THE ISSUE:
The Present Status
of the Bhiksuni Ordination
By Bhiksuni Thubten Chodron
Buddhist men and women have aspired for
liberation and full enlightenment since the
time of the Buddha. Such an aspiration is rare
and precious in our materialistic world where
consumerism rules, and monastic life is an
important way to nourish this aspiration so
that it can be fulfilled. Therefore the Buddha
himself established both the bhiksu and
bhiksuni sanghas (communities of male and
female fully ordained ones), and together with
upasakas and upasikas (male and female lay
followers), they form the “four-fold
sangha.” The presence of the four-fold
sangha makes an area a “central
land,” that is, one where the
Buddha’s teachings are practiced,
preserved, and passed down to future
generations. In the sutras, the Buddha often
extols the importance and value of the
four-fold sangha. At present, some
traditionally Buddhist countries have the
four-fold sangha, while others lack it due to
the absence of a bhiksuni sangha. The lack of a
bhiksuni sangha, therefore, hinders the
preservation and spread of the Buddha’s
precious teachings in the world in general and
deprives many serious women from fully
practicing the path as they wish.
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