Karuna Dharma | |
---|---|
Title | Bhikkhuni |
Personal | |
Born | Joyce Adele Pettingill April 21, 1940 |
Died | February 22, 2014 73) | (aged
Religion | Buddhism |
Nationality | American |
School | Vietnamese Thiền |
Senior posting | |
Teacher | Thích Thiên-Ân |
Karuna Dharma (Vietnamese : Thích Nữ Ân Từ; April 21, 1940—February 22, 2014) was an American Buddhist scholar and nun. She was the first American-born woman to become a fully ordained Buddhist nun in the Vietnamese tradition. She was the abbess of the International Buddhist Meditation Center of Los Angeles.
Karuna Dharma was born Joyce Adele Pettingill on April 21, 1940, in Beloit, Wisconsin, to a Baptist family. She attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison where she met Ben Ting Fun Lum. They married and moved to Los Angeles where he was an aerospace engineer for McDonnell Douglas. [1]
She met Vietnamese Zen Buddhist master Thích Thiên-Ân in 1969 when she signed up for a class on Buddhism. She was one of his first students. [2] She helped him establish the International Buddhist Meditation Center (IBMC) in 1970. [3] She took full ordination in the Lieu Quang school of Vietnamese Thiền from Thích Thiên-Ân in 1976. [4] This made her the first fully ordained female member of the Buddhist monastic community in the U.S. Following Thích Thiên-Ân's death in 1980, she succeeded him in directing the International Buddhist Meditation Center. [2]
Karuna Dharma used the International Buddhist Meditation Center to assist Vietnamese refugees [5] and was greatly influential in their resettlement in the United States following the Vietnam War. Dharma interpreted the Prātimokṣa's prohibition on sexual misconduct as not applying to people in a committed relationship. She estimated at one point that one third of the community at IBMC was lesbian or gay. [6]
During Venerable Karuna Dharma's lifetime, she ordained nearly 50 bhikkhunis and hundreds of Buddhist clergy and laity. She served as president of the American Buddhist Congress and vice president of the College of Buddhist Studies and the Buddhist Sangha Council of Southern California. She founded Sakyadhita, the Buddhist-Catholic dialog, the Buddhist Sangha Council of SoCal, and the Inter-religious Council of SoCal. [3]
She had two daughters, Chrystine and Elan from a previous marriage prior to ordaining as a nun. Venerable Karuna Dharma died on February 22, 2014, from complications of Alzheimer's disease. [1]
Thích Nhất Hạnh was a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet and teacher, who founded the Plum Village Tradition, historically recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism. Known as the "father of mindfulness", Nhất Hạnh was a major influence on Western practices of Buddhism.
The World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) is an international Buddhist organization. Initiated by Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera, it was founded in 1950 in Colombo, Ceylon, by representatives from 27 nations. Although Theravada Buddhists are prominent in the organization,, members of all Buddhist schools are active in the WFB. It has regional centers in more than 30 countries, including India, the United States, Australia, and several nations of Africa and Europe, in addition to traditional Buddhist countries.
Engaged Buddhism, also known as socially engaged Buddhism, refers to a Buddhist social movement that emerged in Asia in the 20th century. It is composed of Buddhists who seek to apply Buddhist ethics, insights acquired from meditation practice, and the teachings of the Buddhist dharma to contemporary situations of social, political, environmental, and economic suffering, and injustice.
The term American Buddhism can be used to describe all Buddhist groups within the United States, including Asian-American Buddhists born into the faith, who comprise the largest percentage of Buddhists in the country.
Thích Thiên-Ân (釋天恩) was an American teacher and Buddhist monk of Vietnamese Thiền (Zen) Buddhism and was active in the United States from 1966 to 1980. He was ordained at Chua Chau Lam in Hue, Vietnam.
Buddhism in Vietnam, as practiced by the Vietnamese people, is a form of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism. It is the main religion in Vietnam. Vietnamese Buddhism is generally inclusive and syncretic, drawing on the main Chinese Buddhist traditions, such as Tiantai and Huayan, Zen (Thiền), and Pure Land.
