Now there appears to be some controversy over the "
Petition in support of Ajahn Brahm and Bhikkhuni Ordination" itself! Ajahn Khemadhammo says that he did not sign it although his name does appear in the list of signatories. As he goes on to say that "
My advice is to drop all this nonsense and get back to practising Dhamma",I'm inclined to believe him!
Read more Here.....
As one of the people involved in putting the petition together, I would like to affirm the integrity of those who are checking the IT side of its circulation. They have checked regularly for prank signatures - which is usually indicated by false emails - as in the one for Ajahn Khemmadhammo sent by basil_brush@yahoo.com (at least the person has a sense of humour!)
ReplyDeleteI feel confident this is a petition conducted with great integrity and is circulated and checked with integrity. It is now being gathered, along with letters from concerned lay people, to present to the Venerable Elders at the WAM (World Abbots Meeting) at Wat Pa Pong, due to happen early December.
If I may also comment, that while Ajahn Khemmodhammo has his particular approach to practice, there are in fact many approaches to practice. It is not outside of skilful practice to raise concerns from the lay community to an issue that - as quoted from Bhikkhu Bodhi - 'is an imperitive for our times' - i.e. Bhikkhuni ordination and the placement of nuns within the order.
The aim of the petition is to respectfully encourage dialogue within the 4-fold sangha regards the unfortunate events of stripping Ajahn Brahm from his status as Upajjaya (preceptor) and expelling him from the WPP sangha, the delisting of Wat Bodhinyana as a WPP monastery and the placement of '5 heavy points' on the UK Siladhara (nuns) without due consultation within the larger monastic community.
For fear of going on and subjecting your readers to a prolonged desana - I'll sign off here!
For those who would like to access from information (from all sides) and engage a lively inquiry - please go to Women & the Forest Sangha on Face Book,
In Dhamma
Thanissara
www.dharmagiri.org
I can understand that from the perspective of someone who has ordained more than 30 years ago, the aspirations of others wishing to follow the same ideals may seem trivial. I wonder had someone told the Ajahn that he could not ordain because of his sex all those years ago, would he have adopted a similar flippant disposition?
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