Many of the most dramatic episodes related to the ordination of women in Theravāda Buddhism have occurred in Thailand, where press attention has focused on prominent figures such as Ajahn Brahm (now expelled from communion with the sangha founded by Ajahn Chah) and the venerable Dhammananda, two standard-bearers of the female ordination movement. However, it was in Sri Lanka that the policy of female ordination really succeeded for the first time in 1998, with the ordination of a group of Theravada bhikkhunis assisted by Chinese nuns following the Vinaya Dharmaguptaka. However, this was only the beginning of a long struggle for the full recognition of women as fully ordained teachers in Sri Lanka. It is this struggle, with all its progress and obstacles, that filmmaker Małgorzata Dobrowolska documents in Bhikkhunī: Buddhism, Sri Lanka, Revolution.
For as long as she can remember, Polish-born Małgorzata has been uneasy about the unequal status between men and women in the Roman Catholic Church, the spiritual tradition in which she grew up. "Even as a child I wondered why a woman could not be ordained as a priest. Later I realized that this inequality is present in all major world religions. I started looking for women who would break these patterns," says Małgorzata, While developing her professional identity as an activist and documentary filmmaker focused on women's stories, her interest in Buddhism initially took her to Thailand.
"In 2015, I was in Thailand at Songdhammakalyani monastery. This is the first monastery of bhikkhunis in this country," he says. "The head of the monastery is the bhikkhuni Dhammananda, the first fully ordained theravāda nun in Thailand. Being in this monastery made a great impression on me. I met a community of exceptional women who are not recognized by the government and most Thai monks, along with a portion of the laity. The origins of the order of Thai bhikkhunis are in Sri Lanka. It was there that the venerable Dhammananda, one of the protagonists of my documentary, received full ordination in 2003.
For Małgorzata, filming was a great adventure: "Of course, sometimes I had difficult or stressful situations. I arrived in Sri Lanka all alone. I didn't know this country well. At the time when I was leaving Poland, I didn't know if any of the nuns would agree to be the protagonist of this documentary. It turned out that my worries were completely unfounded. The nuns welcomed me very warmly and I immediately felt at home. They were very eager to share their stories, fears and goals with me. They brought me into their world. I felt it was also important for them to be able to tell their stories themselves, to have the story of the reestablishment of the bhikkhunis order recorded."
Sri Lanka played a key role in the history of the creation of the order of bhikkhunis after Ashoka the Great's daughter, the nun Sanghamitta, established the lineage on the Island. "Today it is even more important in the revival of the lineage in South Asia," observes Małgorzata. "Many women who cannot receive full ordination in their countries come to Sri Lanka to become bhikkhunis, and then return to their home countries. I was very fortunate to be able to record the 2016 International Bhikkhunīs Theravada Theravada Ordination on film. It was a historic event. Women from Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam came from their respective countries to be ordained. The group of women from Bangladesh was the first group of Theravada bhikkhunis from their country. The leader of this group was a nun named Gautami, who became the first Buddhist bhikkhuni from Bangladesh."
The film was shot in Sri Lanka, but the main characters are women from three different countries: the Venerable Kusuma from Sri Lanka (ordained in 1996 in India), the Venerable Dhammananda from Thailand (ordained in 2003 in Sri Lanka), and the Venerable Gautami from Bangladesh (ordained in 2016 in Sri Lanka). All of them are the first women in the modern history of their respective countries to become fully ordained nuns.
However, even in Sri Lanka the idea of ordaining female monastics has had a mixed reception. "The situation for bhikkhunis in Sri Lanka is by far the best in the context of countries where Theravada Buddhism is the main religion. Some of the monks in Sri Lanka support the ordination of women," Małgorzata explains, "It is thanks to them that the line of bhikkhunis was successfully reestablished, and new international ordinations are being organized. But even so, the government and a large number of monks do not recognize the bhikkhunis. Certainly, the Sri Lankan government does not imprison women for attempting to become fully ordained nuns, and even the strictest orthodox monks do not force women to give up their habits. So one could say that the island is moderately tolerant toward the bhikkhuni movement."
The pace of progress is not entirely due to Vinaya concerns or sexist attitudes. There are genuine institutions that allow "gray" areas to overlap with the more distinctive roles of "laywomen" or "bhikkhunis," such as the dasa sil matas, who live according to ten precepts, but are not considered ordained monastics. Since the idea of dasa sil matas is a relatively recent import from Myanmar (from about a century ago) and is similar to the mae chee institution in Thailand, Małgorzata believes this is not a tenable situation in a country like Sri Lanka, where female ordination along Vinaya Theravada lines has been reconstituted. "It is similar to waiting for a doctor in a waiting room, without having the opportunity to actually enter the doctor's office," she says.
Małgorzata argues that the most important thing is the recognition of the order of bhikkhunis by the laity and awareness of the status of the female order. "I think what is crucial is education about the history of the bhikkhunis, as well as raising awareness of the importance of the fact that the restoration of female ordination has been achieved," she observes. "This applies not only to Sri Lanka, but to the whole world."
Małgorzata is currently distributing the film, which she concedes is the most difficult task in the filmmaking process. "In modern society, we are being bombarded with advertisements and offers on every corner, so it is very difficult to break through this commercial noise and offer the audience a feature-length documentary about the rebirth of female ordination in Theravada Buddhism. Still, this is a very important topic and people don't realize that in Theravada Buddhism, one of the oldest and greatest Buddhist traditions, there has been such a breakthrough or even a revolution. After a thousand years, women can be fully ordained again. The sangha is returning to the state that the Buddha wanted. It is very important to be aware of it and support it."
*This article was originally published on Buddhistdoor Global on April 2, 2019.
