Showing posts with label women's issues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women's issues. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Ordinatiion of Theravada Nuns (CA)

, founding teacher, Spirit Rock Meditation Center (Huffington Post)

It is 6:15 pm on Aug. 29, 2010. The place is a secluded mountaintop hermitage overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Sonoma County, California.

Four women, all long-time dedicated Buddhist practitioners, were declared fully ordained as nuns (bhikkhunis) in the Thai Theravada tradition.

It was the first such ordination ever in the Western hemisphere. And it was epochal because their preceptors were nuns within the same tradition.

Although the Buddha ordained both monks and nuns, the order of nuns disappeared a thousand years later when there were no longer enough nuns available to ordain new nuns. Keeping strictly with tradition (and in keeping with patriarchal pressures) the rule that nuns needed to be ordained by nuns brought the order of nuns to an end.

Women were able to join a community and practice but only at an inferior status. The pressure brought by women with a burning desire practice and have roles and recognition comparable to men has enabled some women, trained in the Theravada Thai tradition, to be ordained by nuns with Sri Lankan ordination.

The nuns ordained in 2009 join the now small group of recognized Theravada Buddhist nuns in the Thai Forest tradition that can now continue to grow. More

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Friday, October 7, 2011

Alternatives to Prison (video)

Wisdom Quarterly, StreetVisuals.posterous.com/Prison Industrial Complex

Is privatization and the creation of "Gladiator Schools" in a prison-industrial complex the answer?

If asking one prison to beat, maim, or kill another is not effective, torture is prescribed (forced cell extraction, sitting on, arm twisting, manhandling, hog tying, pepper spraying, stripping naked, beating, concussion, choke holds, beatings, shooting, blinding, and on to death) at the discretion of prison guards and officials. Crime? Disobeying or not obeying quickly enough to suit draconian standard procedures. This torture is filmed because it complies with standards and practices. The camera is turned off when guards choose to employ "cruel and unusual" measures they would never likely be prosecuted for or even charged with.
Occupy Wall Street protesters driven by varying goals
 [W]eeks into an anti-greed sit-in, the "leaderless resistance movement" is at a crossroads. Day # of Occupy Wall Street begins with a march through the streets of Lower Manhattan (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)

NEW YORK (LA Times) - Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon have dropped in. A seasoned diplomat dispenses free advice. Supporters send everything from boxes of food and clothes to Whole Foods gift cards. They even have their own app, for the legions of fans following them on iPhones and Androids. Source

Alternative to Incarceration, Reentry in New York
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Can girls actually rock? (video)

Wisdom Quarterly
(Lailathephotographer/Laila Iravani/Palliard/Flickr)

Portland's Girl Rock Camp is in its tenth year
Ellen Kobe, The Oregonian (OregonLive.com)
Fabi Reyna played rock 'n' roll for four years before she made it into the spotlight. But it wasn't a lack of talent that kept her from it -- it was boys.

Attending music camps as a child in her hometown of Austin, Reyna was often forced to play back-up guitar for boys her age. When she was, on a rare occasion, given the chance to play lead guitar, she says boys would get so mad they would sometimes cry. And once, when she was 12, a boy told her that her gender prevented her from being a good musician.


Mini-summer session called Rock Camp Studio has
the girls working with their instructors and bands.

Reyna says she timidly backed down from the insult. But she came to Portland the next summer, in 2006, to attend the Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls, and her perspective changed: She realized being female didn't mean she couldn't rock out.

"I was like, 'Yeah, what am I doing listening to dudes and holding myself back?'" says Reyna, now 19. Now she lives in Portland and tours with two bands -- Fabi and Sexhair -- and runs a record label, Talking Helps Records, with two friends. This week, Reyna will attribute much of her success to girls rock camp when she performs at a ceremony in honor of the organization's 10th anniversary. More

Juliette V solo of Pink Floyd's "Great Gig in the Sky"


So simple even a kid (Taylor) can master rock


Even a toddler (Zoe) can learn and perform by 7.


But judgments focus on looks over talent for females.
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Empowering the Women of Asia (photos)

The Asia Foundation, Seven (Wisdom Quarterly)

Asia Foundation : Multimedia : Empowering the Women of Asia

In recent decades, Asia has experienced transformative economic growth and reform. And women have made significant advances in gender equity, political participation, and personal security.
  • An unprecedented number of women ran in Afghanistan's recent parliamentary elections.
  • Nepal's prime minister declared 2010 the "year to combat gender-based violence."
  • The Philippines now ranks 9th among nearly 200 countries in gender equity.
But challenges remain: Women still make up the majority of [the world and] Asia's low-skilled and highly vulnerable workforce. Many Asian countries are both the primary sources and destinations for the victims of trafficking. Others remain trapped in a cycle of illiteracy, poverty, or ill health, lacking the means to raise themselves and their families out of it.
  • The Asia Foundation's Women's Empowerment Program seeks to identify change agents, create new political and economic opportunities for women, build constituencies for reform, develop leaders, increases women's rights, and ensure their personal security. More
  • JOBS: Work for the Asia Foundation

All are dear. Let light join our voices.

