Women in Brown a short history of the siladhara, nuns of the English Forest Sangha.pdf

Buddhist Studies Review 23(2) 2006, 221–40

ISSN (print): 0256-2897

doi: 10.1558/bsrv.2006.23.2.221

ISSN (online): 1747-9681

Women in Brown: a short history of the

order of sīladharā , nuns of the

English Forest Sangha, Part Two

JANE ANGELL

jane@wadleynet.com

ABSTRACT: This history of the unique community of Theravāda nuns known as sīladharā ,

based at Amaravati and Chithurst Buddhist monasteries is presented in two parts. The

history from its inception in the late 1970s until the years 2000 appeared in Buddhist Stud-

ies Review 23(1). This second part gives the most recent developments in the order, from

2000 to the present day, plus re ﬂ ections on the future. The research is based on personal

interview with founding members of the order as well as email, telephone and written

communications with nuns past and present. It considers the implications of the revived

bhikkhunī ordination for the sīladharā and addresses the possibilities for the future. It

describes the founding of a parallel order of Theravāda nuns in Western Australia, with

some signi ﬁ cant diﬀ erences to the UK nuns. It concludes that in attempting a form

of monasticism for women, giving all the advantages of renunciation but at the same

time negotiating the diﬃ cult synthesis of Western expectations, traditional Theravāda

cultural norms and the monastic rule itself, it has largely succeeded.

2000 TO THE PRESENT DAY

Following a period when there were three communities of nuns, the sīladharā

have, since 2000, again been largely concentrated in the two communities of

Amaravati and Cittaviveka. Ajahn Sucitto has described Amaravati as being like

the nerve centre of the organisation and Chithurst as a limb. 1 Whilst there have

been no dramatic changes, the communities of nuns continue to develop, with

small but signi ﬁ cant changes in their roles and in their relationship with both

the bhikkhu saṅgha and the lay communities.

Abhayagiri

For a brief period, there were sīladharā at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, a sis-

ter monastery of Amaravati established in Redwood Valley, California, in 1995,

1. Interview of 3 November 2004.

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following visits to the area by Ajahn Sumedho from the early 1980s onwards.

Abhayagiri had never been envisioned as a community of both monks and nuns,

but Ajahn Jitindriyā had been oﬀ ered a place to undertake a solitary retreat there.

She, Ajahn Sundarā and later one other nun, spent some time there from 2000

onwards. There was a great deal of interest and support from the lay community

for the nuns, and they had a full programme of teaching, not only in California

but at other meditation centres in America. However, confusion about the nuns’

position gradually arose. The monastery was not designed physically to accom-

modate nuns, and therefore their presence, for example in the oﬃ ce where the

accommodation was very limited, made some of the monks feel uncomfortable,

as it sometimes entailed a compromise of their vinaya standards. It has also been

noted that some of the senior monks were not completely supportive of the nuns’

presence. This could be put down to a training in Thailand where there was little

chance to adapt to the presence of women; or simply a very orthodox and tradi-

tional viewpoint. Whatever the motivation or reasoning behind it, the nuns began

to feel increasingly ill at ease.

A couple of devoted lay supporters, who fell ill and died within a short time

of each other, had left property adjacent to the monastery as a legacy for use of

the saṅgha , with a suggestion that it be used for nuns . Ajahn Jitindriyā was keen

to form the nucleus of a women’s community there, but the ambiguity of feeling

amongst the resident monks, coupled with the earlier problem of resources which

had aﬀ ected the nuns’ community in Devon, (simply put, insuﬃ cient numbers

of available nuns and anagārikā s) meant that this project did not succeed. The

nuns were advised that they would have to leave the monastery by a certain date

in 2003. This was a somewhat unhappy interlude with misunderstandings and

hurt on both sides. However, it typi ﬁ es some of the problems that the sīladharā

face – ingrained attitudes, discomfort, inadequate facilities and provisions, and

an inability through circumstance to ful ﬁ l the desires for teaching of signi ﬁ cant

numbers of lay people. American women associated with Abhayagiri who wish

to undertake monastic training have to travel to the UK to do so. 2

A review of the vinaya

One important project that the sīladharā have undertaken was a thorough review

of their vinaya (using the term in its widest sense to denote monastic discipline).

