Dhammananda Bhikkhuni

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, Germany 2009

Dhammananda Bhikkhuni ( Thai : ภิกษุณี ธั ม ม นันทา , RTGS : Phiksuni Thammanantha , pronunciation: [ pʰíksùʔniː tʰammáʔnantʰaː ], actually Chatsumarn Kabilsingh , Thai: ฉัตร สุ มาลย์ กบิล สิงห์ , Chatsuman Kabinsing is a Thai religious scholar in Bangkok ; * October 6, 1944. ) and Buddhist nun. She is the first fully ordained nun ( bhikkhuni ) of Theravada Buddhism in Thailand . After retiring as a professor at Thammasat University in Bangkok, she decided to become a Buddhist nun. In Sri Lanka she received her full ordination in 2003 and since the death of her mother in the same year she has led the only nunnery in Thailand: Wat Songdhammakalyani in Nakhon Pathom . She is called Luang Mae by her followers .

Life

Chatsumarn Kabilsingh's maternal grandmother Somcheen, who came from Laos, took the vow of Mae Chi after her husband died early and her five daughters had grown up . This is a common intermediate stage in Thailand between laymen and nuns who give up their bourgeois life and commit themselves to observing eight rules ( Silas ; there are only five for Buddhist laypeople), for which the entire canon of Patimokkha does not apply and no monks participate in their ordination.

Chatsumarn's father Kokiat Satsen ( ก่อ เกียรติ ษัฏ เสน ) was a member of parliament for the Democratic Party in the southern Thai province of Trang . Her mother Voramai Kabilsingh was a teacher, journalist and writer. She was ordained as Mae Chi in 1956 and was finally the first Thai woman to receive full ordination in Taiwan in 1971 (according to the Chinese Dharmagupta - and not the Theravada tradition prevalent in Thailand). She turned her house into a temple (Wat Songdhammakalyani), where her daughter Chatsumarn also grew up.

After completing school, Chatsumarn Kabilsingh studied philosophy at Visva-Bharati University in Shantiniketan in the Indian state of West Bengal and graduated with an honors degree . She concluded a master's degree in religious studies at the Canadian McMaster University and eventually earned his doctorate at the Magadh University in Bodhgaya for Ph.D. in Buddhist studies. She was married and taught for 27 years as a professor of philosophy and religion at Thammasat University in Bangkok.

When her three sons grew up and she retired as professor emeritus in 2000, she followed her mother's path and sought ordination as a Buddhist nun. In 2001 she received her first ordination in Sri Lanka with eight vows ( celibacy , no beauty care and jewelry and no eating after noon, in addition to the five silas that apply to all Buddhists) and in 2003 she became the first Thai woman to be a fully ordained bhikkhuni of the Theravada- Tradition. For this, consecration by at least five monks and nuns is required. Since she had decided for the Theravada and against the Chinese or Tibetan tradition, this was only possible in Sri Lanka. Dhammananda was ordained by monks and nuns of the Siyam-Nikaya , whose line of tradition can be traced back to Ayutthaya . However, it was not recognized by the official Sangha of Thailand. At the International Conference on Thai Studies in April 2005, she reported on the resistance and hostility on the part of the conservative monk establishment and the government agencies closely linked with it

Chatsumarn Kabilsingh is the author and translator of numerous books and articles on Buddhism in Asia, women in Buddhism, as well as Buddhism and ecology.

Act

Dhammananda Bhikkhuni is a pioneer for women's rights in Thailand, particularly with regard to women's right to higher ordination and education. She is also considered an advocate of Engaged Buddhism . In 1984 she began publishing Yasodhara , a journal about the activities of Buddhist women. In 1987 she co-founded the international Buddhist women's organization Sakyadhita , whose first congress she organized in Bangkok in 1991. Dhammananda Bhikkhuni and her work are supported by some open-minded monks in Thailand, prominent exponents of Engaged Buddhism such as Sulak Sivaraksa and Buddhist feminists such as Rita Gross and others. In 2005 she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Works (selection)

  • A Comparative Study of Bhikkhunã Pàtimokkha. Chaukhambha Orientalia: India, 1981.
  • Thai Women in Buddhism. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 1991.
  • Women in Buddhism: Questions and Answers. First published 1998. ISBN 974-572-607-9 ; As an e-book: PDF
  • The Structural Violence Against Women . Nakhonpathom 2005.

Remarks

  1. ^ Monica Lindberg Falk: Gender and Religious Legitimacy in Thailand. In: Gender Politics in Asia. Women Maneuvering Within Dominant Gender Orders NIAS Press, Copenhagen 2008, pp. 99-100.
  2. ^ Lindberg Falk: Gender and Religious Legitimacy in Thailand. 2008, p. 99.
  3. ^ Lindberg Falk: Gender and Religious Legitimacy in Thailand. 2008, p. 100.
  4. ^ "The Structural Violence Against Women". Nakhon Pathom 2005.
  5. ^ Bhikkhuni Dhammananda @ Siam Society , The Little Bangkok Sangha 2009

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Dhammananda Bhikkhuni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chatsumarn Kabilsingh, Luang Mae
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Thai suffragette and Buddhist nun (Bhikkhuni)
DATE OF BIRTH October 6, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Bangkok