Ayya Khema and the Coincidence

At our Sangha meeting this Tuesday evening members were trawling through our library and the subject of books by Ayya Khema came up.

In the World of strange coincidences (they're only strange if we notice them), I was checking the traffic to this site this morning and noticed that a visitor from Japan had Googled "ayya khema united nations address" and had got a hit to a post on this site from 2008. It was entitled "Talks by Ayya Khema" and detailed a website selling audio tapes of her talks. I corrected the post with the news that all of Ayya Khema's recorded talks have now been digitalised and can be downloaded for free from Dharma Seed.

As to her books, we are fortunate to have the following titles in our collection:-

Being Nobody, Going Nowhere, Meditations on the Buddhist Path,
When the Iron Eagle Flies, Buddhism for the West,
Who is myself?, A guide to Buddhist meditation,
Come and See for Yourself, The Buddhist Path to Happiness,
Be an Island, The Buddhist practice of Inner Peace,
Visible here and now,
I Give You My Life, her autobiography

Ayya Khema was born in Berlin in 1923 to Jewish parents. In 1938, she escaped from Germany with two hundred other children and was taken to Glasgow, Scotland. Her parents went to China and, two years later Ayya Khema joined then in Shanghai. With the outbreak of the war, however, the family was put into a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp and it was here her father died. She later married, had a son and a daughter, and now has four grand-children.

Four years after the American liberation of the camp, Ayya Khema was able to emigrate to the United States. Between 1960 and 1964 she travelled with her husband and son throughout Asia, including the Himalayan countries, and it was at this time she learned meditation. Ten years later she began to teach meditation throughout Europe and Australia. Her experiences led her to become a Buddhist nun in Sri Lanka in 1979, when she was given the name of 'Khema' (Ayya means Venerable) meaning safety and security.

She helped to establish Wat Buddha-Dhamma, a forest monastery in the Theravada tradition, near Sydney, Australia, in 1978. In Colombo she set up the International Buddhist Women's Centre as a training centre for Sri Lankan nuns, and the Parappuduwa Nun's Island at Dodanduwa. (now unfortunately closed). She was the spiritual director of Buddha-Haus in Germany, established in 1989 under her auspices. In June 1997 "Metta Vihara", the first Buddhist forest monastery in Germany, was inaugurated by her, and the first ordinations in the German language took place there.

In 1987 she co-ordinated the first international conference of Buddhist nuns in the history of Buddhism, which resulted in the setting-up of Sakyadhita, a worldwide Buddhist women's organisation. H.H. the Dalai Lama was the keynote speaker at the conference. In May 1987, as an invited lecturer, she was the first ever Buddhist nun to address the United Nations in New York on the topic of Buddhism and World Peace. 

She died in November 1997.............................

4-Fold Sangha Group to Close!

I have just received this from Thanissara....

Dear Friends,

As admin of the current 4-Fold Sangha group (formerly Women & the Forest Sangha group), we have come to the place, in relationship to the life of this group, where we each feel its time to move on.

Right from the groups early beginnings, when a few of us as ex nuns, talked of the consequences of the 5 point process within the UK Forest Sangha, this group has been an offering. It has been an offering of an open space which held a public conversation that was not possible within the walls of the monastery.

The groups intention has always been to maintain that open space to help process the pain and disappointments of the 5 point process and the fall out from the bhikkhuni ordination in Perth in October 2009.

We feel very honored to have shared this journey with those, and each one of us within the admin, who have been truly authentic to their (and our) inner truth while grappling with the consequences of our profound relationship with a community that many of us have given years of our lives to help nourish and build.

During this time we have met wonderful fellow practitioners from all over the world, and have been able to alert people to the growing and unstoppable Bhikkhuni movement. We have also been able to reflect on the Dharma together and the on going challenges of its placement within our contemporary world. Those of us in admin, and many of you who have fed back to us, have experienced this as an enriching and precious process. It has also been very difficult, sometimes contentious, time consuming and sometimes heart rending.

