Exceeding original estimates of 250 women, around 270 prospective nuns (including Bhutanese and foreign women from 14 countries) began their formal process of being ordained by His Holiness the Je Khenpo today. This year’s gelongma (bhikshuni) ordination, running from 14–19 November, will constitute the concluding event of the World Peace Prayer Festival, which kicked off on the 4th. According to a report from BBS, “His Holiness will ordain three nuns at a time, with around sixty receiving ordination each day.” (BBS)
The ordination ceremony is being conducted behind closed doors at Tshalumaphey. Tshalumaphey is the location of a training and resource center for nuns and women pursuing spiritual practice, supported by the Bhutan Nuns’ Foundation. The public can visit the center to offer donations and serve meals, and volunteer to help the nuns in general.
Bhutan has been particularly well-placed to revive the bhikshuni ordination along the line of the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya, which is the monastic code for most Vajrayana schools with a monastic tradition. This favorable position, which is not shared by other major Vajrayana institutions in other countries, is due to a convergence of favorable factors: a centrally administrated monastic organization (the Zhung Dratshang or Central Monastic Body), a government supportive of bhikshuni revival, and the symbolically powerful blessing by the monarchy. The assent of the Je Khenpo, the chief abbot of the Bhutanese kingdom, was particularly helpful.
The ordination also needed the academic research needed to provide a crucial academic basis for Bhutan’s decision to move ahead with the institutional restoration of the Vajrayana bhikshuni lineage. This academic foundation was provided by bhikshuni Jampa Tsedroen (Carola Roloff) in a 2020 seminal study that was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation).
Tashi Zangmo, PhD, Executive Director of the Bhutan Nuns’ Foundation, told BBS about this ordination: “Finally, we are recognising women’s participation not only on the global stage but also in the spiritual journey. A meaningful platform for women’s involvement has been created. The inclusion of nuns’ ordination in the Global Peace Prayer is especially significant because I believe women inherently bring peace. They have never been the creators of war throughout history.” (BBS)
She continued: “From now on, their lives take on deeper meaning, as they have committed themselves fully to spirituality and a life of celibacy. Without this ordination, their spiritual journey would remain incomplete. With it, they attain the highest level of precepts, and a whole new world of opportunities and fulfilment now opens before them.” (BBS)
To be ordained a bhikshuni is to receive the same, highest monastic vows traditionally held by bhikshus. The first mass ordination was held on 21 June 2022, marking the first move by Bhutan’s Central Monastic Body to ordain 142 nuns. This makes Bhutan the world leader in Vajrayana nuns’ ordination by far.
Reference
The Buddhist Nuns’ Ordination in the Tibetan Canon (Numata Center for Buddhist Studies)
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