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. >READ MORE