The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.
Question: What's your view about bhikkhuni ordination?
Than Ajahn: Well, bhikkhuni ordination falls under the command of the Buddha. The Buddha said that you could only be ordained as bhikkhuni when there is a bhikkhuni Saṅgha. After you’re ordained with a bhikkhuni Saṅgha, you need to be ordained with the bhikkhu Saṅgha.
So, you need two Saṅghas to be able to ordain a bhikkhuni. As far as Theravada tradition is concerned, bhikkhuni tradition has ended a long time ago. The Buddha did not provide any provision on how to restart a new bhikkhuni Saṅgha, that’s why we could not ordain any bhikkhuni now if we want to follow the order or the command of the Buddha which we respect and believe that it is probably the best.
Whatever the Buddha said is usually for the best for Buddhism.
But this doesn’t stop you from becoming a bhikkhuni yourself. You don’t need to be ordained as a bhikkhuni because all bhikkhunis need are to keep the bhikkhuni’s precepts. So, you just study the bhikkhuni’s precepts which are still available in the Tipiṭaka, and keep those precepts, then you are a bhikkhuni on your own. You don’t need people to recognize you as a bhikkhuni.
Your purpose to become a bhikkhuni is not for people to accept you or to realize that you are a bhikkhuni.
You are a bhikkhuni because you want to become enlightened. So you don’t need a bhikkhuni Saṅgha to ordain you if there is no bhikkhuni Saṅgha to do that. You can ordain yourself. The Buddha ordained himself. He didn’t have a bhikkhu Saṅgha to ordain him to become a monk, to become a bhikkhu.
So, you can become a bhikkhuni if you know what the requirements of a bhikkhuni are. You just fulfil that requirements, then you become bhikkhuni in yourself. You know in yourself, in your heart, that ‘I’m a bhikkhuni.’ If other people don’t think you are one, ‘So, what?’ It doesn’t matter. Because whether you are enlightened or not enlightened, it doesn’t depend on what other people think of you, it depends on whether you could do it or not. So, just do it. If you want to be a bhikkhuni, study the 300+ precepts of the bhikkhuni and maintain them. And then, go develop samādhi and wisdom, then you can become enlightened.
“Dhamma in English, Apr 24, 2019.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
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