Can Women be Monks too? The Long Road to Full Ordination for Theravada Women.

Speakers: Ayya Dhammananda (Thailand) and Ayya Suvira (Australia) 

Hosted by the Metta Centre

Wed 18 and 25 August | 7pm-8:30pm AU EST

Via Zoom (link below)

Cost: Free

To celebrate and give some context around the Mettarama Vision Day on 21 August, we invite you to participate in this two-talk series on the bhikkhuni revival. What are bhikkhunis, and why was the bhikkhuni revival such an important event for Buddhism globally? Ayya Suvira will present key concepts and milestones in the Theravada bhikkhuni revival. We are also privileged to have a guest presentation by Ayya Dhammananda of Thailand, on her experiences of reviving the bhikkhuni order in Thailand and the history of Thai bhikkhunis. There will be a chance to ask questions after the talks.

Program:

·       18 August: The Bhikkhuni Revival in Global Perspective presented by Ayya Suvira: Ayya Suvira presents a brief history of concepts and milestones in the global bhikkhuni revival.

·       25 August: The Bhikkhuni Revival in Thailand presented by Ayya Dhammananda: Ayya Dhammananda presents her experiences of reviving the Thai bhikkhuni lineage & history of bhikkhunis in Thailand.

About the Speakers:

Ayya Dhammananda is a Theravāda bhikkhuni and abbess of Wat Songdhammakalyani in Thailand. In her academic life and since ordination, Ven. Dhammananda has been a prolific writer, authoring more than 100 books exploring the history of, and issues relating to, Thai Buddhism, including the place of women. As a layperson and as a monastic, she has worked tirelessly to re-establish the Theravada bhikkhuni lineage in Thailand so that women may become fully ordained monastics.

Ayya Suvira is Buddhist nun (bhikkhunī) in the Theravāda tradition and a student of Bhante Sujato. She received the going-forth ordination as a sāmaṇerī in 2016, and higher ordination as a bhikkhunī at Dhammasara Nuns’ Monastery in 2019 with Ayyā Santinī of Indonesia as preceptor and Ajahn Brahm as instructing teacher. At present, she works on Sutta Central related projects dealing with sutta parallels in Sanskrit.

History of Bhikkhunis: To learn more about the history of Buddhist nuns, you can watch this recording of the Special Event on the History of Bhikkhunis co-hosted by Buddhist Society of Victoria , Newbury Buddhist Monastery and CITYZEN  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoDKcn6ZU7s).

Zoom Login details: If you would like to join our session online, just click on this link to access the session: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83506489824?pwd=cmpNQ1ljSmFVYURLWVN1dWllYUN1dz09 Alternatively, you can dial in from your telephone (call charges apply): +61 2 8015 6011 | Meeting ID: 835 0648 9824| Passcode: 718905