Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

120

Nugasnri

Australia's

geographical

distancefrom

theFWBOheartland

in

England

had

other

advantages.

Some

ofthc

lifestylcs

thatin

England

hadbecome

institution-

alizedandseen

by

someasthebestandeven

the

onlyway

to

practise

ifonewere

truly

serious.

suchas

working

inteam-based

right

livelihood

(TERL)

busine es

and

living

in

single

sex

communities.could

not beinsisted

oninAustralia.

Somesmall'l'BRl/businesses

andsome

small

single

sexcommunities

hadbeen

attempted

in

Sydney

butnonewas

longlasting.

TheFWBO

sangha

inAustralia

in the1980sand

90swassmall:fcworder

memberswere

freeand/or

willing

tocommit themselves

to

community

living

or

working

inaTBRLbusiness.

Both

require

much

energy.

time,

experience

In this

way

of

living

or

working

andcommitmentr

and thosethatwere

establisheddid

notlast.Therewas

one

longlasting

men‘s

community

inMelbourne

inthelate

19805 and 905 and

there

arenowtwo

TBRLbusinessesin

Sydney.

neitherof

themintheir

present

format

ismorethan

two

years

old.

Another

advantagearising

from

thedistancefrom

England

wasthat.

asthere

were

very

fewordermembers.

particularly

women,

itmeantthatasI

becamemore

experienced

intheordination

trainingprocess

some

responsibilities

for

teaching

and

leadingpractice

for

beginners

and

regulars

fellonmeas

they

didonother

trainees.Ilearnedand

experienced

somuch

moreasItookon

these

responsi-

bilities.

whichwouldnot

havebeenavailable

had[been

training

in

England.

However.

the

disadvantages

ofdistance

from

England

were

alsorealand

for

manydisheartening,

Our founder,

Sangharakshita.

andthe

majority

ofsenior

ordermembers

(particularly

women).

were

in

England

andthe

ordination

training

process

wasbased

there.Someseniorwomen

ordermembers

visitedAustralia.

whichwasmostbeneficial.

butthe

onlyway

tobe

ordained.

unlessonewere

very

ill.wasto

go

toan

ordinationretreatin

England

or

Europe

and

thc

longesL

most

variedand

in-depth

ordination

training

retreatswereheld

in

England.

I

wasIn

thefortunate

position

thatIcouldafi‘ord

totravelandattend

training

retreats

in

England

andin1999r

having

retired

fromacademiabefore

Iwas

50‘

Iwent

and

livedinawomen's

community

in

England

and

joined

a

TBRLbusiness

working

ina

shop.

Iwas

convincedthatthese

conditionswouldbe

beneficialfor

deepening

mypractice

andIhadthe

good

fortune

toavail

myself

ofthem,Ididnot

think.

however.

they

werethe

only

means

of

deepeningmy

‘Going

for

Refuge'

andin

time

getting

ordained.lwas

ordainedin 2000

having

donemostof

my

training

inAustralia

living

with

my

soninthe

early

l9905

andinawomen‘s

community

later.In

200ithreemore

Sydney

womenwereordained

in

Tuscany

andreturned

to

Australia

aflertheirordinations.

However.not

many

womenwerefreeand

able

to

make

thesesortsofmove

andordinationfor

many

seemeda

distant.

difficult

road

totravel.

In

the 19805 and

905 fewerthanfivewomen

living

inAustraliawere

ordained.

Thishas

changed

dramatically

since 2000

whenordinations

began

onAustralian

retreats.

Most

significantly.

in2007 the

firstAustralasianwomen‘sordination

retreat

of

fourweeks

washeldinNew

Zealandand

during

thissixAustralianwomen

were

ordained.The

possibility

of

women

getting

ordainedinthesouthern

hemisphere

hashadan

inspiring

and

galvanizing

effectonwomen’s

Commitment,

practice

and

.—__—i

Ordainirtg

women

InAustralia

lZl

training.

