Archive for March, 2009

It is still illegal for women to take full ordination as a Bhikkhuni (Buddhist nun) in Thailand due to a 1928 law. Monks who have tried to ordain women have been ejected from the Thai sangha and even imprisoned. There does exist a large group of Thai laywomen known as Maechis who shave their heads, wearing white, dedicating themselves to a religious life, vowing celibacy, living as ascetics, and holding eight or ten precepts. They are still marginalized figures in ...

Immediately following the Outstanding Women in Buddhism Awards Ceremony in Bangkok, a symposium on the status of women in Buddhism was held at a nunnery and retreat center in the jungles south of Bangkok. A special ordination ceremony was held at the International Women’s Meditation Centre in Rayong, Thailand.

Venerable Bhikkhuni Dr. Pannavati, a disciple of Zhaxi Zhuoma Rinpoche, was one of nineteen women recognized with the Outstanding Women in Buddhism Award in Bangkok. She also delivered the keynote address at the symposium that was held at the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women. The tiny dancers shown above were part of the welcoming events to honor these amazing women. The awardees were from Austria, Burma, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the USA and were ...

Prior to the Outstanding Women in Buddhism Awards and the related Symposium and secret ordination in Thailand in March 2009, Zhaxi Zhuoma Rinpoche and Venerable Bhikkhuni Pannavati visited several temples in Bangkok.

Click for more photos of Thailand Trip.