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So first, what is a Purple Forest Nun?
The Buddhist American Forest Tradition offers a special place for modern day women to pursue a serious guided practice of Buddhist teachings, meditation and monastic life within the United States in English. This tradition has been created by Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Maha Thera who was ordained in the Burmese Forest Tradition by the late Venerable U Silananda. Bhante Vimalaramsi has over 30 years of higher training and practice in meditation and is presently the Abbot of Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center and Anathapindika's Park located in the Ozark Mountains near Annapolis, Missouri. It is his vision for this century that such a tradition should develop in line with the original teachings of the Buddha, where men and women can be equally trained in the Dhamma. A monastery to be known as Anathapindika's Park is being created to offer ordination programs to both men and women. The color chosen for the American tradition of nuns is purple. This is in keeping with a color used at one time within the Burmese forest tradition. The exact color has not yet been determined as purples are very hard to match!
History
In his time, the Buddha was an activist. He essentially uncovered the Interstate Highway that goes directly to the Liberation of the Mind reducing and then ending suffering in the shortest period of time. It was not considered politically correct for the Buddha to teach the Dhamma (the Teachings) to all human beings regardless of their sex or societal status! However, according to him, any human being was capable of attaining Nibbana [the complete liberation from suffering] in this lifetime if they were taught correct meditation on how to apply themselves to see things as they actually are! The Buddha's dispensation is that period of time during which these truths are fully revealed and still available to learn. To be born as a human being within a Buddha's dispensation is a gift to both Men and Women alike. It offers them an opportunity to live the precepts, practice the meditation and attain their full liberation from suffering in this lifetime.
In the Buddha's time this pursuit was not for women! Women were considered property and it was far too dangerous for a woman to become an ascetic in the wild and do such things as meditation in the same way as men. The original geographical environment was extremely dangerous. There is no doubt about that. It is true that women smell differently than men and can attract animals in the wild. To be precise, they smell like dinner to many large cats! In actuality though, because of her status in that society, the dangers were as much from other people as they were from wild animals! The Buddha challenged this entire idea and suggested that the Society change! His actions defied the system.
Things are a little different today and women are capable of training in much the same way as a man if they so desire. Already, within some traditions, a nun is referred to equally as a 'monk' . In this new American tradition, a woman will become a "monk" and it is hoped that she will eventually be referred to simply as another "Bhante" within the monastic group. Her experience as a Samaneri/Novice will be no different than other male Samaneras. This is the position of our guiding teacher and Abbot. In many respects this is still considered a cutting edge idea. Finding other women who are ready to train in such a way is not an easy thing. Many wish to demand equal status without putting in equal time in training with a teacher. Any woman wishing to try this direct teaching, on an equal basis, should contact the center.
Requirements for training towards full ordination:
Within this new forest tradition, one is expected to commit
to training
in the meditation practice for a minimum of one year, in white on 8
precepts minimum, without reading
anything. The training requires a beginner's mind, just listening to Dhamma talks and practicing sitting and walking meditation.
There is open access to the guiding teacher and questions are invited each day. Then, upon coming to understand
the practice clearly and finding themselves adaptable to the monastic style of living, the woman may complete the Samaneri (Novice) ceremony.
Following this, after at least one
more year, she may fully ordain. She MUST
agree to stay with her Upajjaya (spritual parent or guardian) for
FIVE years once she is ordained a full Bhikkhuni. This is an
extremely important time for her development and will set the stage for the rest
of her years as a nun. A sincere Upajjaya makes an pretty heavy agreement to
take a novice under his/her wing. It
is not an easy thing to admonish another monastic and to help them stay on track! There is
much about ourselves we cannot see without the help of another. So, in essence,
this is the time the Samaneri will uncover her shadow through the help of her
teacher. Her shadow represents the source of her heaviest attachments. She
readily agrees to such admonishments during her training period in order to
achieve this new knowledge and overcome her craving. This time is an emptying of
her cup in order to fill it up with the Dhamma!
Purpose of Obedience and Respect:
Respect is an interesting topic in Buddhism. It is not automatically given to any male sangha member just because they have robes on. The robes are simply a designation that the person in them has made a commitment to leave the householder's life totally and to dedicate all their time to the study, practice and preservation of the Buddhist Teachings and the higher Path. This specifically means taking the time necessary for successful meditation. This opportunity was put forward to all student monks in the time of the Buddha, including women.
This monastery takes a firm position that, once ordained,
"a nun should not expect equal respect from monks in the sangha
without first equally training in the meditation and understanding the teachings of the Buddha". Like
any other Samaneri in the Sangha the new monastic must earn the respect of other
monks by becoming well versed and knowledgeable in the Suttas and
Meditation. This is a very
important lesson to understand and to teach others at a later time. For the sake of
peace, beauty and order within the
Sangha, monastics agree to be admonishable during their
training period as the Buddha described in sutta MN-15. This sutta
gives clear guidelines regarding
who should be taught and who should not be given time. If any nun
does not have "pure intention" to succeed and is not agreeable
to admonishment during training then it is recommended that a
teacher should not take the time to train them.