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Saturday, September 17, 2011

First Annual Buddhist Nuns Day (AFB)

Susan Pembroke, President, Alliance for Bhikkhunis


Thank you, those working around the globe to make the First International Bhikkhuni Day a success. This day of awareness is calling attention to the issue as well as raising funds to support American Buddhist nuns.

The Alliance for Bhikkhunis (Nuns) is moved by the kindness and generosity of those who give so freely of their time and talents. There is a growing sense of joy and optimism as more enter the widening circle of friendship and goodwill.

American Buddhist nuns or bhikkhunis (Sopaporn Kurz/AFB).

All of our sisters are invited, regardless of Buddhist tradition, to join us on September 17th to celebrate the founding of the Bhikkhuni Sangha (Order of Buddhist Nuns). We are celebrating the fact that there are many thousands of women in robes [26] centuries after the Buddha began teaching.

Whether Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, or other, feel free to use any of our tools to educate as well as raise funds for your affiliated center, temple, monastery, school, hospital, or other agency or enterprise.

International Bhikkhuni Day is intended to be a global grassroots celebration of Buddhist women, uniting and empowering them. Please join in -- even if it is only to meditate along with us, knowing that we are all part of global community committed to protecting the Bhikkhuni Sangha.
  • Additional downloads have been added to the site. American nun Ven. Tathaaloka Theri has offered the paper “The Amazing Transformations of Arahant Theri Uppalavanna.” It is a fascinating, mythic tale that “serves as a catalyst for exploration, inspiration, and insight.”
  • The renowned scholar Ven. Analayo has very graciously contributed his article “Mahapajapati’s Going Forth in the Madhyama-agama,” reprinted with permission from the Journal of Buddhist Ethics. Ven. Analayo’s incisive analysis of early discourses sheds light on critical texts that have been lost in subsequent translations as well as exploring the societal forces that shaped the early Bhikkhuni Sangha.
  • Ven. Bhikkhuni Ajahn Thanasanti has written a very personal article about the women who have figured prominently in her spiritual development. Dipa Ma is one of these “Extraordinary Women.”
  • Take a moment to look at the recently added Power Point on bhikkhuni history on the homepage. It has intentionally been left in non-PDF format so individuals and groups can tailor the Power Point slides to suit their needs.
  • Feel free to translate into other languages or add or remove slides based on what works best for different circumstances, tradition, or lineage.
  • There is a new page with Dhamma and videos from 12 bhikkhunis including Ayya Gunasari’s talk on “Solitude.”
  • We remain grateful to Melanie Davies for allowing us to use her beautiful chant on the Recollection of the Foremost Arahant Bhikkhunis (LISTEN).
There is still time to create a FIRSTGIVING PAGE.
  • Click on the “Join Now” link in white and green to be taken to screens for a walk through the process.
  • After creating your own page, forward the link to family and friends and invite them to sponsor your day of meditation, learning, and radiating metta (loving-kindness) to this world which is so in need of healing.
  • Organizing a day, a half day, or a talk can happen any time you find convenient.
  • The Firstgiving site will remain open until December 17th, but please do not feel that your event must happen by September 17.
Thank you so much for caring about ordained women and wanting to support and protect them!
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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

"The Perils of Lesbianity" (animation)

I. Rony (Wisdom Quarterly)
WARNING: Not intended and probably not suitable for children ()

This short, informative piece pulled from the archives deals with the American and Iranian menace -- lesbianism. It offers insight into how this practice was/is viewed by some.

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Monday, September 5, 2011

Preparing for the SAT Monster (video)

()

It's never too early/late to study, to practice, or to take it again. Here is quick, practical SAT advice. Check out all of BrightStorm's helpful tools and tips for the SAT. And remember, according to Wisdom Quarterly, only girls really understand higher level math. If only more would study and enjoy it at a lower level.