This may well in part have been inspired by the approval of the Elders’ Council,

which in 1997 had convened and allowed the garudhamma s to be informally laid

2. As of March 2005, a trust is being established in the USA, quite distinct from Abhayagiri, ‘to

support the nuns from Amaravati (and related sanghas) to come to America. We hope to oﬀ er

a place for them to live and for nuns to ordain in America when the time is right and they are

ready. In the meantime, the trust will help to arrange for them to be here more often – to spon-

sor their travels and teaching in America and to allow for them to be on retreat’. E-mail from

Jill Boone.

ANGELL A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF SĪLADHARĀ , II

223

aside for the purposes of facilitating the nuns’ presence at Hartridge. 3 At the time,

the nuns were given leave ‘to review the code of relationship between the orders

of monks and nuns and possibly to come up with a new draft that would allow

more room to move’, 4 and subsequently they undertook this more wide ranging

review of their rules, at Hartridge in 1998.

The review made a number of recommendations which have remained con-

ﬁ dential, as their implementation has not gone ahead. To proceed would have

required a lengthy and perhaps diﬃ cult procedure of presenting the ﬁ ndings

and recommendation to both the bhikkhu saṅgha and to the Elders’ Council, for

discussion and approval. In normal circumstances the nuns would have begun

this process, although not all of the nuns agreed as to the degree of importance

of the proposed changes. However, the possibility of a more fundamental change,

that is bhikkhunī ordination, whilst slim, means that the nuns have been reluctant

to take the trouble to implement something that might be rendered super ﬂ uous.

The issue of bhikkhunī ordination, its possibility, desirability and relevance to the

sīladharā is considered later.

Recent years have seen certain gradual changes in the public pro ﬁ le of the

sīladharā . In the absence of Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Candasirī has occasionally been

the preceptor for anagārikā ordinations, a role that in the early years would have

seemed unthinkable. At Amaravati, the monks and nuns share equally the duty of

leading the evening pūjā . However, a nun still would not do be asked to oﬃ ciate

at the chanting at the mealtime at a large weekend gathering at Amaravati, where

many lay people and particularly members of the Thai community, are present.

This may largely be due to a wish not to oﬀ end or alienate members of the Thai

community for whom the position of women culturally is traditionally a subordi-

nate one. It is however possible to discern a gradual change in the way that the nuns

are perceived amongst the Asian lay community; their presence and participation

is now normal and the respect and consideration shown to them is increasing. 5

This is noticeable in the oﬀ erings made at the annual Kaṭhina ceremony organ-

ised by lay supporters, at which robe cloth and other requisites are oﬀ ered. The

balance of oﬀ erings is still very much weighted towards the bhikkhu saṅgha , but

it is gradually changing. In the early years, the nuns would be barely considered

but now the ceremony has evolved to allow them too to receive oﬀ erings, in a

formal way.

For many years, members of the order of sīladharā have been leading retreats,

3. See Part I of this paper.

4. E-mail communication from Jitindriyā, 12 February 2005: ‘It was extensively reviewed, and

certain rules and observances were noted for re-writing/re-de ﬁ ning and/or re-categorising.

… consequently, (due to many duties and responsibilities of the nuns, and several senior nuns

moving to other situations around the world) no-one actually had time to write up an oﬃ cial

proposal for the Elders Council (both monks and nuns) to review and sanction’.

5. ‘For me there has been a slow but signi ﬁ cant change in how the Asian lay community relates

to us, over the last decade or so. Now the elders of their communities will bring oﬀ erings for

us, and refer to us … All around, it’s clear our “position” is something in evolution – largely a

natural one’. Ajahn Thāniyā, letter January 2005.

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BUDDHIST STUDIES REVIEW

with freedom to teach and lead unsupervised. This freedom of the teacher is

something that we in the West might well take for granted. However, in the tra-

ditional Asian form which gave birth to the English Forest Sangha, the place of a

woman as a teacher of both men and women in such circumstances is little short

of revolutionary. This is one aspect of the freedom that the sīladharā have in con-

trast to the life of their sisters, the white-robed mae-ji of Thailand.