More recently, after experimenting with a change of name and direction, in response to the upgrades in the Facebook group format, it has become clear that the admin of this group have now come to the end of their wish to continue the group and be responsible for its content. We were already at that juncture, of letting the group finish, when Facebook was changing its formatting process.

However it wasn't clear that it was the right time to do that. We now feel it is. To honor the group and each one of you, and each one of us, the original intention, the time and effort to maintain the group, the authenticity and depth of sharing that has been contained within it, we wish to sign off in a wholesome and appreciative way. So we truly thank all of US for our contributions.

We will be holding a simple ceremony on Friday on the new moon,
after which we will wind up the group.

It is possible that some of the great energy that has come through this shared discussion may emerge in a new form or forms... But for now, it's time for a pause.

Again, we wish everyone truly well and extend ourheartfelt thanks to all for the willingness to share and contribute to the process and discussions.

Former W&FS - current 4-Fold Sangha Admin

Bhikkhuni: Revival of the Women's Order

I've just come across this short video which is a teaser for the forthcoming documentary film "Bhikkhuni: Revival of the Women's Order", A documentary about discrimination and the quest for gender equality in Buddhism.

Bhikkhuni: Revival of the Women's Order - teaser reel from Budaya Productions on Vimeo.

SINCE I ORIGINALLY POSTED THIS ITEM THE ABOVE TRAILER HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN. SO HERE INSTEAD IS AN EXCERPT WITH AJAHN BRAHM.

"What happens when the truth isn’t where you expect to find it? Or when you discover a truth that contradicts that which you have been taught your whole life? Filmmaker Wiriya Sati, having grown up on the east coast of New South Wales with Buddhist teachings from a Thai monk and her devout hippy parents, meets a Buddhist nun for the first time in her early twenties and is inspired to follow her on a spiritual quest with camera in hand.

Wiriya’s journey takes her from Thailand to the US and Europe, then back to Australia as she uncovers a disturbing reality within the Buddhist world: that women are barred from receiving full ordination and thus from the support and spiritual advancement available to men who can devote their life entirely to spiritual awakening as monks. This is due to the original lineage of ordained nuns dying out in Sri Lanka almost 1000 years previously, and there are all sorts of excuses used by monks to justify the ‘impossibility’ of reinstating proper ordination for women.

Wiriya finds that in all the monasteries she visits, nuns wanting to ordain are offered a lesser ordination placing them in a permanent junior position to monks. In Hamburg, Germany, Wiriya attends a conference initiated by the Dalai Lama to investigate re-introducing full ordination for women across Buddhist traditions. But despite strong arguments from various nuns, scholars and monks, the proposal to do so is denied.

Bhikkhuni: Revival of the Women’s Order is a documentary film that seeks to explore the issue of female ordination in Buddhism, and shed some light on the current injustices which are occurring within the tradition."

A Fortnightly Reflection

For a while now I have been receiving regular "Dharma emails". One such comes fortnightly on the new and full moons. It is by Bhikkhu Munindo and the verses used in this fortnightly Reflection are taken from, 'A Dhammapada for Contemplation'. Thought that I would start to post them here as well......

NEW MOON - Monday 6th December 2010

There is no tension
for those who have completed their journey and have become free from the distress of bondage.

Dhammapada verse 90

There is a path and we have a journey to take. The goal is freedom from the experience of being bound by habits. If we try too hard, grasping at the idea of the goal and bypassing the reality of this moment, we merely generate stress. If we don’t try at all, losing ourselves in sense stimulus over and over again, we only generate more stress. Knowing the right amount of effort takes skill. And it is a skill we can develop: we lose our balance, but instead of habitually judging ourselves, we get more interested in the lesson before us.
Practising with the right amount provides the optimum chance of completing the journey.

(Bhikkhu Munindo was born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand in 1951. He received bhikkhu ordination (upasampada) first under the Venerable Somdet Nyanasamvaro in 1974 and then under the Venerable Ajahn Chah in 1975. He came to the UK after 5 years in training monasteries in Thailand.
After several years at Cittaviveka Monastery in Chithurst, West Sussex, he moved to Devon where he led the community in establishing the Devon Vihara. In 1990 he became senior incumbent at Aruna Ratanagiri, Northumberland, UK.)