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Thursday, July 14, 2011

First Annual Int'l Buddhist Nuns' Day

Susan Pembroke (firstgiving.com/allianceforbhikkhunis) with Wisdom Quarterly
Participate in the First Annual International Bhikkhuni Day:
  • September 17, 2011
WHAT is it? The first IBD is a global, grassroots effort devoted to honoring Mahapajapati Gotami, the founder of the Nuns' Sangha. It also honors all of ou
r spiritual mothers -- ordained women, laywomen teachers who have transformed our practice, inspiring historical figures, actual mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, and cousins -- any woman who has brought out the best in us.

This day celebrates our spiritual legacy. It is a chance to learn about the history of prominent Buddhist women, and it is also an opportunity to raise funds to support nuns (bhikkhunis).

HOW do we accomplish these things? We simply gather in a circle, meditate together, and talk about the women we love and admire. The gathering can take place anywhere -- in a temple, center, or your living room or backyard.
  • Access materials from the Alliance for Bhikkhunis (AfB) site and invite fellow practitioners to join in on a day of meditation, reflection, and learning.
AfB’s home page (bhikkhuni.net) has Dharma talks and downloadable handouts which can be printed and used to lead group discussions. Feel free to adapt and revise the materials in ways that make them more meaningful to individual communities.


Mahajapati Tells Her Story
Excerpt from bhikkhuni.net
“I can never forget the moment I was told [my son] Siddhartha had left the palace. At first I could not believe it. I was in shock. It was as though time had stopped. The sobbing Yasodhara [his wife] had to repeat herself over and over until I could accept that Siddhartha was serious about his leave taking. My son, my handsome, good hearted son was gone. I never thought of him as my stepson, or even nephew. He was my son. I nursed him. I mothered him. He was my boy. Sometimes his leaving made sense, other times it remained incomprehensible. It upset me that he was in turmoil yet could not confide in me. When did this breach between us happen? How did I fail to notice that Siddhartha was no longer a part of us? But, upon reflection, I began recalling comments he had made and subtle ways he revealed a growing disenchantment with our way of life. In hindsight, I could point to moments that foretold his departure.”
  • GROUP USE: her story as the first Buddhist nun in history can be printed and passed around a circle. Each person can read a paragraph or so in the midst of deep listening, opening the floor to sharing comments and reactions. A list of questions appears at the end of the narrative, making it easy for anyone to facilitate a conversation about the remarkable founder of the Bhikkhuni Sangha.
Honoring Our Women Teachers
Excerpt from bhikkhuni.net
“What woman in your life was your first spiritual teacher? What woman brought out the best in you? It could be your mother or could be another woman, a grandmother, an aunt, older sister, or teacher. Can you tell a story or two about her which captures her personality and conveys how she touched your life and the lives of others? Were there other women who impacted your spiritual development as well? If so, who are they and how were they pivotal? Mahapajapati advocated for the vulnerable women who fell under her protection. Has any compassionate, strong woman been an advocate for you, protected you? If so, how? Perhaps the people who mothered and nourished you were men -- your father, grandfather, brother or uncle? Can you speak about their kindness, tenderness, love, and belief in you?”

Fund Raising
Contact Susan Pembroke to share news of participation. She is happy to answer any questions. Use Firstgiving to raise funds for this meditation pledge-a-thon. I'm delighted to help anyone create his or her own Firstgiving page. With a page for your team, ask family and friends to support your day of honoring women spiritual leaders. Even 10-20 people who sponsor this day of meditating and pledge $5 to $25 can produce great good, with hundreds of people joining the effort, connecting us all on this sacred day.

Let us know which nuns' abbey (bhikkhuni vihara) should receive your pledges. What is raised will be disbursed to nuns. This is NOT a fundraiser for the Alliance for Bhikkhunis.

Temples and Centers
International Bhikkhuni Day can be an annual fundraiser for temples or centers. Let's brainstorm ways to help raise funds following the meditation pledge-a-thon through silent auctions, arts and crafts sales, admission to a dinner and film, as well as other ideas that can be translated into enjoyable community-building and fundraising events.

