[Buddha-l] Meanwhile Down Under

[Jampa Tsedroen]

I just received this link:

http://dhammalight.com/

Where under Thai Sangha Laws you find this entrance:

*ANNOUNCEMENT*

“It is unallowable for any Bhikkhu to give the Going-Forth to Women

Any woman who wishes to ordain as a Samaneri, in accordance with the 
Buddha’s allowances, has to be ordained by a fully ordained Bhikkhuni. 
The Buddha laid down the rule that only a Bhikkhuni over 12 vassas is 
eligible to be a Preceptor (pavattini).

The Buddha did not allow for a Bhikkhu to be the preceptor in this 
ceremony. Unfortunately, the Bhikkhuni lineage has since faded and died 
out. Since there is no more fully-fledged Bhikkhunis to pass on the 
lineage, there is henceforth no Samaneris who have obtained a proper 
ordination from a fully-fledged Bhikkhuni.

Therefore both the Bhikkhuni and Samaneri lineage has died out. So any 
Bhikkhu who gives the going forth to a woman to become a Samaneri, it 
can be said that that Bhikkhu is not acting in accordance with the 
regulations the Buddha laid down. In essence, he is following his own 
guidelines and diverging from the guidelines that the Buddha laid down. 
This is something that will jeopardize the Buddhist Religion and is not 
a good example for other Bhikkhus.

*Therefore, all monks and novices, in both Nikayas are forbidden to 
ordain any woman as a Bhikkhuni, Sikkhamana, or Samaneri from this day 
forth.”*

/- Phra Bancha Somdet Phra Sangharacha Jiao Gromluang Jinawarn Siriwad/* 
(18 June **2471)*

              An Official Announcement from the Sangha Committee Meeting 
minutes, Book 16 pp157

What I heard is that it seems that the 1928 ruling has nothing to do 
with a 'Sangha Act', or with the Mahatherasamakhom, but is an Official 
Announcement from the Sangha Committee Meeting minutes, Book 16 pp157.

Jampa Tsedroen

Karma Tsomo wrote:
> According to Kulavir Prapapornpipat of Chiangmai University, the Sangha Act of 1928 prohibits Thai monks from ordaining Thai women:
>
> “ANNOUNCEMENT
> No Monks or Novice can Ordain Women as Pabbajita*
>
> According to the Buddha’s dispensation, women who want to be samaneri must be ordained by bhikkhunis. The Buddha allowed bhikkhunis who have been ordained for more than 12 years to be a pavattini, which is an upajjhaya (a spiritual teacher). He did not allow bhikkhus to be upajjhaya [for bhikkhunis]. Since the bhikkhuni lineage was extinguished long ago and there is no bhikkhuni to preserve samaneri ordination, therefore there is no samaneri to continue the lineage. All of them are extinct. A person who gives samaneri ordination is establishing that which the Buddha did not establish and removing what the Buddha established. He is an enemy of the religion and a bad model.
>
> For this reason, monks and novices of any sect are prohibited from ordaining women as bhikkhuni, sikkhamana, or samaneri from now on.
>
> Announced on June 18, 1928
> Krom Luang Shinnavorn Siriwat
>
> *As it is used here, the term pabbajita is intended to include bhikkhuni, sikkhamana, and samaneri.
>
> This announcement appeared in the Statement of the Sangha, vol.16, p. 157.”
>
> Kulavir Prapapornpipat, “Visible and Invisible Obstacles Facing the BhikkhuniMovement in Thailand,” Buddhist Women in a Global Multicultural Community, ed. Karma Lekshe Tsomo (Kuala Lumpur: Sukhi Hotu Press, 2009), p. 201. 
>
> Apologies for omitting the diacritics.
>
> Karma Lekshe Tsomo
> Theology and Religious Studies
> University of San Diego
>
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Bhikshuni Jampa Tsedroen (Dr. phil. Carola Roloff)
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