If I'm not wrong Ajahn Brahm mentioned there are currently 4000
nuns in Sri Lanka.
http://www.dharma.org/ij/archives/2002a/nuns_ord.htm
After a hiatus of one thousand years, Theravadin women once more
have the opportunity to ordain as bhikkhunis and thus become full
members of the Sangha. Traditionally the Sangha is composed of
fully ordained nuns (bhikkhuna), fully ordained monks (bhikkhu),
novice nuns (samanera), and novice monks (samanera).
From the 3rd century BCE when King Ashoka’s son, Mahinda, and
daughter. Sanghamitta, brought the ordination lineages of both
monks and nuns from India to Sri Lanka, there was a long, proud
history of male and female monasticism on this island.
In the 11th century, as a result of war, drought and famine,
both the monks’ and nuns’ orders died out in Sri Lanka. The bhikkhu
order was revived within one generation by inviting a group of
bhikkhus from Siam [Thailand] who fulfilled the requirements for
giving bhikkhu ordination. However, as the bhikkhuni order did not
exist in any other Theravada country, the requirement that a
bhikkhuni receive her ordination from a group of ten bhikkhunis of
ten years standing followed by a further ceremony presided over by
monks could not be met. Thus the bhikkhuni lineage lapsed.
Hence, since the beginning of the 11th century, women wishing to
commit themselves to the renunciate life have had only one option:
ten lay precepts. Even the ten precepts of a samaneri have been
denied them, since in the Theravada tradition these can be given
only by a bhikkhuni. The status of these ten precept nuns, known a
Dasa Sil Matas (literally Ten Precept Mothers), is ambiguous; they
are considered neither proper monastics nor lay women
either.(1)
The situation in the other Theravada countries is even more
difficult. It seems that in Thailand and Cambodia there never were
bhikkhunis, and although they were possibly present in Burma at one
time, there too the lineage did not survive. In modern times, Burma
has nuns with the ten lay precepts who, like the Dasa Sil Matas in
Sri Lanka, are not thought to be true nuns. In Thailand and
Cambodia, even the ten lay precepts are denied women, and the nuns
there are restricted to eight precepts with a corresponding
diminishment of status.(2)
Thus the four-fold community of fully ordained nuns, fully
ordained monks, lay women and lay men, which the Buddha clearly
declared was integral to the success of the Buddhadhamma, has been
absent from all Theravada countries for one thousand years.
Recently, however, after extensive research by a group of women
from Sri Lanka and Europe, it was confirmed that the bhikkhuni
lineage extant in Taiwan and Korea is actually of Sri Lankan origin
and therefore could legitimately be used to ordain Theravada nuns
and restore the bhikkhuni order.
Although I received novice ordination in the Tibetan tradition
in 1993, being in my heart a Theravadin and having a long
association with the Thai forest tradition, I decided recently to
go to Sri Lanka to receive the samaneri vows of the Theravada
vinaya school.(3) It was a very happy experience for me, and I came
away deeply impressed with the situation that is developing
there—impressed with the bhikkhunis and samaneris I met, and
inspired by the impact the female sangha is having on their
society.
Since the first ordination of Sri Lankan bhikkhunis in 1996,
which was conducted in Sarnath, India by Korean monks and nuns,
there have been further ordination ceremonies in Bodh Gaya and in
Sri Lanka. There are now over 200 fully ordained nuns as well as
many novice nuns who are planning to receive the higher ordination,
which they are eligible to do after having kept their samaneri vows
for two years.
Behind this amazing resurgence is an organization called
Sakyadhita, Daughters of the Buddha, which was established at a
conference of Buddhist women held in Bodh Gaya in 1987. Since then
there have been six Sakyadhita conferences, including one held in
Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1993. At the time of that conference there
was strong opposition from the religious authorities of Sri Lanka
even to placing the topic of bhikkhuni ordination on the agenda.
However as an outgrowth of that conference, and from the exposure
the Dasa Sil Matas have had to fully ordained nuns from other
traditions, the aspiration to revive the Theravada bhikkhuni
lineage was born. With careful negotiation over several years and
the eventual support of prominent members of the (male) monastic
community, the situation changed completely.
It has been said before that there is nothing more powerful than
an idea whose time has come.
Much of the vision and energy for the project has come from Mrs.
Ranjani de Silva, who attended the first Sakyadhita conference in
Bodh Gaya, has been its President since 1995, and who conceived and
organized the 3rd conference in Colombo.
During my visit to Sri Lanka I stayed at the Sakyadhita Training
Centre established at Panadura, south of Colombo. At the Centre
regular programmes are organized for the nuns on such topics as
community health care, counseling skills and social development.
Nuns come from small nunneries all over the island to attend these
training sessions; they seem to be motivated by a strong desire to
be of practical benefit in their communities. There are also young
nuns attending university where they are studying Pali language,
Buddhist philosophy, Buddhist history and other related topics.
In addition to providing the facilities for these training
programmes, the Centre is ‘home’ to seven nuns, and I felt
privileged to have the opportunity to spend time with them. Some of
them are doing university studies, and the older, educated nuns
teach. Neighbourhood children come for Dhamma classes; local
people, often women, come to talk, to receive advice, or to
participate in the evening puja.
On three occasions during my brief stay we were invited out to
family homes for the daily meal. Two of these were anniversaries of
family deaths, and the senior nuns conducted all the necessary
ceremonies with confidence and dignity. In the past it would have
been monks fulfilling these functions, so it is significant that
some families are now choosing to invite nuns to officiate
instead.
For me, however, it is the third invitation that is the most
memorable. It came from a rather poor family living just down the
lane near the Sakyadhita Centre. When the Centre was first built
and the nuns began living there, the husband, known in the
neighbourhood as an abusive drunkard who terrorised his family, was
deeply hostile to the presence of the nuns. I was told that if he
discovered his wife or three young daughters had visited the nuns,
they were beaten. And there we were, two years later, being offered
a meal by the whole family, sober husband included, in their living
room. The reverence, the delight and the quiet pride were
palpable.
Ranjani de Silva has extended an invitation to Theravada women
everywhere who want to ordain to contact her, and she will do
whatever she can to help. She can be contacted at:
Sakyadhita Training Centre
115/2A Sri Dhammananda Mawatha
Gorakana, Panadura
SRI LANKA
or by email: [email protected]