Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

lSO Anna

Halafofl

Not

youraverage

nun?

Aussie,

downtoearthandaccessible

Following

thereleaseof

Chasing

Buddha,

whichincludesasceneofVenerable

Robina

using

four-letter

words,

journalistsfrequently

usedextremeandsensa-

tionalist

descriptors

depicting

herassomewhatofasubversive

superhero.

This

iswellillustrated

by

headlinesand

phrases

suchas: ‘Thereis

nothingpassive

aboutthisBuddhist

nun’;

‘a

violatorof

expectations'(Hawker2000);

"Wilder

than

your average

nun‘

(Morgan

2000. 
      

and ‘the

gal

who

put

someattitude

into Buddhism'

(Brundrett 2003).

Journalists have

concurrently juxtaposed

VenerableRobina's

"unflinching

honesty

and

gutter-mouthed

outbursts’with‘her

brilliant

compassion

andwisdom'

(Weldon 1998),

her

‘open

andinfectious‘

smile

(Curtis

P998)

and ‘hard-boiled

humanity'

(Roach 2000).

Shehas been

describedas‘adiminutive

dynamo

witha

big

heart’

(Irving

2007b)

anda

‘sutpris-

ingly

softcentre’

(Hall2000).

Indeeditisher‘life

ofextremes‘thathas

arguably

madeherso

interesting

totheAustralianmediaand

public(Bymes2000).

‘Forgetyour

image

ofanobedientandmild~mannered

Buddhist’,

says

Rachel

Kohn.

‘she

doeswearthemaroonrobesoftheTibetanBuddhist

tradition,

but

Australian. Robina Courtin. has

brought

her

edgy personality

and boundless

energy

toher 24

years

asaBuddhistnun'

(The

SpiritofThings2003).

Indeedit

isher

‘forthn'ght'

and‘matter—of-factAussieattitude‘thathasbeendescribedas

having

‘prepared

her

perfectly

forherworkwith

prisoners

insomeoftheUnited

States'

toughestjails'

(Passmore2001;

Brundrett

2003).

Prisonersfrom

Kentucky

State

Penitentiary(quoted

in

Chasing

Buddha

quoted

in

Sunday

HeraldSun

2000)

describedher

teachings

as

‘veryeasy

torelatetobecauseshe

puts

themina

way

that

everyone

canunderstand‘.

They

alsodescribedheras

having

an

‘easy—going‘

style

andher

teachings

as

‘accessible',

‘fun‘and

‘interesting'.

In

addition,

VenerableRobina‘sown

experiences

of

suiTering

andviolence

in her

youth,

including

both incestand

rape (Irving 2007b).

have enabled

a level of

empathy

to

develop

between herand the

prisoners

and also with

femalestudentsboth

insideandoutsidethe

prisonsystem.

Asthe

majority

of

Buddhist

teachers.

and

panicularly

TibetanBuddhist

Lamas,

whohave visited

and

taught

in Australia have been

men.

it follows that Australian women

aredrawntothe

teachings

ofBuddhist

nuns intheTibetantradition.suchas

Venerable RobinaCourtin andJetsunmaTenzin

Palmo.

with

whom

they

can

more

easilyidentify.

In 1996 Lama

Zopa

Rinpoche

wroteina let

binhda)

card to

Arturo,

the first

prisoner

that Venerable Robina had

responded

to.

‘yourprison

is

nothing

in

comparison

totheinner

prison

of

ordinarypeople'

—

the

prison

of

attachment,

anger,depression

andtheother

everydayunhappy

emotions
(Courtin
quoted

inThe

ReligionReport

2005).

Consequently.

Venerable

Robina‘sadviceis thesametoall
‘prisoners',regardless

of

gender.

