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Theravāda is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed Theravādins, have preserved their version of Gautama Buddha's teaching or Buddha Dhamma in the Pāli Canon for over two millennia.
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Saṅghamittā was the eldest daughter of Emperor Ashoka and his first wife, Devi. Together with her brother Mahinda, she entered an order of Buddhist monks. The two siblings later went to Sri Lanka to spread the teachings of Buddha at the request of King Devanampiya Tissa who was a contemporary of Ashoka. Ashoka was initially reluctant to send his daughter on an overseas mission. However, because of the insistence of Sangamitra herself, he finally agreed. She was sent to Sri Lanka together with several other nuns to start the nun-lineage of Bhikkhunis at the request of King Tissa to ordain queen Anulā and other women of Tissa's court at Anuradhapura who desired to be ordained as nuns after Mahindra converted them to Buddhism.
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A sāmaṇera (Pali), Sanskrit: श्रामणेर, is a novice male monastic in a Buddhist context. A female novice is a śrāmaṇerī or śrāmaṇerikā.
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Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, born Chatsumarn Kabilsingh or Chatsumarn Kabilsingh Shatsena, is a Thai bhikkhuni. On 28 February 2003, Kabilsingh received full monastic ordination as a bhikkhuni of the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka. She is Abbess of Songdhammakalyani Monastery, the only temple in Thailand where there are bhikkhunis.
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Venerable Bhikkhunī (Ayya) Tathālokā Mahātherī is an American-born Theravada Bhikkhunī, scholar and Buddhist teacher. She is also the co-founder of the Dhammadharini monastic community in California, which includes Dhammadharini Monastery, and Aranya Bodhi Hermitage. She was the recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Women in Buddhism Award, a presenting scholar at the 2007 International Congress on Buddhist Women's Role in the Sangha, and was appointed Preceptor for the historically-significant 2009 Bhikkhuni Ordination held in Perth, Australia.
A bhikkhunī or bhikṣuṇī is a fully ordained female in Buddhist monasticism. Male monastics are called bhikkhus. Both bhikkhunis and bhikkhus live by the Vinaya, a set of rules. Until recently, the lineages of female monastics only remained in Mahayana Buddhism and thus were prevalent in countries such as China, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam, but a few women have taken the full monastic vows in the Theravada and Vajrayana schools over the last decade. From conservative perspectives, none of the contemporary bhikkuni ordinations in Thailand or Tibet are valid.
A donchee is a pious Eight- or Ten Precepts-holding anagārikā laywoman residing in a pagoda in Buddhism in Cambodia, where bhikkhuni (nun's) lineage is not officially recognized.
Ayya Nirodha is an Australian Buddhist nun. Her story was featured in the Buddhist Life Stories of Australia Project (2014–2015).
References
- ↑ Dr. Friedgard Lottermoser. "Buddhist Nuns in Burma" . Retrieved 2008-10-14.
- ↑ "Women's Monastic Community" . Retrieved 2008-10-14.
- ↑ "Bold Step for Nuns". dharmalife.com. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
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