InOctober

2009 another

sixAustralian

women

wereordained

inNew

Zealandandit

is

likely

there

willbemorein

thenearfuture.

Australian

andNew

Zealandfemale

ordermembers

whoare

private

or

publicpreceptors

lead

these

retreats.Public

and

privatepreceptors

are

thesenior

disciples

of

Sangharakshita

whohavebeen

accepted

as

being

ableto

witnessthereadiness

ofa

person

inthe

ordination

process

tobeordained.

The

private

preceptor

witnessesthe

taking

ofthe

Ten

Precepts.

gives

the

person

her/hisname

andintroduces

him/her

toavisualiz-

ation

practice.

Thisisdone

ina

private

ceremony

with

only

the

preceptor

and

precepteeprescnl.

Later.

ata

public

ceremony.

the

public

preceptor

welcomesall

being

ordained

atthattime

intothe

order;

theirnewnames

areannounced

andthe

symbol

ofordination

,

awhiteclothor

Item

(sash

wom

aroundthe

neck)

is

put

in

place.

Atordination

aneworder

member

takestheTen

Precepts(until

thistimeall

FWBO

practitioners

take

theFive

Precepts)

andcommits

herself

to

deepen

her

practice,

live

in

harmony

withfriendsand

brethren

andto

help

other

beings.

We

donotwear

robesand

donottake

vinaya

rules.We

thinkofourselves

as

being

neithermonastic

nor

lay

—

of

being

inthe

worldbut

not

ofit

(in

terms

ofsamsara's

materialist.

consumerist

andattimes

ego-centred

values).

Thatis.

itisour

practice

towork

diligently

on

ourselvestoweaken

craving.

aversionanddelusion.

Ihave

foundthis

way

of

being

anenormous

benefitin

my

own

practice

andin

offering

thedharrna

toothers.

Thereareno

vinaya

rulesor

monastic

practices

thathave

tobe

rte-interpreted

for

twenty—first

century

western

conditions.

Withthe Five

orTen

Precepts

wecanliveinthe

worldandfollow

the

path

to

Enlightenment

without

any

dilemmas

aroundtraditional

ways

ofpractising

the

dharrna.Further.

Sangharakshita

hasofferedthemovement

and

order

positive

formulationsof

the

Fiveor

Ten

Precepts

that

help

us

explore

at

deeper

and

deeper

levelsthe

path

to

wisdom

and

compassion.

As

positive

formulations

their

scope

isinfiniteand

help

one

investigate

livingsimply,

which

resonates

with

manypeople‘s

concerns

for

theenvironmentthrough

excessive

production

and

consumption.

and

being

kinder.

which

again

resonates

with

manypeople‘s

concern

forthe

suffering

inthcvtorld.

The

positive

formulation

ofthe

precepts

in

English

isrecited

wheneverthe

refuges

and

precepts

arechanted,

which

happens

atall

FWBO

gatherings

and

daily

on

retreats.

A

year

afier

my

ordinationlwas

abletotake

a

voluntary

anaguriku

vow.

All

anagarikas

in the

WBO

practise

celibacy

and

undertaketo

move

increasingly

towards careerlessness.

homelessness

and

possessionlessness.

Sangharakshita's

aphoristic

teaching (‘Commitment

is

primary.

lifestyle

secondary

(but

not

unimportant)')

encapsulates

much

ofhowthe

FWBO

practises.

Celibacy,

working

inTBRL

businesses.

single

sex

community

living,

retreatsand

classesare

allseen

as

positive

aids

to

taking

thedharrna

inallits

aspectsdeeper

intoourlives.

but

they

arenot

takento

bethe

only

methods

conducive

to

progress.

However.

there

hRVebeen

somedifficulties

around

the unusual

nature

(in

traditional

Buddhistterms)

ofthe WHO:

ordination

ceremony

and

its lived

implications.

Someeastern

monasticshave

foundtheordination

of

womenand

by

women

perplexing.

Webelieve

thisis

very

muchin

keeping

withthe

spirit

ofthe