Second International Bhikkhuni Day

September 29, 2012

Sanghamitta means“Friend of the Sangha”

This Year Honoring: Bhikkhuni Sanghamitta

Theri

.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 associatedwith the life ofThe 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 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.

The Fourfold Sangha

Mural of Fourfold Assembly at Wat Pho, Bangkok,

Thailand

www.buddha101.com

The Early Spread of Buddhism in IndiaAnd then to Sri Lanka

Sanghamitta’sContribution

•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.

Emperor Asoka, Bhikkhuni Sanghamitta’s Father

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

Kalinga

Chandragupta’s Empire

Patna

Ujian

Asoka’s queenKing Asoka

Bhikkhuni Sanghamitta’s Parents

India before Asoka's invasion of Kalinga

Kalinga

Chandragupta’s Empire

Battle of Kalinga

http://indiansaga.com/history

The Bollywood version is available on Netflix

Pillar in Lumbini, Nepal, birthplace of the BuddhaMarking Ashoka’s visit to Lumbini

Wikipedia

One of the many pillars erected by Emperor Asoka

• Asoka made Ahimsa (non-violence) a policy.

• He was a devotee of:–Love–Truth–Tolerance–Vegetarianism

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 byVen. Dhammananda Bhikkhuni,NakhonpathomThailand

www.buddha101.com

Asoka Sent out Missionaries to Spread Buddhism

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 ChinaIn 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

“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

Mahayana ordination almost identical to Thai ordination ceremony

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 ordinationEstablished Sondhammakalyani Temple outside of Bangkok

Bhikkhuni Tao Fa Tzu

Bhiksuni Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo 1963 Left London for India to study

Buddhism1964 Second Western women to receive novice ordination (shramanerika)1965 Lived in a remote cave in the Himalayas for 12 years1973 Received full bhiksuni ordination in Hong Kong2000 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 Korea1986 Established Jamyang Foundation for the education of Himalayan nuns1987 Co-founded Sakyadhita (Daughter of the Buddha) International Association of Buddhist Women2000-present Associate Professor, Theology & Religious Studies, USD -

1971 B.A. History, UCLA1977 Ordained as a nun in Dharamsala, India1987 Full ordination in Taiwan2003 Established Sravastri Abbey in Washington State

Bhiksuni Thubten Chodron

1998 International Full Ordination

Ceremony in Bodhgaya, India

Bhikshunis-to-be pay respects to theirpreceptors, 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 was one of 10 Sri Lankan women ordained in 1996 in Sarnath, India. Now there now

almost 1000 bhikkhunis in Sri Lanka.

Bhikkhuni Kusuma

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.)

1945 Born Chatsumarn Kabilsingh in Thailand

(daugher of Bhikkhuni Tao Fa Tzu) 1975-2000 Professor of Buddhist philosophy at Thammasat University2001 Received samaneri ordination2003 Received full bhikkhuni ordination in Sri Lanka

Bhikkhuni Dhammananda, Ph.D.

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, DC1987 Ordained as an anagarika, traveled & studied in India, South Korea & Thailand 1997 Ordained as a bhikkhuni in Los Angeles at2005 Founded Dhammadharini Vihara in Fremont, CA and Aranya Bodhi Hermitage in N. CA.

Trained by Bhante Gunaratana of Bhavana Society

2006 Higher ordination in Dambulla, Sri Lanka

Abbess of Aranya Bodhi Hermitage in Northern CA

Ayya Sobhana Bhikkhuni

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

“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."

Bhikshuni Tenzin Palmo hugs a Thai maechee while teaching at Wat Suan Mokh, Thailand, 2007

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 (AFB) was founded in 2007 to support the creation of a Bhikkhuni Sangha in the U.S. and its revival overseas.

Alliance for Bhikkhunis

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

Contributed to the construction of living

quarters .

Contributed to a “new used” kitchen trailer for

Aranya Bodhi Monastery in Northern California.

AfB Raises Funds for Financial Assistance for Monastics

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 forbhikkhuni ordinationfor such a long time…

From Santi Forest Monastery Website

Alliance for BhikkhunisProtecting bhikkhunis, we protect ourselves and future generations.

May all beings be happy!