Britain’s first Buddhist College to open at Glasgow University

An inaugural one-year diploma course will be open to students from the start of the next academic year in September 2011.

One of the driving forces behind the College is Glasgow’s “Maryhill monk”, the Venerable K. Sri Rewatha Thero.

The Buddhist College UK will be modelled on the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka, the Venerable Rewatha’s home country. The Venerable Rewatha is also Buddhist Chaplain to Glasgow University.

He said: “The course will provide an academic approach to Buddhism and open up inter-faith dialogue in Scotland. Setting up the college is a great achievement and I am delighted to be part of it.”

Tutors will include the Venerable Rewatha and Doctor Kenneth Hutton of the University’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies.

Successful students can go on to take a degree course.

The Vice Chancellor of Sri Lanka’s Buddhist and Pali University, Professor Ittademaliye Indasara Nayaka Thero is in Glasgow for the launch. He said: “Buddhism is not confined to one generation, one country or even one race.”

Photos of Chithurst Monastery

Yesterday, Sunday, we were going to visit Cittaviveka, the Buddhist Monastery at Chithurst. Unfortunately we had to cancel as Wightlink could only get us on the 8:00 a.m. ferry and the numbers able to make that time were too few to justify the cost.

However, while Googling alternative dates I came across some excellent photos of the monastery by Simon Tupper, they can be seen at http://www.simontupperphotography.co.uk/#!doc/vstc6=monks pictures 13 to 20). Switch to full screen mode (F11) to really enjoy them.

Latest News from the Saranaloka Nuns’ Community

Saranaloka Foundation, based in San Francisco, was established in 2004 to support nuns from Chithurst and Amaravati monasteries to go to the United States to teach. Since that time, and numerous visits later, enthusiasm for the presence of women monastics has been tremendous and is the driving force behind an invitation to the nuns' community to set up a permanent monastery in the United States. Effectively it is an opportunity for "nuns" from the Thai Forest tradition to practice away from the male authority structures that dominate back home here in the U.K. and that are causing so many problems.

The following is a news update on what's been happening there...........

Now for the news! Ajahn Thitamedha expressed our current situation so well, when she said (I’m paraphrasing) that the foundation had to crumble so that something even better could arise out of the ashes. This update covers both the crumbling and the conscious consideration of a new way forward.

In June, Anagarika Santussika and lay woman Hitesi both decided to leave the vihara to pursue their spiritual paths in other ways. Their leaving opened a door of reflection that is proving fruitful to the community.

Bhikkhunis Ordained in California

Sylvia Boorstein writing in the Huffington Post:-

Ordination of Bhikkhunis in the Theravada Tradition

At 6:15 p.m. on August 29, 2010, at a secluded mountaintop hermitage overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Sonoma County, California, four women, all long-time dedicated practitioners, were declared fully ordained as bhikkhunis, Buddhist nuns, in the Thai Theravada tradition. It was the first such ordination ever in the Western hemisphere, and it was epochal since their preceptors were nuns in their same tradition.

Although the Buddha ordained both monks and nuns, the order of nuns disappeared a thousand years later when it became clear that there were no nuns available to ordain new nuns. Keeping strictly with tradition (and in keeping with patriarchal pressures) the rule that nuns needed to be ordained by nuns brought the order of nuns to an end, and women were able to join a community and practice in only an inferior status. The pressure brought by women ardent to practice and have roles and recognition comparable to men has enabled some women, trained in the Theravada Thai tradition, to be ordained by nuns with Sri Lankan ordination. The nuns ordained Sunday join the now small group of recognized bhikkhunis in the Thai Forest tradition that can now continue to grow.

