A Weekend with the Venerable Dhammananda

The Venerable Dhammananda is charismatic, warm, well-spoken and leaves a strong impression on those who've met her - and has the distinction of being the first Theravada bhikkhuni (female monk) in Thailand. A few weeks ago I went down to Nakhon Patom to spend time at her center at Wat Songdhammakalyani. As it was a slightly more stressful time than usual, this weekend retreat was perfect timing. I went with Brooke Schedneck, a friend from Harvard Divinity School days who is in Thailand doing field research for her dissertation (both of us pupils of our beloved Don Swearer). Brooke is interested in Ven. Dhammananda as a meditation teacher to foreigners. I am interested in Ven. Dhammananda's thoughts on on gender and inter-religious dialogue. I probably would not have made it a weekend-long venture, but Brooke has done so many meditation retreats she made it easier for me to deal with the simple monastic life of hard beds and waking up before dawn.

I first met and interviewed Ven. Dhammananda in 2007 at the International Conference on Religion and Culture in Chiang Mai where I presented a paper on Buddhist art and gender. In our first conversation we discussed gender in the writings of Dr. Chatsumarn Kabilsingh for several minutes before I (finally! gasp ...) realized Dhammananda was Dr. Kabilsingh before her monastic metamorphosis! Same person, different name. This slightly embarrassing episode served our discussion well. As we both noted, my momentary non-recognition reinforced a point we were making: ordination visually removes the easy markers of gender - a face without make-up, shaved hair, robes concealing sexed contours. Dr. Kabilsingh was for over 30 years a professor of philosophy and religion at Thammasat University, where she wrote the bulk of her many works on, among other things, Buddhist texts, commentary, and gender. But her commitment to monastic life can be seen anchored even further back than academia, to her extraordinary childhood as daughter of Ven. Voramai Kabilsingh, the first Thai bhikkhuni, ordained in the Taiwanese Mahayana line. Her life was saturated with chanting and meditation. Her mother converted their home into Wat Songdhammakalyani (literally, the temple of women who uphold the dhamma). As a young girl she says she could recite whole chants by rote memory "like a parrot." Life as an academic allowed her to explore the meaning of what she memorized as a child. She told us she waited until her youngest child passed 25 years of age before she followed her mother's footsteps and ordained. But going further than her groundbreaking mother, she sought a Theravada ordination through the newly revived bhikkhuni tradition in Sri Lanka. A proper Theravada ordination would give her a greater chance of recognition in the Thai Sangha (the official ruling hierarchy of Thai Buddhism), and would better situate her to pass on the bhikkhuni lineage at home.

Brooke and I arrived and quickly got into the rhythm of the weekend events. We were plopped in the middle of a training session for the center's core volunteers. On the whole they were nice and helpful - presumably that is part of the training! as they prepared to take some of the workload off Ven. Dhammananda and the other samaneri (female novices). We skipped the sessions on temple rules, taking care of guests, and how to give tours of the grounds - I for one needed rest and was desperate for a shower (the first of three that day) after an overnight bus and the inferno-like heat of Nakhon Patom at noon in the height of hot season. One interesting session was on Visualization. Put in simple terms: how you 'visualize' an object or problem can determine your response and approach to it. A bit of experiential learning helped to demonstrate the point. Four of us were asked to visualize a volunteer sitting in a chair as a heavy stone. When it came time to lift the woman from the chair with our fingers, we couldn't make it happen. But when we closed ours eyes and visualized the woman as a feather, we lifted her up easily. It worked! The use of Visualization meditation and mental training exemplifies the many ways Ven. Dhammananda draws from Tibetan Buddhism. More importantly she draws from the Tibetan tradition her own understanding of the Medicine Buddha. Ven. Dhammananda has a local reputation as a healer and had a distinctive vision of the Medicine Buddha fleshed in blue (top photo).

We were encouraged to join the morning alms rounds. I wasn't sure what to expect, or if that many people would give food to female monks, but they are known and taken care of by the nearby villagers. They also know she is a strict vegetarian, thank goodness, because I didn't want to feel obliged to eat seafood or something worse at 7am. The samaneri giving the blessing is adorable (top-right), she loves to touch and talk to the alms-givers. Of course in good Thai-time some lay people rushed up on motorbikes moments before we entered the gates. That seems also routine. Bottled water, blessed by Ven. Dhammananda, with the blue Medicine Buddha logo (left), are distributed to alms-givers in need of healing.

We were joined later by a documentary film maker from The Buddhist Channel in France. The three of us went everywhere Dhammananda went, which was great. She received an invitation to the chanting / fund-raising event by the abbot of Wat Luang Por Sot, an unfinished but huge Dhammakaya temple nearby. The abbot supports Dhammananda and the revival of the bhikkhuni line in Thailand, but he is limited by the constraints placed on him by the Thai Sangha. He showed his support by inviting her to present gifts to the male monks at the ceremony. Of course it wouldn't be a Dhammakaya event without attracting the rich and famous, so there were a few Thai movie stars giving gifts as well! Ven. Dhammananda sits in a special place (left). We were behind her with the mae chii (nuns who dress in white, shave their hair and follow 8 precepts) and other female laity dressed in white, and we were escorted to the 'VIP' section for lunch.

Ven. Dhammananda interprets the Thai Sangha's refusal to recognize the new bhikkhuni lineage as mixed. The lack of legitimation by the national hierarchy leaves a great deal of room for intellectual freedom as a public figure and autonomy to make decisions without having to answer to the Thai leadership. Last year, 30 women joined in a 9 day temporary ordination. They expect at least 50 this year, while busy figuring out how to house them all and constructing a new building for future growth.

It is no wonder that Ven. Dhammananda has become an important Buddhist voice. Her belief in her gender equality, dialogue with Buddhist and other faith traditions, inviting presence, command of English, and reputation as a healer, attract seekers and scholars alike. It was a much needed retreat for me, and to paraphrase a popular saying from one of her books, a calming of my monkey mind.