These two developments are the revival of lay meditation and the revival of bhikkhunī ordination. The Four Assemblies According to the Mahāparinibbāna-sutta of the Dīgha-nikāya, the Buddha … [Read more...]
A Mother’s Blessing
The woman who is said to have composed this poem was Pajapati, the Buddha's step-mother and a Queen of the Sakyas. Her younger sister was Maya, married to King Suddhodana only after Pajapati herself was unable to conceive an heir. Queen Maya died in childbirth, and it was Pajapati who raised Gotama as her own son. After his enlightenment, Pajapati also left the palace and became the first of the bhikkhuis, the order of nuns. The third stanza suggests that her attainments included the … [Read more...]
A Radiance of Nuns
The moon, full, pauses In coconut tree branches Crickets sing their bliss. This account of the ordination of nuns in Sri Lanka comes from a private letter sent by one of the participants to her family and friends. She has consented to our printing excerpts from that letter. Some names have been deleted to protect privacy. Greetings from Sri Lanka! I write to you now no longer as a novice (Sāmaṇerī)—but as a fully ordained Theravāda Bhikkhunī nun! My new name is Charlotte Sudhammā … [Read more...]
What Can I Learn From This?
How did you first encounter Buddhism? To talk about that I need to go into how I first began to meditate in general. I had a kind of intense inner life when I was a child....maybe because of a difficult home life I was drawn to stay inside, to stay quite inward. There was a kind of orientation to concentrate on different objects or be present with things in a certain way. I spent a lot of time alone and there was a sense of trying to use what was around me. In other words, I was brought … [Read more...]
Insight is Liberating Only If It is Lived
How did you first become interested in Buddhist practices? I first began my practice in the Tibetan sedition in 1970. By a strange set of circumstances I ended up in India at 17. Totally culture shocked, I sat in a dingy hotel room in old Delhi and wondered how quickly I could get out of India. An old India hand advised me to head for the mountains to recover before I fled. Arriving in McLeod Ganj, the home of the Dalai Lama and a large settlement of Tibetan refugees. I was stunned by the … [Read more...]