The formal ceremony began with a procession of monastics entering single file though the gathered community to take their places in a simply constructed pavilion that had been decorated with flowers. Members of the community shared rose petals from prepared baskets lining the way so they could strew the petals along the path as the monks and nuns passed by. I thought of the similar use of flower petals at weddings understood how in both cases the flowers are marking holy space in preparation for a sacrament.

I was awed by the hours-long ceremony of asking for admission, being granted permission and being blessed. The part I sense in myself -- I think we all must have it -- that longs for inner peace resonated in joyful participation as the new nuns bowed to their sister nuns, and then to the twelve Theravada monks who had come from monasteries and retreat centers all over America to add their blessings. Bhani Henepola Gunaratana, the eldest of the monastics, offered words of teaching and blessing. Ruth Dennison, at eighty-eight a most venerable lay teacher in the tradition, also added her words of delight and blessing.

It's probably fair to say that not many people outside of Buddhism have been aware of the exclusion of nuns from equality in monastic practice in the Theravada tradition. Nevertheless, I felt the event as an epochal one, and not only for women in Theravada practice. Each time equal opportunities are afforded to women where they had not been before, each time gender barriers are eliminated and women are emancipated, all women benefit. All people benefit. The world is made more harmonious.

The Buddha's final teaching emphasized "avoiding schisms in the community." Sunday's ordination is a ratification of that teaching.

Cherish the Nuns

I've just received our copy of the Insight Journal from the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. This is the Summer 2010 edition and, at the time of writing, is not yet available online. The "Editor's Essay" by Andrew Olendzki is entitled "Cherish the Nuns" and examines the whole question of "Seniority" with a fascinating proposal at the end.

"After his awakening the Buddha made a return visit to his home town of Kapilavastu. An influential Sakyan chief (and cousin to Siddhartha) named Mahanama 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, Ananda and Devadatta, snuck away from town and met up with the Buddha at a place called Anupiya. They were accompanied by their barber Upali, who was initially sent home with all their valuables, but who then decided that he too wanted to go forth into the life of the wandering mendicant. At this point the princes made a remarkable and generous gesture.

They knew that the Sangha of monks was organized entirely on a system of seniority, wherein people of all castes and all socio-economic backgrounds would defer to one another solely on the basis of the order in which they joined the community. They addressed the Buddha, saying, "We, Lord, are Sakyans, we are proud. This barber has been our attendant for a long time. May the Lord let him go forth first. We will greet him, rise up before him, salute him with joined palms, and do the proper duties. Thus will the Sakyan pride be humbled in us Sakyans."

It was done as they wished, and Upali went on to become one of the most important members of the community, the one who memorized all the monastic laws and led the recitation of the Vinaya at the first council. It was a tribute to the Sakyan princes' integrity and commitment to the ideals of the movement that they were willing to humble themselves in this simple but highly symbolic way.
Sometime later Pajapati, the Buddha's aunt and adoptive mother (taking over all maternal duties after the death in childbirth of her sister Maya), also asked to join the monastic community, which up to that time had monks but no nuns. The Buddha at first hesitated,

Ajahn Brahm talk on Bhikkhuni Ordination

Don't know how I missed this one, but here is Ajahn Brahm's Opening Talk to the Bhikkhuni Seminar at Santi Forest Monastery back in 2008.

Ajahn Sucitto on the Nuns’ Situation

The following is taken from the Cittaviveka Newsletter August 2010 and is Ajahn Sucitto's thoughts on the Nuns’ situation at Chithurst and within the wider "Western" forest tradition.

