Dear Board Members, Here is a copy of a letter sent today to bhikkhunis updating them on the plans for our gathering.Please take a look. Metta, Bhikhuni Sudhamma
Dear Venerables, My deepest appreciation to all bhikkhunis who have made plans to join together for Patimokkha and Kathina at Carolina Buddhist Vihara.Our meeting will be the first time that Theravadan bhikkkunis gather together on this continent to do acts of Sangha-kamma*!It even may be the first time throughout Buddhist history that Theravadan bhikkhunis have performed Sangha-kamma anywhere outside of Asia.Hence, this gathering will be a great occasion in Buddhist history. It is a profound honor to host this auspicious program.The lay supporters of Carolina Buddhist Vihara will reap much merit from their active involvement.
WHO WILL ATTEND? Seven venerables graciously accepted the invitation from Bhikkhuni Sobhana and me, for a total gathering of (auspicious number) nine: 1) Ven. Sudarshana Theri of Sri Lanka (residing at Samadhi Buddhist Meditation Center in Tampa FL) 2) Ven. Tathaaloka Theri of USA (residing at the Dhammadharini Vihara in CA) 3) Bhikkhuni Sudinna of Sri Lanka (residing at the Bhavana Society in WV) 4) Bhikkhuni Sudhamma of USA (residing at Carolina Buddhist Vihara in SC) 5) Bhikkhuni Mudita of Germany (residing at Anenja Vihara, Rettenberg, Germany) 6) Bhikkhuni Gunasari of Burma (residing at Samadhi House in Joshua Tree, California) 7) Bhikkhuni Sobhana of USA (residing at the Bhavana Society in WV) 8) Bhikkhuni Satima of Sri Lanka (residing in Minneapolis near the Vihara in Minneapolis) 9) Bhikkhuni Poonsirivara of Thailand (residing at Dhammadharini Vihara in Fremont, CA).Anagarika Suvijjana of Dhammadharini Vihara will travel with her, to offer assistance to us.
Although we have not heard back from everyone whom we would like to welcome, the positive response has been greater than anyone had dared to hope!At this point, the number of those accepting the invitation seems to have reached a maximum for comfortably working together in this small Vihara.We have made good use of the funds that were offered by a generous lay supporter for travel expenses of bhikkhunis. (She prefers not to be named, but we can wish her every blessing for making our gathering possible. Anumodana to this wonderful friend of the Sangha!)If anyone received word of our gathering too late to plan to join us, I sincerely apologize for the oversight.
Ven. Sudarshana, who has been in robes for 21 years, is highly competent to recite the Patimokkha.Despite a busy schedule with much travel (having just returned from Sri Lanka where she received a new monastery building from Korean Sangha), she has compassionately agreed to join us to perform the difficult part of our gathering: she will be the Reciter. OVADA? As you know, on new and full moons bhikkhunis must request a Dhamma talk exhortation (Ovada) from a qualified bhikkhu.Due to living many miles away from any other monasteries, usually I request and receive Ovada from supportive Bhikkhu Sangha by telephone.However, for this occasion we have a tentative plan to hear the Ovada in person on November 9th (new moon). Ven. Wajirabuddhi of Sri Lanka, founder of Georgia Buddhist Vihara in Atlanta, is a respected bhikkhu with 27 Vassa.He has always been kind to me whenever I call or visit his temple, or we are both invited to dana at supporters’ homes.Bhante Wajirabuddhi has tentatively agreed to come from Atlanta, along with one or two monks from his Vihara, to Carolina Buddhist Vihara on November 9th (around 2 PM).Although they live a few hours’ drive away, this plan may not be too inconvenient for them, since they plan to attend Kathina celebration at the North Carolina Vihara (near Raleigh) the next day, and Carolina Buddhist Vihara is en route.(Our formal Request, which Bhante asks to be by telephone, will be made closer to the date.) TRAVEL PLANS Bhikkhuni Satima and Bhikkhuni Gunasari will arrive on November 7; others will arrive on November 8; and Ven. Sudarshana will arrive on the morning of the 9th. Ven Sudarshana will leave us on the 10th, and Bhikkhuni Poonsiri and Anagarika Suvijjana will depart after lunch on Kathina (Sunday the 11th). Bhikkhuni Satima will visit for an extra week and leave on the 19th.The others will depart on Monday the 12th of November. PATIMOKKHA TEXT
Since some of you are not well familiar with the Patimokkha recitation, I thought I would explain a little bit.It has several parts. - Intro: The Patimokkha recitation begins with an Introductory script.In that script an inviter questions the reciter whether various duties have been fulfilled and whether the assembly meets various standards, then asks the reciter to begin. (This script is not found in the PTS book The Patimokkha, which is a popular English version of the Patimokkha.) -Nidana: Next part of the recitation is the Nidana, which briefly summarizes the points already made in the introduction and explains that keeping silence while listening to the Patimokkha indicates that one is pure (PTS Parimokkha p. 112-114.) -The Rules: Then she begins to recite the Patimokkha, the 311 rules of bhikkhunis.This text is not brief.In The Patimokkha by PTS the rules cover 132 pages, in somewhat small print (p. 116 – 248). -End: Then she recites the Conclusion and a final brief parting word of advice (PTS p. 248-250). Attached is the basic script (minus Nidana and rules) used by bhikkhunis with whom I stayed in Sri Lanka, which Ven. Sudarshana provided several years ago.I later edited it and obtained further editing by a couple of learned Bhantes, and added explanatory notes and a few quotes of the Buddha. (During the past couple of days I have been shaping up this text, and recently sent a copy to Ven. Sudarshana for corrections.) Some of you may want to use the attached copy to familiarize yourself with this text in advance.If you are already familiar with an Introduction to the Patimokha, please let me know if this one is different what you learned. Information about details of our Kathina plans, later.
Kind regards,
Bhikkhuni Sudhamma Carolina Buddhist Vihara 113 Woodridge Circle Greenville, SC 29607 The bhikkhuni recipients of this email are every one of the bhikkhunis in USA whose email addresses I have managed to obtain (plus Ven. Mudita since she will be join the recitation). If you do not wish to receive future mailings, please simply request to be removed from the list. * Sangha-kamma= Formal act of Sangha (Copy ‘bcc’ sent to members of the Carolina Buddhist Vihara Board of Directors)
The Carolina Buddhist Vihara 113 Woodridge CircleGreenville, SC29607 Tel: (864) 329-9961Email: dhammasc@hotmail.com