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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 January 2012
In Thailand the widespread assumption that bhikkhunī ordination has already been disrupted and that as a result Theravāda Buddhist women can no longer be ordained has been challenged by a group of women who have received the full monastic precepts from foreign saṅgha and practise Theravāda Buddhism in yellow monastic robes. Public concerns have centred on whether such bhikkhunī ordinations are possible, and how women could become bhikkhunī in a ‘correct’ way. Both supporters and opponents are often vocal in discussing ordination ceremony procedures, based on their interpretation of the vinaya, the monastic disciplines. This paper argues that it is not a matter of ‘right’ procedure, but rather of the authority of the religious institution or tradition that validates one's ordination. Even if a woman is ordained as a bhikkhunī by the ‘right’ procedure, her status remains unstable unless the religious authority of her country sanctions her ordination. In other words, it is only a political decision made by a religious institution — in the case of Thailand, the National Saṅgha — that can reinstate ‘legitimate’ bhikkhunī ordination.
1 By the early 21st century, there were 165 bhikkhunī registered at the board of Bhikkhunī Sāsanā in Sri Lanka at Dambulla. Bhadra, Bhikkhunī, Higher ordination and bhikkhunī order in Sri Lanka (Dehiwala: Sridevi, 2001), p. 29Google Scholar. By mid-2004 there were approximately 400 bhikkhunī and an estimated 800 sāmaṇerī waiting to be qualified for higher ordination. See http://www.sakyadhita-srilanka.org/history.html (last accessed 27 June 2007).
2 Varaporn Chamsanit, ‘Reconnecting the lost lineage: Challenges to institutional denial of Buddhist women's monasticism in Thailand’ (Ph.D. diss., The Australian National University, Canberra, 2006); Seeger, Martin, ‘The bhikkhunī-ordination controversy in Thailand’, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 29, 1 (2006): 155–83Google Scholar.
3 Varaporn, ‘Reconnecting the lost lineage’, p. 216 and chapter 5; Seeger, ‘The bhikkhunī-ordination controversy’, pp. 161–3.
4 Collins, Steven and McDaniel, Justin, ‘Buddhist “nuns” (mae chi) and the teaching of Pāli in contemporary Thailand’, Modern Asian Studies, 44, 6 (2010): 1373–408CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
5 Ito, Tomomi, ‘Buddhist women in dhamma practice in contemporary Thailand: Movements regarding their status as world renunciates’, Journal of Sophia Asian Studies, 17 (1999): 147–81Google Scholar; Ito, Tomomi, ‘Dhammamātā: Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu's notion of motherhood in Buddhist women practitioners’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 38, 3 (2007): 409–32CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
6 The seven Thai bhikkhunī include Dhammanandā (ordained in Feb. 2003, Sri Lanka), Dhammarakkhittā (in May 2005, Ayutthaya, Thailand), Rattanāvalī, Silanandā and Dhammamittā (in Mar. 2006, Ayutthaya, Thailand), Sukhettā (in June 2006, Sri Lanka) and Dhammadhīrā (in July 2007, Sri Lanka). According to the website run by Dhammanandā (www.thaibhikkhunis.org/eng/, last accessed 12 June 2007), there were three more Thai bhikkhunī who ordained earlier overseas: Bhikkhunī Varaporn (ordained in 1988, Los Angeles), Bhikkhunī La-O (1988, Los Angeles) and Bhikkhunī Katannuna (1998, Bodhgaya).
7 Among the eleven were four former sāmaṇerī in the Chiang Mai group who ordained in Sri Lanka in February 2006, according to Dhammanandā's website (http://www.thaibhikkhunis.org/eng/, last accessed 12 June 2007). Six former sāmaṇerī ordained at a temple in Yasothon, and the other one ordained as a sāmaṇerī through Dhammanandā's assistance and then as a bhikkhunī by a visiting Asian Theravāda bhikkhu (Rattanāvalī, interview, 19 June 2006; Rattanāvalī, email, 8 May 2007; a disrobed woman, interview, Bangkok, 11 Sept. 2006). As of the end of July 2007, out of the original thirty-four Thai women who had ordained as sāmaṇerī or bhikkhunī, subtracting the eleven who had already disrobed and the three who were in Sri Lanka for further study and practice, there were nineteen sāmaṇerī or bhikkhunī in Thailand, and one sāmaṇerī was planning to return from Thailand. The three in Sri Lanka were Sāmaṇerī Poonsirivara, Bhikkhunī Sukhettā and Sāmaṇerī Kaññārattana. Kaññārattana left Thailand for Sri Lanka in Apr. 2007 in order to prepare for her higher ordination as a bhikkhunī. (Rattanāvalī, email correspondence, 3 May 2007). According to Dhammanandā's website, http://www.thaibhikkhunis.org/eng/ (last accessed 12 June 2007), Dhammavijjani will be returning from Sri Lanka to take up residence in Chiang Mai.