"The unfortunate news regarding the nuns is that our two senior nuns have left or will be leaving the community. Ajahn Thitamedha revised her plan to live as a nun outside this community to one of disrobing altogether. Ajahn Kovida has decided to leave Cittaviveka in November, spend some time in Burma and then take up life as a solitary nun in Britain. Many of you will have read their farewell letters and are understandably shocked or saddened by this news, especially as they point to perceived problems in the community dynamic. It’s a sensitive area, and because rumours and interpretations abound, I offer a few thoughts for consideration. To speak in general terms, each of us requests permission for the Going Forth and entrance to this lineage after careful consideration, and many choose to leave it after a similar process. The sense of how needs, aims and directions change is part of the changing nature of spiritual life. This is nothing new; nor is the sense of loss and disappointment that occurs, especially when a monk or nun of long-standing leaves the group. To my knowledge, even amongst senior monks, more have left our group than now remain. To address the nuns’ situation more specifically, I will speak from my own limited understanding of the situation. It seems to me that at this time our lineage sits at the edge where a conservative Asian tradition meets
a liberal Western one, and that brings with it the crunch point of gender equality - which is the aspired aim of the West, but which is in direct contradiction to the fact that in all Buddhist monastic lineages, the male line is held to be ‘senior’ to the female. Seniority is a way of forming line-ups and protocols within a group, to avoid competition or jealousy - so that who goes first is not a matter of who’s wisest, but who’s senior. This too is nothing new here, and it is so much the standard that to change that would require broad Sangha consent.

Another crucial point is that men and women experience and relate to the world in distinctly different ways. Over time, these differences can bring with them a frustration that we’re not on the same wave-length, and interpretations that so-and-so is not following the agreed-upon norms, or that so and-so isn’t listening or is out of touch. In situations when a man and a woman live together, I’d imagine that these issues can get sorted out (though not always), because of the intimacy that is part of the commitment to live with a chosen partner. When such issues occur amongst 25 people, who haven’t chosen to live in a close relationship, and who are in many ways barred from forming one, and who incline towards silence and solitude, resolving these differences is a major challenge. Some feel that more dialogue is needed; greater separation is also a considered option - either through
creating another vihara, or, regrettably, through a more complete leave-taking. At Cittaviveka we have attempted to give the Rocana Vihara a good degree of autonomy, with the nuns being in charge of their routines and internal governance. Recently this has extended to having meal offerings for the sisters down at Rocana on the last Friday of each month (you are all very welcome to make offerings there to the sisters). We are also establishing an inter-monastic committee to look into how sharing these wonderful places can become smoother. Naturally after all the time and effort that’s gone into establishing a training for women in the west, I’m keen to find a satisfactory resolution."

Vandalism at Chithurst

Apparently the night after Sister Thitamedha disrobed a brick was thrown through the door of the Chithurst Dhamma Hall. The assailant then hammered on the door of Ajahn Sucitto's kuti before driving off hurriedly in a car. Fortunately nobody was injured in the attack.

From Chithurst

Yet Another Nun to Disrobe

Sister Sumedha is to leave Amaravati and disrobe. In the following letter she explains her decision.

"Dear Venerable Sisters, Brothers and friends, having lived in the communities of Amaravati and Chithurst for 12 years, I am writing to let you know of my intention to leave the Siladhara training. I will go to Aloka Vihara in San Francisco until mid-November and disrobe after my return to the UK at the end of the year.

This decision comes with sadness. Many of you are aware that there is a spate of sisters either disrobing or stepping outside the Siladhara order (wishing to continue to live as nuns outside of our current structural framework). My own decision to leave is very much related to my sense of practice and that the the ethos of our community as it has been evolving is not one I can align myself with. What I have learnt as a Siladhara includes a lot about focus and discipline and I do very much appreciate having a container that encourages the reflective heart. Meditation and the teachings and

Ajahn Brahm asks Fellow Monks to "Explain Themselves" on the Question of Bhikkhuni Ordination

Further to a previous posting "The Inequality of Women in Buddhism", I came across an item on Ajahn Sujato's blog where he features a comment by Ajahn Brahm. The comment is in response to a post by Ajahn Sujato on the article in BuddhaDharma, "The Time has Come". This article is the subject of our above mentioned post!

“What would it look like to relocate the ‘problem’ of bhikkhuni ordination and gender equity within Buddhism to where it really belongs? … with those who fear women’s full participation”

Having read the comments in this thread with interest, as I am inextricably involved, I think they have drifted away from the main thrust of the Buddhadharma magazine article as expressed in the quote above. That is, for too long Ajahn Sujato, myself and the participating Bhikkhunis, have been asked to justify our actions in facilitating the Perth Bhikkhuni ordinations.

