15 women ordained in India, women's Order in India now over 100

Today's story on Triratna News comes also from India , this time from Satyajyoti and Manjusiha. They are two fundraisers for the India Dhamma Trust which is a new UK charity dedicated to raising awareness of - and funds for - Triratna’s ordination process for men and women in India. They are on their first visit to India at the moment, and write from Nagpur to say:

"On Sunday we were privileged to go to the Public Ordination of 15 new Dhammacharinis at Triratna’s Bor Dharan Retreat Centre near Nagpur. Many hundreds of people attended (maybe over 700?) and witnessed the new Dhammacharinis making their commitments publicly. It was a particularly historic event as it took the number of women order members in India to over 100!

“Karunamaya (shown left) was the Public Preceptor conducting the ceremony and talked about how the Triratna Buddhist Community is a truly international sangha. She was delighted that there was also a Public Ordination in Finland on the same day and she asked us all to shout our Sadhus so loudly that they could be heard in Finland and also by Sangharakshita. We did!

“ The atmosphere was joyful with many family members, friends and sangha packed into the stupa to celebrate the ordinations, followed by multiple shared picnic lunches outside.

“Many of the women have faced many struggles on their way to ordination, so it was a great pleasure to see them looking so radiant and delighted, and also to see the pride and respect of their friends and families. Many people had travelled long distances on over-night trains to be at the Public Ordinations and we had a very tangible feeling of the strength and commitment of the Indian Sangha."

We’ll bring you the names of the new Dhammacharinis as soon as we have them.

Some 1,500 men and women in India have asked for Ordination. Helping so many towards ordination is a massive task, as each person prepares individually, the process typically taking several years. The Indian men’s and women’s ordination teams therefore include over a dozen people - hence the need for the India Dhamma Trust. For more information see their website - http://indiadhammatrust.org


SADHU!