Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

| 22

Nagasm'i

Buddha's

teaching

andithasbecomemuch

clearerthat

nunsjoining

theBuddha's

orderin the

earlyduys

did sothesame

way

as men.The Iiuddha

just

said.

‘Elti bhikkhu‘or'Ehibhikkhuni'

(‘Come

munk'or‘Come

nun").

Bothwestern

and eastern

practitioners

belonging

to

traditional Asianschools ofBuddhism

havefoundourlackof

lineage

confronting.

Whilein

Australia,

Ihavenotbeen

questioned

aboutthesematters

by

other

Buddhists.

in

England

andelsewhere

in

theworld.such

questions

havebeen

raisedwithmeandwith

many

FWBO

members.

Understandably.

WBOmembers

findthemselvestreatedas

laypracti»

tioners

by

otherBuddhistmonasticslAttimesI

havefeltthatthe

sincerity

and

depth

ofmypractice

were

being,questioned,

perhaps

even

my

ordination.

although

never

explicitly

InAustraliainthe 19805 and

1990s,

theFWBOwas

very

new

andrelationswith

otherBuddhist

groups

were

infrequent

andtome

they

feltabit

distantandcool.

However.since

my

relumto

Sydney

in

2005.

lhavefoundthis

has

changed

greatly

andthatFWBO

practitioners

areincluded

andwelcomed

in

many

inter-Buddhist

gatherings.

After

my

ordination Ireturnedto

England

and overlime

becamemoreand

moreinvolvedin

leading

dharma

study

in

weekly

classesforwomen

who

had

committedthemselvesto

practise

withintheFWBOandalsowomen

training

for

ordinationintheWHO.I

also

helped

outwith

beginners‘

meditationanddharma

classesandled

practice

evenings.

InDecember 2004 Ileft

England

andreturnedto

Australiawhere

my

onlyteaching

commitmentbetween 2000 and 2004 hadbeen

a

10-daystudy

retreatfor

womenontheBodhisattva[dealin2002.Since 2004

Ihavedivided

myyear

between

Australiaand India

7

spending

sixmonthsin

each

place

Therearea

large

numberof

membersofourorderand movementinIndia

(where

they

areknown as

Tmilokya

Bauddha

MahasanghaSahayak

Ganaor

TBMSG).

based

predominantly

inMaharashtra.

Whilethereare

many

maleIndian

order

members,

until

veryrecently

therehavebeen

only

a

handfuloffemaleIndian

order

members.Hundredsofwomenhaveaskedforordination

intoTBMSGand

evenmore

aremembersofthemovement.

ljoined

asmallteam

offivefemale

order

membersfromthewest

living

for

varyingpans

ofthe

year

in

Pune

and

leading

retreats.

study

andmeditationclasses.Twoorourteamactas

preceptors

forIndianwomen.At

present

thereis

only

oneIndianwoman

privatepreceplor.

Theneedfor

training

and

opportunities

for

practice

bothonretreatandin

dayvto-

day

lifeisenormousandour

long-term

aim

isthat.one

day.

therewillbe

enough

femaleIndianordermembersabletofulfilthis

need.

In

Australia.

Iam

particularly

involvedin

helping

womenwhohave

joined

theFWBOandthose

training

for

ordination.

which

involves

study

classes.

retreats. meditation

practice

and

meeting up

with women

ona nnc-to—one

basis.Ifindmuchattractsbothwomenand men tothe

FWBOinAustralia

aselsewhere.

Sangharakshita‘s

clear

interpretation

ofthe

essential dharma

for

twenty-firstcenturypeople.

that

is,

the

emphasis

on

practising

Buddhist

ethics

asthe

way

to

live

life.

particularly

aspiring

to

practise

theBodhisattva

Idealand the

equal

treatmentofmen

and

women.

all

play

their

part.

There

are neithertraditional

ways

of

practice

nurcultural accretionsofdifferent

————_———

Ordairrirrg

womeninAustralia

123

Buddhist

schools tobe

negotiated.

allowing

the

life-transforming

essence

ofthedharma

tohaveitsfull

impact.

AsanAustralian.

both

practising

and

sharing

thedharmainthe

FWBOhavebeenand

arean

inspiring.‘transforming.

deeply

challenging

and

satisfyingway

tolive

my

lifeandtocontinue

to

deepen

mypractice.