Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

2 Venerable RobinaCourtin

Anunconventional Buddhist?

Anna

Halafofir

VenerableRobinaCouninisone

ofAustralia'smost

prominent

Buddhistteachers.

Bomin

Melboume.

shehas

been

a

Buddhistnuninthe

Tibetantraditionforover

30

years.

Asfounderot‘ihe

Liberationl’rison

Project

andateacher

ofinternatiunal

renown.

Venerable

Robinahasbeenthe

subject

oftwoAustralian

documentaries

Chasing

Buddha

(2000)

and

Key

toFreedom

(2007).

The

wisdom,

directnessand

humour

ofher

teachings.cotipled

withherlimitless

compassion.

have

servedas

inspirations

toBuddhistsandnon-Buddhistsalike.

Arguably,

itisher

particularly

Australian

down-to-earth

style

that has

enabled her

todeliverBuddhism

ina

practical

and

accessible

way

to

westernersbothinand

beyond

Australia,

This

chaptcrdraws

onAustralianmedia

sources.

including transcripts

ofdocumen-

taries.

radio

interviewsand

newspaperarticles.

to

provide

an

accountof

Venerable

Rtihinu's

life

story

and her

insights

on

practising

and

teaching

Buddhism

pamcularly

in

theAustralian

context, In so

doing,

1 examine

her

supposedly

unconventional

approach

to

Buddhism,

arguing

thatshe

may,

in

fact,

bemore

traditionalthan

theAustralian

mediahaveledtheirreaderstobelieve.

VenerableRobina

Courtininand

beyond

Australia

RobinaCourtin

wasbornin

Melbournein 1944 intoaCatholic

family.

the

second

of

seven

children.

Despite

economic

hardships,

shewaseducated

atSacre

Coeur.

a

prestigious

Melbourne

girls‘

schoolinEast

Malvem.As

a

young

gid,

Robina

was

2

devout

Catholic

witha

questioning

and

rebelliousnature,

whose

good

heartremained

largely

hidden

behindher

badbehaviour.At

the

age

of12.

she

begged

her

mother

tolet

her

becomea

Camelitenun like

her

hero,

SaintTherese

ofLisieux,

will?

was

ordainedat

14.Yet

by

[9Robina

hadtradedher

religious

aspirations

for

the

experimental

lifeofa

hippy

inthe

1960s.ShemovedtoLondonin1967,

dedicatiflE

the

next

decadeof

herlife to

iefl-wing,

blackandfeminist

politics

inthe

United

Kingdom

and

Australia

(Hurrell

2000;

Simpson2002;Compass

2007;Irving

2007b)”

In

the

mid-W705,

Robina

alsobecamea

passionate

studentof

marshal

am

until

acar

accident

abruptly

cut

shonherkarate

career.

During

herrecuperation

in

Melbourneshe

sawa

poster

advertising

a

Buddhist

courseWith

Lama

Yeshc

andLama

2°!“Rinpoche,

the

firstTibetan

Lamasto

visitandteach

inAustralia

————

VenzrahleRobina

Cum/in 149

at

Cheniezig

InstituteinSouthern

Queensland

(Croucher

1989:90—92;

Simpson

2002).

Robina

was

immediately

attractedtothe

reflexiveanddevotionalnature

ofTibetan Buddhism,

which

waswell suited

toher

questioning

mindand

sat

comfortably

withherCatholic

upbringing.

Itwas

at

(‘hcnrc7ig

institutethat

she

finally

realized:‘Ah!That‘sthe

kindofnunIwant

tobe‘andlitmonthslater

Lama

Zopa

ordainedherat

Kopan.

theLamas‘

monastery

inKathmandu.

Nepal(lrviiig

2007M.

Venerable Robinathen

spent

thenext

10

yearsstudying

Buddhism

while

working

forLamaYeshe

and Lama

Zopa‘s

Foundation forthe

Preservation

ofthe

Mahayana

Tradition

(FPMT).helping

to

develop

Wisdom

Publications

intheUnited

Kingdom

and

overseeing

itseditorialand

productiondepart-

ments.In 1987 atthe

request

ofLama

Zopa

she

began

teaching

Buddhism

inAtistralia

and,

in

1994.

she was

appointed

editorof

FPMT‘s Mamlulu

Magazine

in California.

In l99t’i the

magazine

received

a letter from an

18-year-old

Mexican-American

prisoner.

Arturo,

aLos

Angelesgang

member

whohadbeenincarcerated

sincehewas

12.VenerableRobina

responded

tohis

message

andsenthim

abookonBuddhism.

Word

spread

and.

by

theendof

1997,

shewas

writing

to

morethan 40

inmates

throughout

theUSA.Thisled

hertoestablishLiberation

Prison

Project

(LPP)

asa

non—profitorganization

inCalifornia

(Curtis1998:

The

Spi/‘ilof

Things

2003:

Company

2007;Irving

2007b).

VenerableRobina‘s

story

was

widelypublicized

inAustralia

when

Chasing

Buddha.anAustralian

Film

Industry

award-winning

documentary

madeabout

herwasshownon

SBS

(the Special

Broadcasting

Service.

Australia's multi-

culturaland

multilingual

radioand

television

public

broadcaster)

in 2000

and

given

atheatrical

releaseinseveral

Australiancities.The

filmfollowsVenerable

Robina

criss—crossing

Americaas

sheteachesBuddhism

atFPMTcentres

andin

maximum-securityprisons.

Due

to

Chasing

Buddha's

success.Venerable

Robina

wasinvitedtovisit

prisons

and

to

givepublic

talks

throughout

AustraliatHawker

2000:

Waldon

2000;

Walker2000),

What

began

withaletterfrom

one

prisoner

in

1996 has

grown

intoan

organization

withoffices

intheUnitedStates

andAustralia

andbranchesin

Mongolia.Spain

andMexico.LPP

receiveshundreds

ofletters

a

monthandover 13

years

has

corresponded

with

orvisitedthousands

of

prisoners.

In 2007.

Key

to

Freedom,

a

documentary

about

Venerable

Robina‘swork

in

Australian

prisons

was

screenedonAustralia‘s

ABCTV

(Com/7115's

2007;

Irving

1007a:

Irving

2007b).

Despite

what

appears

as

many

ditTerenttracks

withinone lifetime.

Venerable

Robina\ielldescribes

the

continuity

ofher

cxpcrienccs:

[l]f|

lookbackon

my

life.externally

itlooks

very

different.

thethreads

but

internally

tome it‘s

completely

constanL

andfrom

the

beginning

that

I canrcmcmbcrr

1

always

hadthisWish

toundcrstand

theworld

and

having

alot

of

energy.wanting

todo

something

aboutit.

Sothat

really

hasn‘t

changed.

(

The

Spir'ilof

Things

2003)