Every September is for honoring female spiritual luminaries and chronicling their stories. We vow to protect women monastics and their essential role in preserving the Dharma. Telling their stories is an indispensable part of accomplishing these goals.
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Monday, July 11, 2011

Madame President: Bachmann vs. Palin

Ashley Wells (Wisdom Quarterly)
Hopeful Michele Bachmann vs. has-been Sarah Palin, it's no comparison (latimes.com)

Whether it's narcissism, megalomania, or delusion, somewhere Donald Trump is combing his hair, and elsewhere Sarah Palin is telling Newsweek she can win the presidency. However the Tea Party, which is not a grassroots movement but an AstroTurfed one, is backing Michele Bachmann. After all of Palin's emails were released, embarrassing a misled and heavily manipulated mainstream media, who would be willing to back Caribou Barbie? And good ol' Hillary, who is probably not running, says she'll quit if Obama is re-[s]elected. Most people would sooner vote for the more honest, more endearing Bristol Palin, even if she drank during pregnancy while looking after her Downs Syndrome sibling. Oh that Sarah Palin, fighting Bristol on who she dates. If she's [s]elected to the White House, Washington will be business-as-usual, but reality TV will never be the same! I guess that leaves the US with a simple choice: more debt and war with Barack Obama...or even more debt and war with Herman Cain. In that case, maybe Palin wouldn't be so bad? It might seem that way, but according to the Los Angeles Times:
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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Buddha was enlightened, not sexist

Ven. Anālayo Bhikkhu (Buddhist monk) in a letter to the nun Ayya Tathāloka
() In the fifth year after his enlightenment, the Buddha spent the rainy season in Kutagarasala. It is the abbey where he most frequently stayed while visiting the great city of Vaishali. It was here that his stepmother, Mahapajapati Gotami, was ordained as the first Buddhist nun, creating the Bhikkhuni Sangha. (To visit: 1upindia.com)

Gender Discrimination and the Pali Canon

...In the case of the attitude towards women, we find contradictory positions and thus a lack of consistency in the Pāli canon [the oldest extant redaction of the Buddha's teachings].

One example is the account of the founding of the Order of Nuns.4 According to the "Great Final Nirvana Discourse" (Mahāparinibbāna Sutta), soon after his awakening the Buddha proclaimed that he would not pass away until he had nun disciples who are wise and learned.5

From this it would follow that right from the outset he wanted and intended to have an Order of Nuns. This impression is further supported by a closer perusal of the Pāli canon, which shows recurrent references to the importance of having four assemblies of disciples (monks and nuns and male and female lay followers) and to the significant contribution made by nuns to the prosperity and success of the Buddha's dispensation.

These passages stand in contrast to the impression created by the account of the foundation of the Order of Nuns, which reads as if the Buddha did not want to allow women to go forth.6

A comparative study of this account in the different collections of Disciplinary Rules (Vinayas), mainly extant in Chinese, shows clear signs of later additions and thus makes it probable that it does not accurately reflect the Buddha's attitude.

Another example would be a pair of discourses in the Collection of Numerical Discourses (Aṅguttara-nikāya) that compare women to black snakes -- as both are dirty, smelly, and betray friends, and so on.7

Would it be reasonable and coherent for an awakened teacher to make such derogatory remarks about women?

That enlightened teacher, according to other discourses, had nun-disciples that had reached full awakening and thus total freedom from any defilement,8 who according to the same discourse collection proclaimed various nuns and lay women as outstanding in qualities like deep concentration and profound wisdom,9 and who apparently placed such trust in women that he (in a twin monastic regulation found in all Vinayas) sanctioned acting on a trustworthy laywoman's report about a monk's breach of the rules?10

The comparison of women to snakes recurs in two parallel versions -- one in the Tibetan Vinaya, where a similar remark is headed by the qualification "some" (i.e., "some women are..."11) and another in a late text in Uighur [a language in China], where this remark is not made by the Buddha, but rather by some Sakyan youths.12 More plus footnotes

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Monday, June 13, 2011

Russian female rapists turn table on men



Russian woman on trial for raping 10 men
A young Russian woman, a devoted collector of horror films and spiders, is on trial for sedating and raping ten men. The police were shocked that 32-year-old Valeria K., a quiet good-looking woman from the city of Tambov, was the mysterious rapist who abused ten local men after poisoning them with Clonidine, Life.ru reports....

Female hairdresser turns male robber into sex slave
A young hairdresser in Kaluga, Central Russia, locked a robber who tried to steal her money in the basement of the beauty salon. After that, she has brutally raped her hostage for three days. A court in Kaluga has filed criminal charges against both of them, the Russian website Newsru.com reports. The robber, who has not been named, burst into the salon armed with shotgun at about 17.00 on March 14. He demanded money. There were two hairdressers and one client in the salon at the time. One of hairdressers, who was studying judo and taekwondo, disabled the robber with a smashing body blow. Then she carried the unlucky robber to the basement and bound him with a hairdryer cord....

Russian Navy has released new data on UFOs
The former chief commander of the Soviet Navy has revealed information on UFOs that until recently had been secret. The Soviet Navy had so many encounters with mysterious objects raising from or diving into the ocean that...
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