[Ref see MN-15]
Line of Grievances
This does not mean that unreasonable requests of a student should have no line of grievance nor that some unreasonable rules, perhaps added by Brahmins after the Buddha's time, should not be dropped in modern times. Nuns agree to submit to the order of protection set down by the Buddha. These are structured carefully within the Vinaya as the rules of the order for the sake of the preservation and longest continuation of this Dispensation of the Buddha. There is a line of grievance in the Buddhist order that is supposed to be adhered to in all monastic living situations and orderly functioning of the monastic sangha. There is a system, very like parliament, if activated within a monastery, which offers recourse following unfair treatment.
Many problems today within the structures of monasteries and also within some community lay meditation sanghas, can be traced back to the abandonment of this very infrastructure and set of advice which the Buddha so brilliantly prescribed. Problems can very often be resolved by reopening the suttas concerning living situations and processing things clearly through this system. Responses can be found for most situations.
Protected environment.
Even today, creating a protected environment for any group of nuns (Bhikkhunis) is vital to the success of any forest program. At the same time, allowing enough freedom to experience the wilderness and to have the space to conquer fear, isolation, loneliness and much more is a goal. There should not be an effort to create a five star comfort zone! One only needs to be void of the household sounds, then void of the town, and eventually void of the sounds of the forest. This is how the Sangha survived originally and managed to preserve the teachings of the Buddha.
Today we have all the ingredients for the meditation we need at this location, thanks to the clear understanding of our Abbot, Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi. If we follow these instructions closely we can be assured of great results. After our winter tour of 2007-2008, this has become very obvious. Our newest students continue to confirm that we are on the right path by their own results. As women going into the forest, having a support group nearby is vital to success and this is why the monastery is being set up in the present manner. A woman must be fully trained to understand the dangers of practicing in wild areas and be shown how not to take undue risks. We try to alert people to what they need to know when coming here to experience a very real forest.
The two parts of this monastic community are being designed to compliment each other as we each pursue our individual journeys. Male and Female monastics although living on separate areas of the property will eat and sometimes work together. The entire Sangha community will join in various celebration events.
Today the time is right for equal training
As I said, this is a rare opportunity for women monastics today. There is no question of it. Today this Buddhist American Forest Tradition, evolving here in the middle of the United States in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, addresses this problem of equality with an adequate solution: equal training. At this monastery there happens to be a senior monk who IS willing to offer such a training on an equal footing to any woman who will come in earnest to study and learn. He does so much to the shagrin of some older monks who are still undecided about what the results will be!
The invitation is here for serious applicants to come and see what is going on. The time is right for women to once again become fully ordained. But this should be happening with the clear stipulation they be brought to a full and clear understanding of the Dhamma and given the ability to teach others for future generations. There is definitely much work to be done in the world today so we can move towards more peaceful living. Women are ready to contribute to making this happen. This is one way to learn how peaceful co-existence can happen today as it did in the time of the Buddha! This is the role of these Purple Nuns!
Summary
Students and Novices may spend between five and six years to complete ordination and training in a similar environment in which the Buddha discovered how mind actually works and what the true nature of everything actually is if they come to train in Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center. This is a real forest environment and it can be as rough or just as simple as one chooses to make it according to where one places a kuti ( meditation hut) on these numerous acres of forested land. As mentioned, nuns will be trained by a competent and willing Maha-Thera Buddhist Forest Monk who is also an American and who has dedicated himself to preserving what the suttas teach. He is now the highest monk in the U.S.A. according to the Dalai Lama, the Sangha Rajah of Thailand and Ven. Dr. Kyushu Enshinjoh of Japan and is responsible to listen to the challenges facing all traditions within this country if they wish for a listening ear. He is encouraged to offer to them for review the original teachings and practice to help them succeed in their individual lines. The World Buddhist Summit Council sees the importance of getting back to the original Buddhist teachings and reclaiming the relevance of Buddhist meditation to daily life. More information about Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi can be found at www.dhammasukha.org .
One objective in training is that nuns become dedicated to having their own personal experience to verify their meditation. Along the way they will learn how to preserve the Dhamma and teach others to live an engaged and happy Buddhism that is free from suffering and is directly useful in today's stressful world. The meditation can relieve depression, take away anxiety, assist sleeping habits, calm the nerves, bring joy and balance back into one's life and increase ability to focus on tasks and much more.
Successful Buddhist Meditation can truly help people move towards Peace in this world. But before we can change the world we must change ourselves and the meditation takes us to where this starts. Buddhism is not so much a religion as a science and a way of life; a beautiful way of life full of Loving Kindness and Compassion. To embrace the core teachings and learn the meditation leads to a much happier existence.
By changing our understanding of how everything works, we change our outward perspective of the world and naturally begin to move towards compassionate service amongst our fellowmen and women. This was originally the natural purification and outcome of Buddhist practice.
If you are seriously seeking what the Buddha taught, I encourage you to come and visit us for a time, if only for a week of guided practice, to discover how well this approach actually works and how your life can change by embracing this practice and adding it to your toolbox for life's journey. You are welcome. I hope you will Come and See!
With much Metta and smiles to you all.
Reverend Sister Khema
Anathapindika's Park
Anathapindika's Park, Dhamma
Sukha Meditation Center
RR 1 B0X 100, Annapolis, MO 63620 Contact PH: 573-546-1214
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