A Bit About Bhikkhunis

Up to the present, I’ve lived in the same world as most people. We all do essentially the same things in the same way, with only minor variations. When we haven’t been in a period of lay-off, we get up and spend most of our waking hours 5 days per week getting-to, being-at and coming-home-from work. We ride in elevators and drive cars. We decide what, and when, we would like to eat.

We all have our favorite TV shows (which we can get into engaged conversation with each other about), we all shop at Trader Joe’s (at least on occasion), we all go to restaurants and the movies, we all have a cell phone. We spend leisure time “hanging out” with partners and friends.

Those with children (I had some for a while) have homework and soccer and play dates and teacher conferences and the dilemma of what to do on the days when school is closed, again. 

Sound familiar?

For this self this is about to change… 

  

This new life will bring me into contact with worlds very different from the one I have been inhabiting for the past 48 years. <big smile here in this moment>

One of the different worlds that has already intersected mine is the world of the Aloka Vihara and Aranya Bodhi Bhikkhunis.

Admittedly I know very little about Bhikkhunis, but I’m learning, and thought to share a bit here since I hope to have the good fortune of/have plans to be a steward for both of these communities while on the journey.

What I do know is that theirs is a very different way of life. A way of faith and devotion where service to others takes top priority. A world where their survival LITERALLY depends on dana (the generosity of others).

As I understand it, a main duty for the steward at Aloka Vihara is offering the meals (only 2 per day; nothing but water or some juice past noon) to the Bhikkhunis.

They can NOT eat if a lay person does not put the food into their hands. If the food is not offered to them.

And what is the food? How did they get it?

The only food available is whatever has been provided by the generosity (dana) of the lay community which supports the monastery.

Think about ceding control over the basic sustenance of your existence to other people. Monastics are only permitted to possess food, clothing (sparse), shelter and medicine. ALL of this is provided through dana.

What qualities does it take for one to live this way? What level of faith? What level of commitment and dedication? This is a profound way of living. Truly radical to many. I offer the utmost respect to those who make this commitment.

As I understand it, the Buddha envisioned the complete expression of community as a “fourfold Sangha” comprised of monastics - Bhikkhus (male monks) and Bhikkhunis (female nuns) and the laity - lay women and lay men. All four components are necessary for a society to blossom into its full potential.

The code, the rules by which the monastics live is the Vinaya; according to accesstoinsight.org:

“The Vinaya Pitaka… is the textual framework upon which the monastic community (Sangha) is built. It includes not only the rules governing the life of every Theravada bhikkhu (monk) and bhikkhuni (nun), but also a host of procedures and conventions of etiquette that support harmonious relations, both among the monastics themselves, and between the monastics and their lay supporters, upon whom they depend for all their material needs.”

Although the Bhikkhuni Sangha was created by the Buddha it had died out in certain countries and traditions over the millenia and is currently undergoing a strong resurgence.

To be properly ordained, a nun must be ordained first by a quorum of nuns and then a second time by a quorum of monks. In Theravada areas/countries the nun’s lineage died out around the turn of the first millennium and traditionalists do not believe that it can or should be revived because there are no Theravada nuns to ordain new nuns. However, the nuns’ lineage continues in most Mahayana countries like Taiwan and Korea. It is the unbroken Mahayana lineage being used to revive the Bhikkhuni Sangha in the present time.

Lama Choedak Rinpoche, the convener of the very controversial 2009 Bhikkhuni ordination in Australia, said:

“The controversy surrounding female ordination is not a problem restricted only to Christianity. Even though ordination of women in Buddhism occurred during the life of the Buddha, his initial reluctance to ordain women seems to have been misinterpreted by many people. This misinterpretation has left a legacy of doubt and indecision among the orthodox Buddhist leaders. Some Buddhist countries did not even introduce the Bhikhuni ordination while others who did could not sustain the lineage for long. The Bhikhuni ordination was never introduced to Tibet even though there are hundreds of nunneries there. Theravadin tradition lost the lineage that they once had and initiatives to revive the tradition in Thailand have faced stiff opposition from the mainstream Buddhist leadership.”

I am aware of only a handful of Bhikkhuni ordinations which have occurred in the west. October 17, 2011 at Spirit Rock saw the ordination of 3 new Bhikkhunis (the 2 creating Aloka Vihara + 1 from a monastery in Canada).

Here is a link to a slideshow of the ordination:

Bhikkhuni Ordination - October 17, 2011

I spent the day before and the day of the ordination at Spirit Rock; helping to set up the hall, preparing flowers, being of use in general where I could, and attending the ordination itself.

What is apparent is how incredibly important it is, to these 3 women specifically and to the other Bhikkhunis I’ve heard speak on this topic, to become fully ordained. And I clearly heard the pain they endured, and lengths they’ve gone, to achieve full ordination.

2600 years have passed since the Buddha’s awakening; an unimaginable amount of time to this mind. We in the community of present day women have a commonality with the women of that age who were the first who aspired ordination. Namely, resistance to the fulfillment of our human potential, which all of us have experienced in latent and manifest ways throughout our lifetimes inhabiting this female form.

There always opportunities to support the women of Aloka Vihara and Aranya Bodhi. I've made a commitment to do the small piece that I can and am grateful for their acceptance of my service.

In case you’re interested in more information or want to offer dana I put the links to their websites on the side bar of my blog.