Siladhara Order
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The Sīladharā Order is a Theravada Buddhist female monastic order established by Ajahn Sumedho at Chithurst Buddhist Monastery, England.[1] Its members are known as Sīladharās.
In 1983, he obtained permission from the Sangha in Thailand, to give a
History
Ajahn Sumedho enlisted Ajahn Sucitto to train the nuns from 1984 to 1991. By 2008, sīladharās were trained in the discipline of more than one hundred precepts, including rules based on the pāṭimokkha of the bhikkhunī order. The order waxed and waned throughout its brief history, peaking at around 14, mostly living at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery.
Status
In order to not
After years of thorough discussion, Ajahn Sumedho issued a "Five-Point Declaration" concerning women's roles and rights in the Amaravati monastic community.[5][6] This affirmed the status quo of seniority of male over female monastics. The declaration holds that while some teaching and management responsibilities are shared between the two orders according to capability, the Siladhara Order is unequivocally junior to that of the monks.
Many consider the "Five-Point Declaration" to be
Despite Ajahn Sumedho's best efforts at balancing contending interests, many female monastics living at Amaravati at the time left the monastery citing discrimination and lack of compassion on the part of Amaravati leadership.[12] Subsequently, two sīladharās from this group founded a community in the United States.[13] Along with numerous other women in recent years, these former Sīladharās have taken full bhikkhunī ordination.[14][15]
2009 Ordination at Bodhinyana
A number of
References
- ^ Ajahn Sucitto 2007.
- ^ Gross, Davies & Diab 2012, p. 62.
- ^ Hybels, Lynne (3 April 2014). "Protecting the Innocent". Sojourners.
- ^ Greenspoon, N. H. (2011, October 2). Good reason to ordain. Ask a Monk. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEbaJbui8ao.
- ^ "West Wight Sangha: More on "Nun" Ordinations at Amaravati". 31 March 2010.
- ^ "Where We Are Now". Forest Sangha News. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
- ^ "Bhikkhuni Ordination".
- ^ "Recent blog posts - Awakening Truth Blog".
- ^ "The Five Points | Sujato's Blog". 3 November 2009.
- ^ "The Revival of the Bhikkhunī Order and the Decline of the Sāsana". 25 June 2013.
- ^ Betts, P. (2009, November 8). Open letter to all from Ajahn Brahm on his exclusion by Wat Pah Pong. The Buddhist Channel. Retrieved from http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=70,8667,0,0,1,0.
- ^ Weinberg, Thannisara Mary. "Ground Between" (PDF). Present Magazine. Alliance for Bhikkhunis. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-26. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ "Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery-Bhikkhuni Nuns-California".
- ^ "Bhikkhuni ordination - Dhamma Wiki".
- ^ "Bhikkhuni Happenings - Alliance for Bhikkhunis". Archived from the original on 2015-01-30.
- ^ "news". Forestsangha.org. Archived from the original on 2010-01-12. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
- ^ ASIA: WA Buddhist temple banned after ordination of female monks. AAP News, 21 December 2009 Financial Times Ltd., 21 December 2009
- ^ "WA Buddhists expelled over women". The West Australian. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
- ^ "Monastery rebuked over ordination of women". The West Australian. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
- ^ "WA monastery faces expulsion". WAtoday. 21 December 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
Bibliography
- Ajahn Sucitto (2007). "The Creation of the Order of Siladhara". Forest Sangha Newsletter. 81.
In this brief account Ajahn Sucitto offers an outline of the considerations that went into formulating a Rule for the nuns.
- Gross, Zehavit; Davies, Lynn; Diab, Al-Khansaa (2012). Gender, Religion and Education in a Chaotic Postmodern World. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-94-007-5270-2.