Now it is the time for those Western monks, and Thai monks who either live in the West or regularly travel there, to either show their support for Bhikkhuni ordination in the West,or justify their opposition to it.

Ajahn Sumedho is leaving Amaravati at the end of this year, so is the Thai monk Ven Pannyasaro who, I was told, drafted the notorious Five Points. Ajahn Amaro, currently at Abhayagiri Monastery in California, is to take over leadership of the Amaravati group. It seems appropriate that he makes his position on Bhikkhuni ordination clear, in plain English not in Amaravati-speak, to the supporters of his future monastery. Other influential monks such as Ajahn Vajiro of Amaravati, Ajahn Nyanadhammo in Thailand, Ajahn Pasanno of Abhayagiri, the Thai monk Ajahn Preecha in Italy, Ajahn Tiradhammo in New Zealand, the Thai monk Ajahn Anan who visits the West regularly, they should also be pressed by their lay supporters to publicly explain their position, not as a group but as individuals. If they have nothing to be ashamed of, they should have no fear in articulating their position in public clearly and independently. I ask this because I understand that straightforward honesty, not deafening silence, is necessary for moving forward on this painful issue.

Unfortunately, I do not have the power to compel these good monks to explain whatever position they hold on Bhikkhuni ordination, or to question them on why they refused my genuine offer of forgiveness and reconciliation. But you, the lay people who feed these monks and provide the funds that support their other needs, do have that power. Maybe it is the time to exercise that power.

It is now the time, as a result of The Buddhadharma magazine’s article, for them to personally explain themselves to the Buddhist world.

With Mega Metta, Ajahn Brahm.

Sister Kovida to Leave Chithurst

Sister Kovida, a senior nun at Chithurst Buddhist monastery, is to leave because of the situation and difficulties for nuns within the Thai Forest tradition. Here is her letter explaining her reasons..........

Dear All,

I hope you are all well and coping well enough.

I am writing sadly to share some more news....After much soul searching I have come to a place where I now feel the need to move on from our community. I have decided to leave in November when I go to Burma for a month. I still feel very committed in my heart to being a nun so do not intend to disrobe. I imagine this will not come as a complete surprise to you as some of you know I have been wavering.

The whole series of developments over the last 2 years has been very difficult and challenging for many of our whole community, lay and monastic. In my 15 years as a nun the idea of leaving these communities hadn't seriously occurred to me until last Vassa.

Since then I have inquired into that impulse to find what feels most true. Over these past months I have gradually come to a deeper sense of important areas personally and collectively which we struggle to address as a monastic community. The result of not addressing these areas feels like it to leads to a breakdown in communication and relationship which then makes clearing of misperceptions harder to acheive.

It feels essential to me to be receptive to what arises as best I can, and then listen and respond. Of course I don't always manage this as you well know, but it has been and still is what I most want to develop.

I feel very very sad but also clear in my heart about this step and I will miss you all very much and will definitely stay in touch.

I am deeply grateful for the Teaching and Training and what I have learned from living together within this vehicle which has so many blessings.

with much love and gratitude,
Sister Kovida

Our Visit to Cittaviveka

As reported in a previous post "A Visit to Chithurst and a Letter from Perth" the West Wight Sangha and the Newport Zen group got together for another visit to Cittaviveka, the Theravada Buddhist monastery just outside Chithurst. We were privileged to have Ajahn Succito, the abbot, lead the lay forum. It was the first time that he had done so and as he said, "I aught to find out what it's all about"!

Earlier he had explained the reason for the sudden appearance of numerous "safety" signs everywhere, the monastery had been inspected by the local council! Apparently they had been "missed" so the council was catching up on "health and safety" big time. Part of this was that the monastery is now classed as a "catering establishment" and as a result we were all asked to take any uneaten food home with us!

As Ajahn said "life's too important to take seriously".

