Nuns
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The history and experience of female renunciation in Buddhism.
Bhikkhunis pose together at a conference in Frankfurt in 2007. (Photo courtesy of Ayya Sudhamma)
Table of Contents
Books (13)
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Canonical Works (7)
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Oh so well was the goad
shown to me by my mother… -
A short sutta celebrating a Bhikkhunī meditation teacher.
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Readings (35)
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… mae chis are not, on the whole, eager to relinquish their present status
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⭐ Recommended
Thai Buddhist nuns (mae chis) and bhikkhunīs are excluded from the country’s saṅgha, directly affecting their religious standing and social possibilities
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… female monastics lead agentive, creative, and sometimes rebellious female lives that in subtle and not so subtle ways resist the label ‘feminist’
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… an overview of how bhikkhunis, or fully ordained nuns, came into being, disappeared and are now reappearing again
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… a look at some of the puzzles or problems that bhikkhunīs are working on within the Theravāda tradition
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… the Buddhist nuns’ revival movement fit into the broader women’s liberation discourse and the national modernization project
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Pomp and ceremony opened the conference and then the activities settled into a daily pattern…
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A survey of the Bhikṣuṇīs of the Sarvāstivādin Avadāna and what this may say about the history of female renunciation in Buddhism.
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… past-life accounts of women as disciples of former buddhas add a new dimension to the notion of female discipleship in early Buddhism. Gotama was not alone in having a fourfold community
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In Vietnam, the decision for young women to ordain as Mahayana Buddhist nuns is navigated through careful interpretations of feeling. Nuns state their decisions to “go forth” (đi tu) in youth were precipitated by feelings of peace and comfort in monasteries even before they understood Buddhist teachings. Such feelings are interpreted as indicators of past-life karmic bonds, which create “predestined affinities” in this life (nhân duyên).
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These inscriptions not only resurrect the valuable contributions of the nuns in ancient India, but also allow us to glean much about the order of nuns in the formative centuries of Buddhism.
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… it had to stand on its own feet.
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One way to practice dana is by giving money, and another is by giving time.
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A short portrait of Ayya Jayati on the occasion of her first winter as a Bhikkhuni.
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Audio/Video (16)
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The story of four pioneering Thai and American Bhikkhunis.
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A retelling of Yasodhara’s story followed by a few answers about Venerable Dhammananda’s own journey to and in the robes.
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⭐ Recommended
On how Buddhist narratives of pregnancy deconstruct the traditional feminine and open a space for female renunciation.
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The Buddhist convent known as Hokkeji, founded in the eighth century in the old capitol of Nara, fell into decline and was all but forgotten for centuries before reemerging in the Kamakura period (1185-1333) as an important pilgrimage site and as the location of a reestablished monastic order for women.
57 min
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