8 Thai sāmaṇerī and bhikkhunī do receive sufficient support and respect in their local communities. In Theravāda Buddhist society the yellow monastic robes serve as a cultural code that is inseparably linked to the ordained status of an individual who dons them; Buddhists instantly know that they should pay respect and offer alms to anyone in the yellow robe, regardless of gender, even though many Thais understand that bhikkhunī ordination is no longer available. Ito, Tomomi, ‘Ordained women in yellow robes: An unfamiliar “tradition” in contemporary Thailand’, in Out of the shadows: Socially engaged Buddhist women, ed. Tsomo, Karma Lekshe (Delhi: Sri Satguru, 2006), pp. 168–71Google Scholar.
9 Ruang kan-buat phiksuni nai prathet thai [Bhikkhunī ordination in Thailand] (Bangkok: Committee for Women's, Children's, and Elderly People's Affairs, Senate of Thailand, n.d.), pp. 51–3.
10 During the Tang Dynasty (618–907) and Song Dynasty (960–1279), the status of bhikkhu and bhikkhunī was strictly controlled by the government in order to oust unauthorised, privately ordained (私度 ‘sī dù’) monks and nuns. Those who wished to ordain as bhikkhu or bhikkhunī had to obtain the requisite government certificate for ordination permission (度牒 ‘dù dié’) before their ordination ceremony at a temple. Authorised bhikkhu and bhikkhunī joined the monastic register, were separated from the civil register, and received a precept certificate (戒牒 ‘jiè dié’) and a list of members who ordained at the same ceremony (同戒録 in Japanese; 同戒录 ‘tóng jiè lù’ in contemporary Chinese) from the temple they ordained at. These documents proved that the formal ordained status was authorised by the government and a monastic order. The ordination certificate lost its significance from the Ming Dynasty onwards, so bhikkhu and bhikkhunī proved their status by means of temple-issued documents of a precept certificate and lists of members present at the ordination ceremony. Ogawa, Kanji, ‘Kinsei chugoku bukkyo ni okeru kai no hen-yo’ [Transformation of monastic precepts in early modern Chinese Buddhism], in Bukkyo ni okeru kai no mondai [Issues regarding precepts in Buddhism], ed. Gakkai, Nihon Bukkyo [Japan Buddhist Studies Association] (Kyoto: Heirakuji Shoten, 1975), pp. 156–78Google Scholar.
11 Kabilsingh, Chatsumarn, Thai women in Buddhism (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1991)Google Scholar; Tomomi Ito, ‘Buddhist women in dhamma practice’, pp. 147–81.
12 For more on Chatsumarn's ordination and its social impact, see Ito, Tomomi, ‘New beginnings: The bhikkhunī movement in contemporary Thailand’, Bridging worlds: Buddhist women's voices across generations, ed. Tsomo, Karma Lekshe (Taipei: Yuan Chuan Press, 2004), pp. 120–4Google Scholar.
13 Rai-ngan phon kan-suksa ruang kan-buat phiksuni nai prathet thai (study report on bhikkhunī ordination in Thailand), brochure distributed at a panel session held at a Senate meeting room on 11 Mar. 2003.
14 Interview, Phra Srīpariyattimolī (Somchai Kusalacitto Bhikkhu), Maha Chulalongkorn Buddhist University, Bangkok, 28 Aug. 2002.
15 Thammapidok, Phra (P.A. Payutto), Panha phiksuni: Bot thot-sop sangkhom thai (Bhikkhunī questions: Lessons to review Thai society) (Bangkok: Sukkhaphap chai, 2001), pp. 10–11Google Scholar. All translations from Thai and Japanese in this article are mine unless otherwise indicated.
16 Phra Thammapidok, Panha phiksuni, pp. 11–12.
17 Ibid., p. 12.
18 Phra Devatilaka heads a group of bhikkhu called the ‘Defendants of Security of Buddhism’ (Klum phithak khwam-mankhong khong phra phutthasasana; the English name appears in the group's English publications). His best-known publications include Phaen thamlai phra phutthasasana (Bangkok: Klum phithak khwam-mankhong khong phra phutthasasana, 1983) and its English edition entitledGoogle Scholar, A plot to undermine Buddhism (Bangkok: Defendants of Security of Buddhism, 1984)Google Scholar. These books are published under Phra Devatilaka's former monastic title, ‘Phra Sophonkhunaphon’ (in the English edition, the author's name appears as ‘Venerable Phra Sobhon-Ganabhorn’). In these books Phra Devatilaka strongly criticises interreligious dialogue as a Roman Catholic Church strategy to undermine Buddhism.