On a "serious" point the nuns were noticeable by their absence, at the midday service I counted thirteen monks and anagarikas whereas there were only two nuns plus two female anagarikas.

On the following Friday some of us travelled into Newport  to join with the Soto Zen group for a day retreat led by Rev. Alicia, the new Prior at Reading Priory. Within this tradition gender specific titles are not used, all monastics are monks with the title Reverend and the head of a priory is a Prior!

Female Ordination, Another View

Some of you may have noticed that there were some comments being added to our posts. A whole crop of them were in Chinese saying strange things like Things were going to be cautious, be patient in adversity............, but on  closer examination I found that the trailing "..........." after the comment was actually a link, I'll leave you to imagine to what sort of site!

The following however is in English and relates to one of our postings re: the vexed question of Full female ordination, More on "Nun" Ordinations at Amaravati. Our policy is to welcome all comments as long as they're not an excuse to link to other sites of an inappropriate nature.

Anonymous said...

The Five Points perfectly make sense in a Theravada Buddhist monastic setting and appear to be very meaningful in the way that they will really contribute to achieving the goal of nibbana in this very life for the women thus ordained.

29 July 2010 07:16

A Visit to Chithurst & a Letter from Perth

I have just come across this letter from Ajahn Brahm to Thanissara which she has kindly forwarded and posted on the "Women and the Forest Sangha" group. The mention of Ajahn Sucitto is an interesting coincidence as this past Sunday the West Wight Sangha again joined forces with the Newport Soto Zen group to travel over to Chithurst where, for the first time, the lay forum was lead by Ajahn Sucitto himself, a real privilege and joy (more to follow on that).

Dear Thanissara, I have just read your excellent article in "Present", but would like to correct a couple of minor points. Bodhinyana Monastery in Perth was never a member of the "Elders Council", I was never invited to any of their meetings, nor was I ever informed of what they discussed or agreed upon. This council was made up of senior monks from Amaravati, Chithurst, Harnham, Devon Vihara, the Swiss monastery, the Italian monastery, Abhayagiri and Bodhinyanarama in New Zealand. This was because Bodhinyana Monastery in Perth began when Ajahn Chah sent Ajahn Jagaro to Australia. It was a direct offshoot of Wat Pah Pong. It did not originate as an offshoot of Amaravati/Chithurst, and so was never under Ajahn Sumedho. This was why we were never part of the "Amaravati Group". For this reason, the Sangha in Perth felt no obligation to consult with this council prior to the Perth Bhikkhuni Ordinations last year. That I did personally inform Ajahn Sumedho and Vajiro about the ordinations about 10 days' beforehand was out of courtesy, not obligation. However, I did consult the Thai Elders Council (Mahatherasamakom) through its leader, Somdej Pootajarn. He famously told me three times in response to my direct question on Bhikkhuni ordination in Australia that "Thai Sangha Law does not extend to the West". I also consulted with Phra Prom Gunaporn (Phra Payutto), probably the most esteemed scholar currently in Thailand, and he advised to act compassionately. A copy of his letter is posted on Ajahn Sujato's Blog. I also consulted with the head of Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University, Phra Dhammakosajarn, but he declined to reply.The oft repeated charge against the Perth Sangha of non consultation is a myth. Lastly. I was organising the 2009 WAM. When I asked for subjects to discuss, only Ajahn Sucitto gave any suggestions. All the other Theras supplied nothing. It was myself who suggested that we discuss Bhikkhuni Ordination at the WAM. No-one else showed any interest. Once I discovered in November about the Five Points, I realised why none of these monks were interested in discussing Bhikkhuni Ordination. All is well in Perth. The Sanghas are thriving, the lay supporters are growing in numbers, and tonight I give my first talk in Bangkok since the Perth Bhikkhuni Ordinations. With Mega Metta, Ajahn Brahm

Sister Thitamedha to Disrobe because of the "Five Points"

I have just come across the following sad news, Ajahn Thitamedha is to disrobe as a Siladhara because of the Five Points. In the following letter she explains why..........

