Christin's Behind-the-Scenes Sunday 🎥 : Retreat at Aloka Vihara

How I became involved in supporting Buddhist nuns

Dear Ones,

I am heading to Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery for another weeklong retreat.

“Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery is located in the Sierra Foothills of California and offers a place where women can train as monastics and lay visitors of all genders can practice and serve.”

Quick story time: When did I start getting involved in supporting Buddhist bhikkhunis (nuns)?

I once wanted to meet Ajahn Brahm, a renowned Buddhist monk and abbot based in Australia, at a mindfulness conference in Berkeley. A friend who practices in the Tibetan tradition said I should bring him something. (Tibetan buddhists are quite elaborate about giving gifts to teachers…)

But Ajahn Brahm lives in a literal cave, and he only carries around a little bag, true to Theravadan monk practices.

So instead, I thought I’ll gift him A Vow: I’ll support one of his causes.

Ajahn Brahm is quite famous for being kicked out of his lineage because he supports the ordination of Buddhist nuns.

That’s right—there’s a whole segment of Buddhist leaders who think that women aren’t allowed to be enlightened through the same path as men.

There’s a much more nuanced discussion here by Doug’s Dharma, my favorite scholarly secular Buddhist channel:

You’d think that Buddhism is one of the more socially egalitarian religions. But in reality, it’s just like any other religion—prone to misogyny and other relics of human ignorance.

So! With this vow in mind for Ajahn Brahm, I wandered the stalls, since (as usual) I was there quite early. That’s when I met Donna at the Alliance for Bhikkhunis booth. We hit it off and I signed up to volunteer.

My wife often jokes about how I serve the organization doing the thing I hate the most for my own life—financial paperwork. I eventually became the Treasurer and serve on the board.

I don’t think Ajahn Brahm remembers who I am, since there were tons of people who lined up to get a photo with him and get their books signed. (He’s a bit of a celebrity in the Buddhist world.) Nor did I tell him about my vow. I don’t think I need to.

Even in telling you this story, my wish isn’t for you to tell me that I’m doing a good job, but to consider the value of vows.

Vows seems like quite an archaic thing to do—to declare to nothing but the world around you to do something.

Yet, even if we don’t declare out loud, our inner voices are constantly telling us to do this or that—are they not vows, just not said out loud? And who is the entity who is telling us to these things?

Aloka Vihara is one of the monasteries we support through the Alliance for Bhikkhunis. I had met Ayya Santacitta and Ayya Anandabodhi in 2012, when I gave them a brief visit back when they lived in a house in the Inner Sunset, San Francisco. I cooked some kind of stuffed tomato dish for them.

I have no recollection as to what compelled me to visit them way back in the day. This was 7 years before the Ajahn Brahm story. The Ayyas gave me a beautiful tri-tonic blessing chant before I left. Perhaps that left a subconscious imprint that led to the whole story above?

I’m not sure if the Ayyas remember me from that visit, nor do they know that I serve on the Alliance for Bhikkhunis board. (Unless Donna emailed them, which I’m not sure if she did.) If given the chance, I’ll share this story and see what they think of it.

Warm Wishes,

Christin