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Foundation stone laid for first ever Pirivena for Bhikkhunis:

By Husna Inayathullah

International Women’s Day had greater significance for the deeply spiritual this year, with the first concrete step being taken to set up a Pirivena for Bhikkhunis. The foundation stone for the monastic college was laid at the Dekanduwala Buddhist Monastery in Horana on March 8, marking it another new frontier in the tradition of Buddhist learning. This would be the first monastic college for Bhikkhuni ordination to be set up in the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

The architect of this ground breaking development is the Director, Buddhist Cultural Centre, Ven. Kirama Wimalajothi Thera, who is also the key person in the development of Bhikkhuni ordination in the Theravada tradition.

Scriptures

Bhikkhunis are mainly found in Mahayana countries such as Korea, Vietnam, China and Taiwan. According to Buddhist scriptures, the order of Bhikkhunis was first created by the Buddha at the specific request of his foster-mother Mahaprajapati Gotami, who became the first ordained Bhikkhuni. The Buddha’s chief attendant, Ananda Thera, was also instrumental in setting up the Bhikkhuni order, which spread to many other countries over the years.

Buddhism was formally introduced to Sri Lanka by Arahat Mahinda, a missionary sent by the Indian emperor Asoka during the reign of King Devanmpiya Tissa (306–266 BCE). The Bhikkhuni order was subsequently brought to the island from India by Arahat Sanghamitta Theri.

After a few centuries the Bhikkhuni order declined and it was never re-established. Although there have been several attempts to revive it due to opposition from a number of conservative senior Bhikkhus, there has been little progress to date.

Explains Ven. Kirama Wimalajothi Thera: “In accordance with the Buddhist culture, society consists of Bhikkhus, Bhikkhunis, Upasakas (male devotees) and Upasikas (female devotees) and is based on their inter-relationships. It is so constituted that it would at the end, may be after many births, facilitate and culminate in the attainment of Nirvana, the Summun Bonum for all who thus form a part of society.”

Structure

He claims the basic structure of society, mostly accepted as the foundation of the Buddhist society, has by now come to a terrible impasse. “It is rapidly degenerating and impaired in many ways. The family, which is the basic unit of society, is itself faced with the threat of being disintegrated. As a consequence we live in a society that is mostly warped and perverted,” he says.

Ven. Wimalajothi Thera, who spent 20 years overseas as a Buddhist missionary, started the Buddhist Cultural Centre in Dehiwala, with the assistance of his devotees in Malaysia. Initially the Centre, which was set up as a non-profit venture, promoted Buddhist publications alongside other publications such as short stories, fiction, novels, and cartoons. The Centre has up to now published more than 1,000 books in Sinhala and English.

Though the intellectual development of the Buddhist had gained ground, the development and welfare of Bhikkhunis had continued to remain a neglected area since colonial times, even though monastic educational centres for Bhikkus and schools and universities for Buddhists were available.

“Bhikkhunis can do a yeoman service to society provided they are given the requisite training in Buddhist scriptures, discipline and psychological counselling. In Sri Lanka today, a Bhikkhuni hardly enjoys the privileges taken for granted by women,” he says, pointing out that they are barred from getting a reasonable and sufficient education that befits their status. He is of the firm view that Bhikkhunis like Bhikkus can be made useful to society by imparting to them the same skills that are imparted to the Bhikkhus in monastic educational centres. “It is a dire need of our time to enable them to do so,” he adds.

Ven. Wimalajothi Thera says, with the establishment of the new Pirivena, Bhikkhunis would be given a thorough grounding in the knowledge of the Tripitaka, languages such as Pali and English, counselling skills and temple management. He elaborates: “Theory and practice of meditation is also going to be taught. The proposed centre will have residential facilities and classrooms with state of the art equipment. The courses are not job-oriented with examinations held at the end of training but they are intensely practical to meet real-life situations.

The courses are not job-oriented with examinations held at the end of training but they are intensely practical to meet real-life situations.

“Traditional education provided in colleges and universities are job-oriented with the result that Bhikkhus who pass out from such institutions disrobe and return to lay-life. We intend to deviate fundamentally from this attitude and give the Bhikkhunis real life training. Clad in saffron robes they will be trained to lead a monarchial life. The beneficiaries of this scheme of conferring ancient Buddhist monastic training are not only Sri Lankan Bhikkhunis but also those in the rest of the world.”

Pirivena

The new pirivena complex is estimated to cost around Rs.87.5 million. Wimalajothi Thera says running cost will be somewhat high as maintenance, payment of salaries for lectures, transport charges and sanitary facilities will have to be factored in.

According to Theravada tradition, the Bhikkhuni order came into existence five years after the Bick order. Buddhism is unique among Indian religions in that the Buddha as the founder of a spiritual tradition, explicitly states in the scriptures that a woman is as capable of nirvana (enlightenment) as a man and can fully attain all four stages of enlightenment in the Dhamma and Vinaya of the Buddha Sasana. There is no equivalent in other traditions of the Therigatha or Apadanas which record the high levels of spiritual attainment by women.

In a similar vein, major canonical Mahayana sutras such as the Lotus sutra, chapter 12 records 6000 Bhikkhuni Arahats as receiving predictions of Bodhisattvahood and future Buddhahood by the Buddha. In Buddhism, women can openly aspire to and practice the highest level of spiritual attainment. The opinion has been expressed that for a country or nation to be considered as truly Buddhist, the majority of the nation must be Buddhist and include at least a fourfold assembly of Bhikkhus, Bhikkhunis, Upasakas and Upasikas.

Ven. Wimalajothi Thera says the setting up of the Pirivena would provide women with the opportunity to receive ordination as well as to study and teach the Dhamma. He laments the long neglect of women despite Sri Lanka producing the first queen and the first women Prime Minister in the world. He says his mission is to give equal status to Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis.

About 1000 Bhikkhunis are to be trained in the span of 10 to 12 years.

Any woman who is above 16 years can join the college with the consent of her parents. Students will be selected after an interview. Those selected will have to stay one year at the college wearing white and observe the 10 percepts and then they will be tested as to whether they will be qualified to be ordained.