It is illegal for women to take full ordination as a Bhikkhuni (Buddhist nun) in Thailand due to a 1928 law. Monks who have tried to ordain women have been ejected from the Thai sangha and even imprisoned. There does exist however, a large group of Thai laywomen known as Maechis who shave their heads, wear white, dedicate themselves to a religious life, vow celibacy, live as ascetics, and hold eight or ten precepts. They are still marginalized figures in Thai society and are often exploited.
There are a few nuns who were ordained in Sri Lanka or Taiwan, but they are exceptions. There are several courageous nuns who are working to improve the lot of women seeking a religious life, but it is a dangerous position. In 2009, I was privileged to attend a secret ordination held at the International Women’s Meditation Centre. Bhikkhuni Rattanavali and Bhikkhuni Lee, an American nun living in Thailand, invited Bhikkhuni Pannavati, the Co-spiritual Director of the Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina, to conduct a secret ordination ceremony at the remote center. These nuns have ordained 75 nuns, they have been low keyed in their efforts and remained out of the spotlight. The other nun at the Songdhammakalyani Monastery did her acts of defiance more publicly. Last year she invited a group of Sri Lakan monks and nuns to do a big ordination and there was a huge outcry and now there are greater problems. The government will now arrest anyone who comes to the country to assist in ordinations. In 2016 one of the dormitories of the nuns shown above was burned down while the nuns were attending a conference in Taiwan. CLICK for article and more.
CLICK for article on arson attack on the International Women’s Meditation Centre in 2016.
CLICK for article on women receiving novice ordination at Songdhammakalyani Monastery in 2018.
Add comment