2012 Annual Compilation
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PresentThe Voices and Activities of Theravada Buddhist Women Volume 6 | Number 1 | 2012 Annual Compilation An Interview with Venerable Ayya Tathaaloka Earth Day Earth Witness Can the Theravada Bhikkhuni Order Be Re-Established? It Already Has An Interview with Tenzin Kiyosaki Lasting Inspiration What Buddhism Gave Me International Bhikkhuni Day 2012 The Reading Habits of One Bhikkhuni Blessings: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet The Art of Disappearing: The Buddha’s Path to Lasting Joy Present | The Voices and Activities of Theravada Buddhist Women | 2012 Annual Compilation Issue 1 PThe Voicesresent and Activities of Theravada Buddhist Women Volume 6 | Number 1 | 2012 Annual Compilation ISSN 2156-0099. Present is published in four installments per year by Alliance for Bhikkhunis, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. PO Box 1058, Santa Barbara, Califor- nia, USA 93102-1058, www.bhikkhuni.net Editor-in-Chief Sarah Conover Managing Editor Dennis Crean Editorial Board Sarah Conover Dennis Crean Jayanta Shirley Johannesen Caroline Starkey Venerable Tathaaloka Bhikkhuni Venerable Sudhamma Bhikkhuni Design & Layout Helen Geld Special Thanks To Susan Pembroke, Jacqueline Kramer, Carol Annable, Emma Tomalin, Dion Peoples, Susmita Barua, Pamela Kirby, Hisayo Front Cover Feminine Buddha Image Wat Thepthidaram, Thailand Photo: Anandajoti Bhikkhu www.photodharma.net Present is an independent publication and does not repre- sent any particular lineage, monastic, or teacher. The journal is produced for and supported by the Theravada Fourfold Sangha, and as such reflects the interests of that commu- nity. Present publishes essays, nonfiction, scholarly articles, news, and book and movie reviews relevant to bhikkhunis and the Fourfold Sangha. We welcome submissions. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/90664717@N00/418720244/sizes/o/in/photostream/ PresentThe Voices and Activities of Theravada Buddhist Women Volume 6 | Number 1 | 2012 Annual Compilation Features 7...The Great Inquiry: An Interview with Venerable Ayya Tathaaloka A pioneering Western bhikkhuni offers a glimpse into the adventuresome and independent spirit that brought her to the Buddhist path. by Jacqueline Kramer 15...Earth Day Earth Witness The author shares a teaching on becoming grounded in the elements and caring for our world. by Ayya Tathaaloka Bhikkhuni 19...Can the Theravada Bhikkhuni Order Be Re- Established? It Already Has This prominent American scholar-monk presents a compassionate argument in favor of recognizing the re-established Bhikkhuni Sangha in Sri Lanka. by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi 23...Developments in Recent Sri Lankan Bhikkhuni History Numerous milestones mark Sri Lanka’s leadership in re-establishing the Bhikkhuni Order. by Susan Pembroke 25...Listening at the End of Life: An Interview with Tenzin Kiyosaki A Tibetan Buddhist nun for twenty-seven years, Tenzin Kiyosaki (formerly Venerable Tenzin Kacho) brings her practice to the bedside working as a chaplain to those facing death. by Sarah Conover Mother of Pearl Flower Wat Pho, Thailand 31...Lasting Inspiration Photo: Anandajoti Bhikkhu This substantive scriptural study looks into the guiding and determining men- www.photodharma.net tal and emotional states of liberated arahant women as expressed in the sacred biographies of the Therī Apadāna. by Ayya Tathaaloka Bhikkhuni 49...What Buddhism Gave Me A pioneering Western bhikkhuni offers a glimpse into the adventuresome and independent spirit that brought her to the Buddhist path. by Munissara Bhikkhuni Present | The Voices and Activities of Theravada Buddhist Women | 2012 Annual Compilation Issue 3 Special Section International Bhikkhuni Day 2012: Photo:http://www.flickr.com/photos/rangama/537293385/ Dedicated to the Legacy of Saṅghamittā Therī 56...Saṅghamittā Therī Tells Her Story This creative retelling of the legend of Saṅghamittā Therī explores its still-relevant moral lessons. Reflection questions are included to guide group discussion by Susan Pembroke 61...Saṅghamittā’s Story New translations from the Extended Mahavamsa V, XV, XVIII-XX (G. Reviews P. Malalasekera, Ed.) provide an ancient account of this renowned Buddhist woman. 