Quiet but important

To almost no fanfare, an important step in women's religious equality took place on Friday. The first recitation of the Theravadan Pali-text Bhikkhuni Patimokkha in North America was held on November 9th, 2007 at the Carolina Buddhist Vihara in South Carolina.

What does that mean? From the keystrokes of a Bhikkhuni:

The "Bhikkhuni Patimokkha" is the monastic discipline for fully ordained women in Buddhism; its recitation one of the main gatherings that affirms the presence and harmonious communion of the Buddhist monastic Sangha (community of practitioners).

To many's thought this event officially marked the establishment of the Theravadan Bhikkhuni Sangha in North America.

This historic gathering, proposed three years ago by Venerable Bhikkhunis Tathaaloka, Sudhamma, and Gunasari at the first meeting of the North American Bhikkhuni Association, was being organized jointly by Resident Teacher of the Carolina Buddhist Vihara Ayya Sudhamma Bhikkhuni and Ayya Sobhana Bhikkhuni of Bhavana Society. The Carolina Buddhist Vihara is a branch temple of the New York Buddhist Vihara led by the Elder Venerable Bhante Piyatissa. Ten bhikkhunis from around the United States (American, Sri Lankan, Burmese and Thai) planned to attend, the greatest such gathering to this date.

(I am not sure how many actually were able to attend).

This is a fragile but exciting time for female Theravadan Buddhists-- many Buddhists grew up believing the "official" word that the Bhikkhu (male) line was unbroken from the time of the Buddha but that the female line somehow "died out" along the way and hence can never be officially revived. These women, and supportive men, have taken it upon themselves to revive it. It's not so trivial; there has been some violence around this issue in Thailand. And the monastic Sangha now includes Western women, another challenging twist for very traditional Buddhists.