Varanggana Vanavichayen is the first Bhikkhuni ordained in Thailand. [1] [2]
Vanavichayen worked as a translator, and then as a secretary. She was married and had two children, but divorced her husband in order to maintain a vow of celibacy. She became a novice for nine years, prior to becoming a Bhikkhuni. [3]
In 2002, at 55, Vanavichayen became the first Bhikkhuni ordained in Thailand. She was ordained by a Sri Lankan Bhikkhuni, and in the presence of a male Thai monk, as in accordance with Thai interpretation of Theravada scripture. [1] The scriptures require that both a male and female monk be present in order for a woman to be ordained a monk. Seven female monks were in attendance as well. Vanavichayen was ordained in Songdhammakalyani Monastery, headed by Dhammananda Bhikkhuni (born Chatsumarn Kabilsingh), a female monk who created controversy when she was ordained as a monk in Sri Lanka and returned to Thailand. Her temple and ordination are not recognized by the Thai government. Upon Vanavichayen's ordination, she was quoted as saying, "I know that there might be resistance. But I am prepared, knowing that I am doing the right thing." [3]
The Thai government's Deputy Chief of the Religious Affairs Department said that Vanavichayen would not be recognized as a monk. [1] This created a problem, as the Thai constitution prohibits gender discrimination, but anyone that dresses as a monk that is not a monk faces a two-month jail sentence. [3]
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A bhikkhu is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics are members of the Sangha.
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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.
A thilashin is a female renunciant in Burmese Buddhism; a Burmese Theravada Buddhist nun. They are not fully ordained nuns, as the full ordination is not legal for women in Burma (bhikkhuni), but are closer to sāmaṇerīs, 'novice nuns'. According to 2016 statistics published by the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, there were 60,390 thilashin in Myanmar (Burma).
A bhikkhunī or bhikṣuṇī is a fully ordained female monastic in Buddhism. 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 are 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.
Songdhammakalyani Monastery is a temple and monastery of Bhikkhuni in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. It was founded in 1960 by Ven. Ta Tao Fa Tzu, the first modern Thai woman to ordain as a bhikkhuni. The monastery was originally known as Wat Songdhammakalyani ."
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Varangghana Vanavichayen is the first woman to be ordained a Theravada bhikkhuni in Thailand. She was ordained a novice bhikkhuni on 10 February 2002 in Songdhammakalyani Monastery. The ceremony was attended by eight female monks from Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia. It was conducted in Sri Lankan tradition. Upon the ordination she adopted the name of Dhammarakhita Samaneri. The Abbess of the nunnery was Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, who is also the first Theravada bhikkhuni in Thailand.
This is a timeline of notable moments in the history of women's ordination in the world's religious traditions. It is not an exhaustive list of all historic or contemporary ordinations of women.