Warmest greetings from Thitamedha.

I would like to inform you about my new changes.

The last letter I sent you with my plans to be a tudong (wandering) nun is now out of date, unfortunately.

Being in California for the last 3 months, as part of the Saranaloka project, and living with the sisters in Aloka vihara has been deeply nurturing and nourishing, and also revealing for me.

I have been very touched and moved to be part of this project and to help even a bit with establishing the independent nuns' community in the US.

As some of you might know, the events of last year and in particular the introduction of the 5-points agreement to the sisters, was the most challenging and painful time in my monastic life.

My heart has been breaking after I agreed to it. The result of this painful process was shocking for me. While here in California, I realised I cannot any more continue to be a Theravada Buddhist nun.

I need to leave monastic life, and I will disrobe on 2nd of August at CBM and leave on the 4th.

I went through deep emotional trauma, which I have been able to attend to and be with during my stay in California, in the nourishing and nurturing environment where the Feminine is valued. I experienced a ground which deeply appreciates and welcomes women samanas.

I have been a monastic for almost 16 years and a siladhara for 14 years. It was the most transformative and wonderful part of my life. It enabled me to be who I am now and I am deeply grateful for having had this opportunity.

But, in this hierarchical structure one has to really be alert and align the Heart with Love and Compassion so as to relate to each individual, not in accordance with hierarchy, but as a fellow human Being, trying to resonate with the pains of others and cultivate ahimsa. Otherwise, one can easily get conditioned to relate to the world and fellow human beings from this position of hierarchy.

After living in monastic mixed communities for almost 16 years I have come to the understanding that in order to flourish and grow, monastic women have to live separately. This is mainly because of the lack of equality for the female samanas in the mixed communities.

Even though the majority of the monks on the personal level could be friendly and supportive - being real brothers - the Theravada monastic system itself, which is based on hierarchy and patriarchy (in its essence) is very undermining, and lacking in respect for the Feminine or female samana. I share this based on my personal experience.

The longer one is living in this system being a female samana the more one faces these challenges. On the individual level, one could practice with it for a while and keep letting go and keep releasing the pain/dukkha of it, but in the long term , in order to grow and unfold to our true beautiful human potential, we all need an environment which is nourishing and caring, based on mutual respect, Love and equality -- despite gender, years of monastic life, and the number of precepts one keeps.

My previous plans and letter about the tudong/pilgrimge was very uplifting for me as it was for many of you. Almost every one of you were very kind and supportive and encouraging when I announced my plans in January to go and be a tudong nun. And now I've realized how deeply I was affected by the 5 points and events of the last few years, resulting in my decision.

It is strange, but despite the pain of last year, I am basically very well - clear and strong and steady. Deeply well in the core of my Being. I am fully committed to The Path Of Awakening through Cultivation of the Heart, through Love and Compassion. And I will continue my Spiritual Path as a lay practitioner.

In regards to my future plans, I would still like to be a wandering yogi-practitioner, a pilgrim for a couple of years. And after that I do not know. The Path is wide Open.

Well, my dear Sisters and Brothers on The Path, I want to thank you all of from the depth of my heart for all your love, support and encouragement all these years. I will keep you all in my heart and prayers,

Much love and an ocean of blessings,

Thitamedha

The Inequality of Women in Buddhism

In the latest edition of BuddhaDharma there are a number of articles on the subject of full female ordination, the Bhikkhuni question. The first is by three former Buddhist nuns—Thanissara, Jitindriya, and Elizabeth Day, and is entitled "The Time Has Come". The second, "That Was Then, This Is Now" is by Buddhist scholar Janet Gyatso and the last is a report by Llundup Damcho on the Seventeeth Karmapa’s vow to reinstate full ordination for women in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, it is titled, “I will do it”.

On the same subject there is an excellent article on the same subject, again by Thanissara, in the latest edition of Present, which is published by the "Alliance for Bhikkhunis". It is, "Take it or Leave it and the Ground Between" and is downloadable from this link as a PDF file.