Softly, softly

Ajahn Candasirī maintains that the ‘softly, softly’ approach that the nuns have

taken over the years has borne fruit:

I do very much have a sense of gratitude, appreciation, and I’m very

unwilling to force things or to push things through in a way that might

seem abusive … I’m glad that Ajahn Sumedho has always resisted that

kind of pressure. I feel that the things that we have been given have

come because of a recognition that we were ready, that we’ve deserved

it, we’ve earned it. That gives a … good foundation. So it’s not that peo-

ple have put their heads together and said, how can we make the monks

and nuns equal, we must have equality, the nuns should be like this. It’s

… been quite a painstaking, quite a painful process sometimes, but very

much a patient step by step clearing the way. 6

And in Ajahn Thāniyā’s words:

Now we seem to be moving to the end of an adolescent process, able to

stand in our own spaces as adults. I see this in myself and in the nuns’

community as a whole organism. It has been a case of readiness; there

are all the ideals of us being independent, autonomous, etc but in real-

ity we have needed time to mature into that. 7

In the years since 2000, numbers of sīladharā have ﬂ uctuated and nuns have

come and gone, as is normal in any group. At the turn of the century and the end

of the time of Hartridge as a nuns’ vihāra , many of the more senior nuns were

away practising in diﬀ erent ways, on solitary retreat or undertaking intensive

meditation practice or teaching elsewhere. Their gradual return has led to a more

balanced community in terms of seniority.

In the past, the community evolved a way of managing their aﬀ airs in which all

members of the community were involved in decision making. Whilst this was inclu-

sive, it also led to unnecessarily lengthy meetings. The nuns are currently therefore

reorganising the way they run their aﬀ airs, and will be allocating more speci ﬁ c

responsibilities, although this has not been ﬁ nalised at the time of writing.

6. AjahnCandasirī, interview of 24 November 2004.

7. AjahnThāniyā, letter of January 2005.

ANGELL A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF SĪLADHARĀ , II

225

Over the years the monks and nuns have begun to learn from the diﬀ erent

ways of relating that men and women have. The monks have learned to explore

their feelings a little more, and practise con ﬂ ict resolution and discussion. The

nuns are learning to streamline their aﬀ airs, and be eﬃ cient whilst still mani-

festing the softness and gentleness that they value. In recent years both monks’

and nuns’ communities have bene ﬁ ted from psychotherapeutic work with the

Karuna Institute (see part one of this article) and the nuns have introduced ‘heart

meetings’. These are a chance for sīladharā ( anagārikā 8 have their own meetings)

to express any diﬃ culties and problems in a supportive atmosphere, conducive

to con ﬂ ict resolution and open communication. One mark of the increased under-

standing between them is the fact that those members of the community who

were at Hartridge in its last few months for nuns, and who had such diﬃ culty in

getting along, are now able to discuss much of what happened without bitterness

and with an honest and open recognition of the problems.

Dhammasara Nuns’ Monastery 9

A useful sidelight on the community of sīladharā in the UK is given by examining

the development of a nuns’ community in Western Australia. A monastery for

monks was founded in Western Australia in 1983, Bodhinyāna. 10 It is supported

by the Buddhist Society of Western Australia (BSWA). In the mid-1990s, its abbot

and the BSWA began actively seeking to establish a centre for renunciant women.

This has gradually emerged with the purchase in 1998 of a considerable acreage

at Gidgegannup, some 100 kilometres from Bodhinyāna. Ajahn Brahmavamso,

abbot of Bodhinyāna, invited an Australian nun, Ajahn Sister Vāyāmā, ordained

and trained in Sri Lanka under Ayya Khema, to be the community’s founding

abbot. The monastery, now known as Dhammasara Nuns’ Monastery, 11 is still

small, with just three resident nuns as well as anagārikā . The community observes

ten precepts but their situation diﬀ ers from that of the sīladharā . Here is Ajahn

Vāyāmā’s description of the development and current state of the monastery:

The Sangha of nuns at Dhammasara keep the ten precepts and is com-

pletely dependent on lay supporters for the provision of their material

needs of food, shelter, robes and medicines. The way these are acquired

from the lay supporters follows the guidelines laid down by the Buddha

in the Vinaya for bhikkhus and bhikkhunis.

8. The term is both singular and plural, as is sīladhārā .

9. These usually masculine terms (Monastery, Abbot) are consciously being used in relation to the

nuns’ community here, I presume to stress the similarities between those who have ‘gone forth’

rather than highlighting the diﬀ erence in gender.

10. Like Cittaviveka and Amaravati, it is in the lineage of Ajahn Chah and a branch of Wat Pah Nana-

chat, the International Forest Monastery in Thailand but is not directly related to Amaravati. Its

website can be found at www.bswa.org/modules/articles/article.php?id=2

11. The nuns’ monastery has web pages at www.bswa.org/modules/articles/article.php?id=5

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