Dakkhina Dhammatthala

The Precious Opportunity to take Upasampada [Higher Ordination] has arisen for Santacari.

It is a rare and precious thing to be able to take higher ordination as a fully ordained female monk [Bhikkhuni] in the Theravadan tradition. At this time in the world there are thousands of billions of people and perhaps a few million male monks [Bhikkhus], yet there are less than 3,000 fully ordained female monks in Theravada. The Chinese Mahayana tradition still has many hundreds of thousands fully ordained female monks, but for Theravada it is a rare and precious opportunity.

The higher ordination procedure for female monks is in two parts: the first is the ordination with the senior Bhikkhunis [the ladies] and the second part is a confirmation of that ordination with the senior Bhikkhus [the gentlemen].

This September three Samaneris [female novice monks or nuns if you wish] will have the opportunity to take Higher Ordination [Upasampada] in Australia. The first part will be at Santi Forest Monastery in NSW on 4^th Sept and is a public ceremony open to all who wish to attend. The second part will be at Bodhinyana in WA and will be a private ceremony due to a retreat being in progress at that time.

Santacari Samaneri from Adelaide’s own Dhakkhina Dhammatthala centre in Christies Beach will be one of the novices travelling to NSW and WA to participate in taking higher ordination. When she returns to us here in Adelaide she will have become Santacari Bhikkhuni, a fully ordained Buddhist lady monk.

The term Nun is also often used for a female monk, since it is the English word most usually used for a female monastic. So we usually have Bhikkhu translated as monk and Bhikkhu-ni translated as nun.

But whatever word you want to use, it is a joyous occasion, and we would like to join with Santacari in celebrating this special and rare opportunity.

You can see the invitation to attend and more information here on the Santi web site.