87...Books & Bhikkhunis: by Anandajoti Bhikkhu The Reading Habits of One Bhikkhuni A list of inspiring writing and authors, both for plea- 71...Beautiful Eyes Seen with Insight as Bereft of sure and Dhamma study. Beauty: Subhā Therī and Her Male Counterpart in by Ayya Sudhamma Bhikkhuni the Ekottarika Āgama A scholar monk examines contemporary feminist readings of this 91...Film Review: early Buddhist text. Blessings: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns by Bhikkhu Anālayo of Tibet A documentary account of a transformative journey 77...Smoothing the Way to the remote valley home of some 3,000 Tibetan nuns. Ordained in 2003, an American bhikkhuni reflects on the “breath- Directed by Victress Hitchcock less” experience of the ordination ceremony and recounts her own Reviewed by Kathy Jean Schultz personal journey to get there. by Ayya Sudhamma Bhikkhuni 95...Book Review The Art of Disappearing: The Buddha’s Path to Bhikkhuni Today: The Joys and Challenges 82... Lasting Joy of a Pioneer By Ajahn Brahm Living as a bhikkhuni in contemporary American society provides An inspiring guidebook on how to disengage from unique advantages as well as significant hurdles. the ego and become a nobody. by Amma Thanasanti Bhikkhuni Reviewed by Caroline Starkey Present | The Voices and Activities of Theravada Buddhist Women | 2012 Annual Compilation Issue 4 From the Editor has been a year of transition for Present as we watched founder Susan Pembroke retire from her role as editor in chief. How Susan 2012was able to publish such a beautiful, substantial magazine and serve as head of the Alliance for Bhikkhunis is something of a miracle. Despite the challenges of this transition, we are especially pleased that in 2012 the magazine served as a venue for a number of substantive articles on bhikkhuni history: Venerable Tathaaloka’s canonical study “Lasting Inspiration”; Anandajoti Bhikkhu’s new translation from the Extended Mahavamsa; Bhikkhu Analayo’s examination of feminist readings about Subha Theri in the Ekottarika Agama (featured as part of our International Bhikkhuni Day celebration of Sanghamitta Theri); Susan Pembroke’s look at recent bhikkhuni developments in Sri Lanka; and Bhikkhu Bodhi’s argument for the reestablishment of the Sri Lankan Bhikkhuni Order, an essay he crafted in response to a statement against it from the Concise Tripitaka Editorial Board. We found that our most popular articles were the personal narratives: the paths to ordination by both Venerable Sudhamma and Venerable Munissara; an interview with, and Dhamma teaching from, Venerable Tathaaloka; the challenges of life as a modern-day bhikkhuni by Amma Thanasanti; and Tenzin Kacho’s experience in the dual roles of monastic and hospice chaplain. You will find these articles, along with various others, gathered here into an annual compilation issue composed up of our complete August 2012 and December 2012 installments together with our 2012 International Bhikkhuni Day articles. You will find these articles, along with various others, gathered here into an annual compilation issue composed up of our complete August 2012 and December 2012 installments together with our 2012 International Bhikkhuni Day articles. To deepen Present’s niche, bringing you “the voices and activities of Theravada Buddhist women,” we need your help as scouts around the world. We warmly welcome your ideas, suggestions, feedback, and articles—features and reviews, academic and otherwise. Please drop us a line at [email protected]. —Sarah Conover, Editor in Chief Present | The Voices and Activities of Theravada Buddhist Women | 2012 Annual Compilation Issue 5 “I’m pretty clear that at this time I teach and study in Theravada Buddhism. That is, to my mind, the heart or the essence of the Buddha’s teachings. There are all kinds The Great Inquiry of things in Theravada Buddhism—many An Interview with the Venerable Ayya Tathaaloka cultural aspects and developed traditions by Jacqueline Kramer and commentaries and ethnic traditions. I’m not trying to do all of that, and I don’t think there is any way someone could do all of that. I’m interested in the essential practices of what the Buddha taught.” -Venerable Ayya Tathaaloka Present | The Voices and Activities of Theravada Buddhist Women | 2012 Annual Compilation Issue 6 Photo: http://www.myspace.com/ayyatathaalokabhikkhuni/photos/albums/my-photos/92023/ The Great Inquiry An Interview with the Venerable Ayya Tathaaloka by Jacqueline Kramer first met Ayya Tathaaloka when she was in Northern California are also important catalysts. In this interview we get a glimpse of looking over the land near Jenner that was to become the Ayya Tathaaloka’s adventuresome, independent spirit; her early Aranya Bodhi Forest Hermitage. I had an immediate feeling doubt; and the kind influences that guided her East to Buddhism. Iof sisterhood with Ayya. It turns out that both of us were deeply Jacqueline Kramer: What was your first glimmer of influenced by her bhikkhuni mentor, the Venerable Myeong Seong Buddhism? of South Korea. The venerable was dedicated to helping rebuild the Bhikkhuni Sangha, and that intention was transmitted to both of us Ayya Tathaaloka: This is a question that other people are at different times in different ways. Ayya Tathaaloka has bravely able to answer, but I find for myself that I can’t. I don’t and intelligently gone about supporting