There’s a Bhikkhuni in my Back Yard!

I have crossed desert paths with something extrordinary…   A living treasure!

The Mahapajapati Monastery & Buddhist study center in Pipes Canyon, California is home to an extremely rare (more like extinct) desert rose; the Venerable Ayya Gunasari Bhikkhuni. I met Venerable Gunasari & Therese (another nun at the monastery) at a twice weekly morning meditation at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center (Mentalphysics Institute). Now the monastery is my favorite place for morning tea. Five minutes with those two infectious smiles & my batteries are charged for the day. Oh, meditation sometimes helps too.

The new monastery is to be a permanent residence for Bhikkhunis (fully ordained female monastics) & to reestablish the Bhikkhuni lineage (that was lost in Sri Lanka in the 10th Century, and in Burma/Myanmar in the 13th century. Gunasari is one of less than 500 Bhikkhuni in the world, one of only 20 the United States & Canada, & the one & only living Bhikkhuni to have been born in Burma/Myanmar.

In 2003 in Sri Lanka, Samaneri Gunasari received higher ordination to the Bhikkhuni Sangha order, along with another Burma/Myanmar Samaneri Daw Saccavadi.  Among the Burma/Myanmar women, this was an unprecedented event. The Bhikkhuni Sangha had been defunct for the past 1,000 years in Burma, and the opportunity for women to receive Bhikkhuni ordination has been forbidden in Burma/Myanmar for that same period.

Bhikkhunis are expected to observe the monastic code of conduct of 311 precepts and monks observe 227 precepts. In order to make this lifestyle possible, the Bhikkhunis must have the full support of the lay community. Bhikkhunis study the monastic code thoroughly so that they not only know the words but more importantly the spirit and intention behind the development of the precepts. If one did not understand the deeper purpose of these rules, the monastic code could become an obstacle to one’s practice. The context of the world we live in now, however, is very different from the India of 2500 years ago. Both the Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis have had to adapt. Without proper understanding of the monastic code, one could swing from one extreme of forever adapting, to the other extreme of being rigid and hence lose the beauty of the Buddhist lifestyle.

Venerable Gunasari received the Outstanding Women in Buddhism Award for 2006.

If you would like to call them, visit them, donate money or your expertise to the monastery, or even better, become part of their community, the phone number is: (760) 369-0460 (More contact information is listed on the monastery website along with maps & directions.)

~ by Valerie on March 5, 2009.