19 Thepdilok, Phra (Rabaep Ṭhitañāṇo), ‘Lang ma eng muan fon an chun chai’ [Pouring in just as refreshing rain], in Ruan chai chao phut [Home of mind for Buddhists] (Bangkok: Sun Songsoem Phutthasasana haeng Prathet Thai, 2001), p. 16Google Scholar.
20 Interview, Phra Srīpariyattimolī, 28 Aug. 2002.
21 Saengsinchai, Thongyoi, ‘Panha ruang phiksuni’ [Questions about bhikkhunī], in Khai pritsana panha phiksuni [Answer questions about bhikkhunī], ed. Saengsinchai, Nawa-ek Thongyoi and Nisarat, Chamnan (Bangkok: Parian Tham Samakhom, 2001), p. 21Google Scholar.
22 Thongyoi, ‘Panha ruang phiksuni’, pp. 17–18.
23 Rattanāvalī often mentions this point in our private conversations. Bhikṣuṇī Chan Linh Nghiem (a Thai Buddhist nun who ordained in Thich Nhat Hanh's order in France; also known by her Thai name Bhikkhunī Niramisa) also indicated a similar point about her work both before and after her ordination. Interview, Bhikṣuṇī Chan Linh Nghiem, Bangkok, 13 Mar. 2007.
24 Interview with Senator Rabiaprat Phongphanit in a meeting room of the Senate, Bangkok, 12 Mar. 2003.
25 Her husband Soemsak Phongphanit served as an administrative vice minister of the interior and a junior minister of the interior in the Thaksin Shinawatra's government until the coup in Sept. 2006.
26 Interview, Rabiaprat, 12 Mar. 2003.
27 In my interview on 18 Mar. 2002 at her temple in Nakhon Pathom province, Dhammanandā said that she received a copy of a draft bill of the new saṅgha bill from a male member of the drafting committee in the parliament seeking her advice on it. In order not to provoke scepticism, Dhammanandā did not suggest including the term bhikkhunī in it; she rather suggested that ‘others’ be mentioned in the provision about orders belonging to the Thai Saṅgha. Currently in the Thai Saṅgha there are four orders: Mahanikai, Thammayut, Chinnikai (an order rooted in the Chinese monastic tradition) and Annamnikai (rooted in the Vietnamese tradition). The draft bill is yet to be finalised, so it is uncertain whether Dhammanandā's suggestion will be taken into account.
28 Interview, Rabiaprat, 12 Mar. 2003.
29 Chaired by Rabiaprat, the Subcommittee consisted of 10 other members: Mrs Wisa Banchamano, Dr Prayong Temchawala, Mrs Amphaiwan Trisakun, Mrs Methini Phongwet, Mrs Napha Setthakun, Associate Professor Mali Phrukphongsawali, Mrs Wanlapha Nilaphaichit, Dr Naphasi Maniwong and Miss Siriphon Phinyosirithon. The Subcommittee sought advice from both intellectuals who favoured and opposed bhikkhunī restoration: the supporters included Bhikkhu Kosin Paripuṇṇo, Bhikkhu Mano Mettānando and Sāmaṇerī Dhammanandā, while those against included Bhikkhu Rājakavī and Bhikkhu Devatilaka. The Subcommittee also acknowledged those names of renowned Buddhist monks and academics in Thailand, such as Bhikkhu Srīpariyattimolī, Bhikkhu Ariyamedhī, Bhikkhu Prasoet Tiradhammo, Professor Dr Amon Raksasat, Sathianphong Wannapok, Thongkhaw Phuangrotphan and Bhikkhu Visāladhammabādī. Ruang kan-buat phiksuni nai prathet thai [Bhikkhunī ordination in Thailand], pp. 6–7.
30 Ruang kan-buat phiksuni nai prathet thai [Bhikkhunī ordination in Thailand].
31 Ibid., pp. 11–14.
32 Ibid., pp. 12–13; The notes in parentheses are in the original, those in square brackets are mine.
33 Ibid., p. 13.
34 Ibid., p. 13. Following the last sentence cited above referred to antarāyikadhamma, Bhikkhunī Khandhaka, page 346 of Tipiṭaka, Thai edition, Vol. 7.
35 Ibid., p. 60.
36 Ibid., p. 60.
37 Ibid., pp. 60–1.
38 For instance, a Thai bhikkhu who has ordained several Thai women as sāmaṇerī in his temple in Yasothon province in northeast Thailand said that they studied bhikkhunī issues through Dhammanandā's and the Subcommittee's books. Interview with the Thai bhikkhu who ordained sāmaṇerī, 22 Mar. 2004.
