"What the Buddha Never Taught"

Author Tim Ward (reviewed by Linda Morgan, Whole Earth Review)

WAT PAH NANACHAT, Thailand - "A while back I divested myself of all furniture and 90 percent of everything else I owned to move to a new life. It was one of my most intense therapeutic acts and amazingly easy to accomplish, once I discovered that detachment is the happy companion of spiritual freedom."

The act of letting go is a central theme in this combination travelogue and spiritual odyssey -- that of cutting loose the physical world and the ego to get to the essence of human existence. The author, a Canadian journalist and accomplished student of Eastern meditation, had already experienced this on a certain level when he ventured through the gates of a Thai Buddhist monastery, largely populated by Western Caucasians. In this jungle community he lived a season in poverty and service, and when he left he took with him a different and somewhat unexpected vision of enlightenment -- hence the title.

Through the texture of a beautiful essay enriched with dialogue, we eavesdrop on the inner sanctum of the monks' environment and vicariously experience their world, bound by (or, depending on one's perspective, liberated by) stringent rules of behavior, long hours of meditation, and the nourishment of only one [substantial] meal a day. Consequently, we see the monks as human beings grappling with their own emotional baggage, just like us.

"The first morning Jim and I go on bindabhat [Pali, pindapat, the monastic custom of going on alms round for food] is the first time I notice that monks don't wear sandals on the ninety-minute walk over gravel roads and paddy dykes. Each morning they travel in groups of three or four to the clusters of nearby villages....

"Leather-looted Sun Tin and Nimalo wait for me again at the entrance to our first village. Following their example, I slip the bowl strap from my left shoulder and neck onto my right, Nimalo reminds me to keep my left hand on the lid, supporting the rim of the bowl with my right, arms still as I walk, head reverently bent. Throughout the walk we are to say nothing and never look into the eyes of the villagers....

"Devotees give to the [symbol of the Sangha, the saffron] robe, not to the wearer. They believe it is a ritual for the making of merit, for a better rebirth. If a monk thanks the giver, then by treating it as a personal favour, [great] merit is not gained....

"The ritual is a humbling one, repeated fifty or sixty times that morning until my bowl is heavy with rice, mangos, bananas, dried meat, fishes, and sticky sweets wrapped in leaves. Do these villagers know where we have come from, our lands of swimming pool suburbs, aeroplanes, and revolving restaurants, to walk through their rice paddies and pathways strewn with scraps of lumber, cardboard, and buffalo dung?

"On Wai Phra evening the Ajahn [teacher] gave permission for laymen and pahkows [non-monk residents of the monastery who obey certain precepts] to come to his kuti [meditation hut] for a Dhamma talk [Buddhist sermon]..." More>>

Nun's Full Ordination (Theravada)

Text by Bhikkhuni Sobhana (LakeHouse)


Britney Spears, when speculation was rampant, to explain why she shaved her head. She seems to have affected many other female celebrities' choice of haircut usually reserved for nuns.

Bhikkhuni ("nun") ordination: It is a great blessing that women going forth in Theravada Buddhism is no longer a novelty.

After a lapse of 900 years, there now exists in Sri Lanka a functional female monastic order holding regular, twice monthly recitation of the monastic precepts properly supported by monks.

Sri Lankan nuns have received full ordination in every year since 1998. Over 400 international nuns are practicing, mostly in rural areas. There are 2,000 female novices (samaneris) preparing for ordination, as well as 3,000 practicing as Ten Precept "Nuns" (Dasa Sil Matas or DSM), the much older former glass ceiling for women.

These developments should be celebrated by anyone who appreciates the Buddha's plan for a four-fold Great Order of monks, nuns, male, and female lay disciples.

Western women in particular had long been discouraged from going forth in the Theravada tradition. There are many supportive monks. Bhante Gunaratna of West Virginia (bhavanasociety.org) is among the most senior of supportive monks in this regard.

Yet, the history of inequities and lack of an established Western female Sangha are serious barriers. In a viable Sangha, at least four monks would meet regularly for reciting the monastic precepts, and there would be sufficient depth of training and wisdom. The effort to form such a Sangha has been hindered by the difficulty in organizing ordinations. So it is encouraging to know that the Nun's Order of Sri Lanka will now gladly ordain all qualified foreigners.