Deer Park Monastery is a 400-acre (1.6 km2) Buddhist monastery in Escondido, California. It was founded in July 2000 by Thích Nhất Hạnh along with monastic and lay practitioners from the Plum Village Tradition. The monastery was under the direct guidance of Thích Nhất Hạnh and his Order of Interbeing in the Vietnamese Thiền tradition.
The Order of Interbeing is an international Buddhist community of monks, nuns and laypeople in the Plum Village Tradition founded between 1964 and 1966 by Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh.
The Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism, Inc. and its sister organization, the French Congregation Bouddhique Zen Village des Pruniers are the governance bodies of the monasteries, press and fundraising organizations established by the Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. The name Unified Buddhist Church, which originated in Vietnam, was intended to signify that this tradition practices to embrace all the teachings of the Buddha, whether they belong to the Mahāyāna or Theravāda stream.
Women in Buddhism is a topic that can be approached from varied perspectives including those of theology, history, anthropology, and feminism. Topical interests include the theological status of women, the treatment of women in Buddhist societies at home and in public, the history of women in Buddhism, and a comparison of the experiences of women across different forms of Buddhism. As in other religions, the experiences of Buddhist women have varied considerably.
Ven. Thich Nhat Tu or Thích Nhật Từ (釋日慈) in Vietnamese is a Vietnamese Buddhist reformer, an author, a poet, a psychological consultant, and an active social activist in Vietnam. He is committed to propagate Buddha's teachings through education, cultural activities and charitable programs in order to benefit the individuals and the society at large.
Vạn Hạnh Monastery is a Zen Buddhist temple in Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. The temple is located at 716 Nguyễn Kiệm Street on the road between Go Vap and Phu Nhuan districts. It is the location of the main Buddhist training centre for sangha in Vietnam, and is also the office of the Vietnamese Buddhist Research Institute.
The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha is the only Buddhist sangha recognised by the Vietnamese government, and a member of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front. It was founded after Vietnam's Buddhist Convention at Quán Sứ Pagoda on November 7, 1981, to unify Buddhist activities of Vietnamese monks, nuns and lay followers.
Blue Cliff Monastery is an 80-acre (0.32 km2) Thiền Buddhist monastery located in Pine Bush, New York. It was founded in May 2007 by monastic and lay practitioners from the Plum Village Tradition.
Zen was introduced in the United States at the end of the 19th century by Japanese teachers who went to America to serve groups of Japanese immigrants and become acquainted with the American culture. After World War II, interest from non-Asian Americans grew rapidly. This resulted in the commencement of an indigenous American Zen tradition which also influences the larger western (Zen) world.
Trúc Lâm Yên Tử (竹林安子), or simply Trúc Lâm, is a Vietnamese Thiền sect. The school was founded by Emperor Trần Nhân Tông (1258–1308) showing influence from Confucian and Taoist philosophy. Trúc Lâm's prestige later waned as Confucianism became dominant in the later imperial court.
Thiền Buddhism is the name for the Vietnamese school of Zen Buddhism. Thiền is the Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (chán), an abbreviation of 禪那, which is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word dhyāna ("meditation").
Frank Jude Boccio is a teacher and the originator of Mindfulness Yoga as he distinguishes his approach, based upon the Buddha's teaching of satipatthana, from Mindful Yoga, which simply emphasizes doing postures mindfully. He explains the difference in his blog where he writes "In mindful yoga, one is practicing asana mindfully; in Mindfulness Yoga one is practicing mindfulness in the posture." He is known both for his teaching in centres across America, and for his 2004 book Mindfulness Yoga: The Awakened Union of Breath, Body and Mind, which describes a practice that combines yoga as exercise and Buddhist meditational practice.
Thich Phuoc Ngoc or Dhammananda Thero Thich Phuoc Ngoc - a Buddhist monk is a Venerable of Sri Lanka Buddhist Sangha. He has been known for positive contributions to humanitarian and social security activities, is the founder of the first Buddhist orphanage in Vietnam.
Venerable Chi Kwang Sunim is a Zen Buddhist nun. She is currently the leader of a small community and forest retreat in Kinglake, Victoria.
Karuna Dharma.