It‘sabout

developingself-respectthroughenhancing

one's

positivequalities:

‘Thebottom

line is that a
human

being

looks at

themselves,

takes

responsibility

and

knows

they’vegotpotential

to

change

forthebetter'

(Courtinquoted

in

Irving

2007a).
According

to

VenerableAileen

Ban'y

ofLiberation Prison

Project

in

Australia.

not

only

does

VenerableRobinahavea

profoundunderstanding

of

VenerableRobinaCour/in

lSl

suffering,

‘whatshe's

ableto

put

acrossto

people

veryclearly

isitis

possible

totransform

[it]

she‘s a

verygrounded,practical.

livingexample

ofthat‘

(Campus:

2007).

Unconventional

ortraditional?

Scholarshavenoted

thatAustralians

——

andthe

media

7

hold a

very

limited

understanding

ofdiverse

Buddhist traditions

and of Buddhism's

history

in

Australia

(Croucher I989;

Sherwood 2003:

l.3).

WhileAustralians

commonly

viewBuddhistsaseither

insilent

contemplation

or

joviallaughter,

thecontribu—

tionsthatBuddhism

hasmadetosocial

change

andthatwomenhave

madeto

BuddhisminAustralia

remain

largelyunrecognized

(Adam

2000;

Sherwood

2003:

I,3).

In

actuality.

eccentric,

strong

teachers

andwomenhave

played

a

leading

roleinBuddhism

inAustraliasincethenineteenth

century

andacommitment

to

a

reflexive,pragmaticapproach

toBuddhism

andto

Buddhist-inspired

methods

ofsocial

change

have

long

been

prevalent

inAustralia

(Croucher

1989;

Adam

and

Hughes1996;

Adam

2000;

Sherwood

2003),

AsSherwood

(2003)explains,

acommitment

tosocial

changemung

Buddhistsisnotanewor

westerndevel-

opment.

itis

acontinuationofthetradition

oftheBodhisattvaPath,

asdescribed

by

Shantideva,

the

eighth-century

Indianscholarand

monk,

whichstressesthe

Mahayana

idealofaltruismandof

theBodhisattva's

pledge

totakewhatever

form

may

be

necessary

in orderto

be ofmostbenefit toothers

(Shantideva

2000:

33).

It follows

that the so—callcdunconventional

Venerable Robina

Courtin is

actually quite

traditional. She follows

the Bodhisattva's

path

of altruistic

motivation

for

personal

andsocial

change.

She

begins

and ends

her

teachings

withtraditional

prayers,

She

dispenses

traditionalmethodsof

practices.

medita-

tionsand

vows. She

encourages

her

studentsto

study

Buddhists

textsand to

meetwith

qualified

teachers

(The

Spiri/

ofThings

2003;

Irving

2007b).

Due

toher

appearance.

as anAustralian

womanand down-to—earth

dynamo.

who

hastravailed

many

difficult

periods

inherownlife:

‘[l]n

herown

specialway

she has humanized

Buddhism. made

it moreaccessibleand

within reach for

people

withnormalconditionsand

failings'

(andrctt2003).

Inso

doing.

she

has

proven

‘inspiration

comes

inall

shapes

andsizes'

(Roach2000), followtng

theBodhisattva's tradition,

appearing

where and

when needed and

enacting

whatever

it takesto

help

all

beings

to be freefrom

suffering

and to

find

happiness,

thus

challengingprevalent

notionsofwhat

aBuddhistinAustralia

ought

to

belike.

Consequently,

VenerableRobinacanbe

viewedasa

proponent

ofwhat

Phillips

andAarons

(2005)

havedefinedasa

traditionalratherthan

new

age

approach

to Buddhism that

islittle understood in

contemporary

western

contexts.

Furtherresearch is

necessary

to substantiate

this claim. this

could

includea

sociologicalstudy

focused

onthe

experiences

ofVenerable

Robina‘s

students,panicularlyprisoners

and

women,

andalso

a

comprehensive

history

ofwomen

inBuddhisminAustralia

following

onfrom

Crouchcr‘s

(1989)

and

Adams

(2000)

studies.