In 2006, four international nuns were ordained, together with ten local nuns. The ordination ceremony was held at the Chapter House of the Golden Temple in Dambulla, Sri Lanka led by Bhante Inamaluwe Sumangala Thera. Bhikkuni Gunanusari and I had the privilege of participating in this ordination.

Afterwards, I spent Vassa (the three-month Rains Retreat) at the home temple of Bhikkhuni Siri Sumedha, who is the head of the Bhikshuni Educational Academy at Dambulla.

I attended several village welcoming ceremonies, the very impressive bi-monthly monastic recitation attended by up to 115 bhikkunis, all-night protective chanting at private homes, and a full round of Kathina Cloth celebrations.

I observed that this Sangha was organized out of the former DSM Order, which was founded in 1932 by Ven. Sudharmacari (Mary Katharene de Alwis), a virtuous and capable nun who had studied the Doctrine and Discipline in Burma for 14 years. My bhikkhuni teacher, who ordained as a DSM at age 12, explained that they did the same religious work as a monk without any recognition.

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Their status was always ambiguous -- neither Sangha members nor lay disciples. While some DSMs were well trained and disciplined in their practice, others were just destitute widows, who would go to a shop and buy some yellow cloth to wear.

In 1986, assisted by the government, a society of nuns was founded with chapters in every region of Sri Lanka. This society provided Dharma training and access to university-level Buddhist studies for nuns.

It was this group of DSMs, together with their monk supporters, who organized the training program and selection procedures for the re-establishment of the female Order.

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Today's Sri Lankan nuns are drawn from the top ranks of DSMs. They already have decades of experience, well established local temples, and a base of lay supporters.

A few are scholars or recluses. They are venerated and supported but still materially quite poor compared to their male counterparts.

The full ordination of nuns is officially opposed by all three monk sects in Sri Lanka [who are strictly following the rules laid down by the Buddha] but is quietly supported by individual monks. Gradually, nuns are receiving government recognition as clergy. There is no governmental persecution.

Therefore, if any North American woman has an interest in going forth and receiving full ordination, here are some points to consider about ordaining at Dambulla:

• The candidate should have three years of monastic training before ordination. Among our international group, some counted their previous experience (of dwelling at a Buddhist temple as lay resident and observing the eight monastic precepts).
• Experience in Mahayana settings is also counted, as is Theravada novice training.
• She should be sponsored by a respected Theravada monk who agrees to supervise her in her homeland for five years following ordination.
• There is a qualifying examination. Local candidates receive a three-month training course, but unless one is fluent in Sinhalese, the foreigner must prepare at home under her own teacher.
• The curriculum includes the major disciplinary rules for females (bhikkhuni patimokkha), lesser rules (Culavagga), aphorisms (Dhammapada), discourses (sutras), the history of Buddhism and history of the Bhikkhuni Sangha from its ancient founding up to recent developments.
• Local candidates are expected to memorize blocks of text in Pali, but it is possible to pass the examination with a very slight knowledge of Pali.
• Ordination is given annually, shortly before the beginning of Vassa (full moon in July).
• The teachers particularly advise candidates to stay with a Bhikkhuni Sangha for their first Rains Retreat.
• It is possible to obtain the full monastic training and supervision in Sri Lanka. For example, a female novice could study Pali and Buddhism in a college setting, while learning the monastic rules within a nun's dwelling.
• If she is not fluent in Sinhalese, the options are very limited, but there are a few English speaking nuns.
• Naturally, she should first establish herself with a well-trusted, skillful primary teacher. Then, while learning Doctrine and Discipline, let go of attachments, commitments, and habits of household life. Only then should she make the decision to take nun's ordination.
• More >>

• Tibetan ordination advice (Vajrayana)

PHOTOS: Britney Spears, Natalie Portman (who yesderday was awarded a "Humanity Award" in Venice, CA and donated the $50,000 award to the Jane Goodall Institute), Neve Campbell, Demi Moore, Sigourney Weaver, Sharon Stone, Noemie Leonoir, Tibetan nun and activist fighting Indian police while protesting Chinese abuses.