39 Ruang kan-buat phiksuni nai prathet thai [Bhikkhunī ordination in Thailand], p. 60.
40 The three include Sukhettā, Dhammadhīrā and Kaññārattana. Sukhettā became a bhikkhunī in July 2006, after 18 months of training in Sri Lanka; Dhammadhīrā travelled to Sri Lanka in July 2007 for her higher ordination after three years of monastic training at Dhammanandā's temple; and Kaññārattana began her training to prepare for her higher ordination in Sri Lanka in Apr. 2007. Rattanāvalī, email correspondence, 8 May 2007.
41 Telephone conversation with the author, 29 May 2005. It seems more likely for a Tibetan to live in India as a Theravāda bhikkhu rather than an Indian Theravāda bhikkhu to live in Tibet under Chinese rule; but this is the Thai bhikkhunī's verbatim description of her preceptor.
42 Interview, Bhikkhunī Dhammanandā, 11 Sept. 2006.
43 Interview with one of the three Thai bhikkhunī, 19 June 2006.
44 Interview with the bhikkhunī, 20 June 2006.
45 Interview, Bhikkhunī Sang Won (Korean teacher of the first contemporary Sri Lankan bhikkhunī who ordained in 1996 in Sarnath, India), Bo Myung Sa Temple, Seoul, 26 Sept. 2006.
46 Interview, 28 Aug. 2002.
47 Ishii, Yoneo, Saṅgha, state, and society: Thai Buddhism in history, trans. Hawkers, Peter (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1986)Google Scholar; Religion and legitimation of power in Thailand, Laos, and Burma, ed. Smith, Bardwell L. (Chambersburg: ANIMA Books, 1978)Google Scholar; Jackson, Peter A., Buddhism, legitimation, and conflict: The political functions of urban Thai Buddhism (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1989)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
48 Ishii, Saṅgha, state, and society, pp. 82–3.
49 Tambiah, S.J., World conqueror and world renouncer: A study of Buddhism and polity in Thailand against a historical background (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
50 Interview, Thonglith Candasaro Bhikkhu and Daoheuang Khampaseuth Bhikkhu, Vientiane, 22 Feb. 2005.
51 Ishii, Saṅgha, state, and society, p. 70.
52 Ibid., pp. 73–4.
53 Interview, Mioao Sen Bhikṣuṇī, abbess, Fo Guang Shan branch temple in Bangkok, 10 Mar. 2007. Mioao is a Thai female dhamma teacher who ordained as a Mahāyāna Buddhist bhikkhunī in Taiwan with the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order, Taiwan's largest monastic group.
54 Referring to an article by David DeVoss (‘Buddhism under the red flag’, Time, 17 Nov. 1980, pp. 90–2), Charles Keyes writes that in 1980 it was estimated that more than 60 per cent of monks were executed during the Pol Pot regime. Keyes, Charles F., ‘Communist revolution and the Buddhist past in Cambodia’, in Asian visions of authority: Religion and the modern states of East and Southeast Asia, ed. Keyes, Charles F., Kendall, Laurel and Hardacre, Helen (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1994), p. 56Google Scholar.
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56 Harris, Ian, ‘Buddhism in extremis: The case of Cambodia’, in Buddhism and politics in twentieth-century Asia, ed. Harris, Ian (London: Continuum, 1999), pp. 66–7Google Scholar; Hayashi, Yukio, ‘Kambojia ni okeru bukkyo jissen: Ninaite to jiin no fukko’ [Buddhist practice in Cambodia: Actors and temple restoration], in Kambojia: bunka to shakai no dainamikkusu [Cambodia: Dynamics of culture and society], ed. Ohashi, Hisatoshi (Tokyo: Kokon Shoin, 1998), p. 188Google Scholar.
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58 Smith, Religion and legitimation of power in Thailand, Laos, and Burma; Ishii, Saṅgha, state, and society.
59 Interview, Bhikkhunī Il Beob (Director of Academic Division, Korean Bhikkhunī Association), Korean Bhikkhunī Association, Seoul, 27 Sept. 2006.
60 Interview, Huimin Bhikṣu (President of Dharma Drum Buddhist College, Taiwan; Professor at Taipei National University of the Arts), Hamburg, 19 July 2007. Huimin explained in the interview that ordinary bhikkhu and bhikkhunī are not confident enough to teach vinaya to candidates, so they send their disciples to one of those special temples for ordination ceremonies, but as benefactors they are responsible for the rest of their disciples' regular monastic education. He said that in Taiwan a preceptor has only nominal significance; a benefactor is an essential teacher from whom newly ordained individuals receive substantial lessons. Candidates have to decide their benefactor teacher and affiliating temple before they apply for an ordination ceremony.
