minor setback.

Dear friends and family,
Please do not worry. You may have heard, I just got out of the hospital (spent 2 days there) with amoebic dysentery. I am alive, not exactly well. But thank you for all your love. I will head to Bangkok tonight and make a decision about my health and travel plans... If I feel well enough, I will carry on to Sri Lanka tomorrow.

love, michaela.

cambodia.

Relentless. Constantly aware of the sun and finding the nearest shadow and how to get under it. Relentless. Emotional landscapes, both outer and inner. Cambodia is thick; the air, the history, the present are haunting. I wish I could spend more time here.

This past week I have had the honor and pleasure to meet the incredible staff of the Brahmavihara Cambodia AIDS project and meditate and work with them. (www.brahmavihara.cambodiaaidsproject.org) After learning Reiki, I was allowed to visit patients with the staff. After one period of meditation and beautiful chanting, we set out for the hospital. Entering the room, with my face sweating under my mask, my heart sank and opened immediately. Death and sickness right there, exactly as it is. I followed Ramo to watch him do Reiki, healing touch and massage. The other Bodhisattvas of the group each went to a bed to visit with someone. First, Ramo talked to a slight man with deep brown eyes, likely asking how he was feeling, what's been causing pain lately. The man pointed to his shins which had many scars and bruises; his legs were very thin. Ramo nodded and took out the "monkey balm" which is like tiger balm, everyone loves it here. He massaged the man's temples, forehead and neck, who in turn became extremely calm. I realized that I became calm as well. I looked around the room and realized that Soeun, Sok Ny and Preoungh had all started Reiki on their patients. What began as a somewhat hectic room with children running around, people coughing and yelling, suddenly was transformed. The whole hall was quiet, the settledness was palpable. Focused loving energy was being channelled. The patients looked so at ease. I had never seen anything like this...

more in a bit...

i know i know.

I'll bet a lot of people apologize for their inadequate blog updates. This apology is sincere; I am sorry! I've had a hectic couple of days, a crazy bus ride from Tuyen Quang province, a border crossing adventure into Cambodia and a new skill unlocked today as I learned Reiki, the Japanese healing technique. I am in Phnom Penh which is a lot less modern, a bit more tropical and slightly less honking horns than the cities in Vietnam. I will write a proper update soon...

more photos.

some photos

Up the coast we travelled. A busload of singing nuns. We even paddled around some caves...

Green Vietnam.

"Wherever you see green, thats our land. Where its empty and dry, thats some other farmers'."

I just spent a few wonderful days out at the organic farming project "Green Vietnam" with Quang, the manager of the project, and his amazingly kind family.

You do not have to be a very experienced farmer to notice that something is terribly wrong with the farming practices of Tuyen Quang Province. There are many patches of land, with the property lines visible, with nothing growing. After a few days with Green Vietnam I am starting to understand why. Quang tells me, "They have bad varieties, bad techniques and no markets. And now they are poor and desperate." About ten years ago, someone from the department of agriculture gave seedling and trees to the farmers but it was a bad variety and never yielded any crop. Many farmers have turned to cassava, a labor intensive, ecologically unsound and not profitable crop and also to genetic corn. "It's a mess." He tells me.

Arriving to this farm, however, I see rows and rows of orange trees, with pinapple or chilis as the undercrop. I also see several small vegetable gardens and a woman kneeling down, gathering greens for dinner. Chickens roam freely, doing their part in the gardening. Green Vietnam obviously has a different perspective.

full ordination for women.

In October, in Perth, Australia, four women were fully ordained as Bhikkhunis in the Australian Thai forest tradition. Since this is not allowed by the Thais, Ajahn Brahmavamso has been excommunicated and a backlash of conservatism has ensued.

"The truth is that male religious leaders have had -- and still have -- an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. We are calling on all those with influence to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices -- in religious and secular life -- that justify discrimination against women and to acknowledge and emphasize the positive messages of equality and human dignity." Jimmy Carter, Parliament of world religions

Some links:

selected comments made on public fora about gender equity in Theravadan Buddhism (read at fourfoldsangha.org references and Alliance for Bhikkhunis at http://www.bhikkhuni.net/)
letters written in support of Bhikkhuni ordination (read at http://www.supportbhikkhunis.org/)
scholarly articles outlining the legitimacy of Bhikkhuni ordination (seen as a necessary response to Ajahn Thanissaro's refutation of the validity of the Bhikkhuni ordinations in October in Perth, Australia) (read at fourfoldsangha.org references and Alliance for Bhikkhunis at http://www.bhikkhuni.net/).

Here is an excerpt from prachathai.com: http://sujato.wordpress.com/

Buddhist circles have recently received important news. The Sangha of Wat Nong Pa Pong in Ubon Rajathani province announced they were expelling Bodhinyana Monastery of Perth, Western Australia from its membership. This is because the Sangha of Bodhinyana performed bhikkhuni ordination. From now on Bodhinyana Monastery will not be a member of the Ajahn Chah circle of monasteries, and will no longer be supported by the Department of National Buddhist Affairs and the Council of Elders.
The reason behind the expulsion is that ordination of bhikkhunis is against the order of the Sangharaja Krom Luang Jinavornsirivatna of 1928 in which he forbade the Sangha in Thailand to give ordination to women. The Sangharaja’s order was re-affirmed in the meetings of the Council of Elders in 1984 and 1987.

I am not surprised at the punishment because it is a familiar technique for the Thai Sangha to punish a group of people who think differently by making them ‘the other’. It is the same technique used on the ‘Santi Asok’ group, and tried unsuccessfully with the ‘Dhammakaya’ group.
I am not surprised that the Bodhinyana Sangha went ahead regardless, as the stand on bhikkhunis which the Sangha of Bodhinyana has taken up is in line with the social value of respect for gender equality, and also emphasizes the spirit of the Buddha’s same message of equality.
Bearing in mind the spirit of the Buddha and the right to gender equality in contemporary society there is no reason to follow the stern ruling of the Thai Sangha.
One who has some understanding of Buddhism knows that originally the Buddha did not allow women to be ordained. But when Ananda asked if women were capable of equal spiritual attainment, the Buddha confirmed that they did, and for that reason he allowed women to join the Sangha.
We may call that this the reason ‘according to the true nature of humanity’, which affirms the truth that men and women both have equal potential to be enlightened. Thus everyone should have the same opportunity to study and practice towards enlightenment.
However, the status of being ‘ordained’ in Buddhism, apart from being a status to allow individuals to study and practice towards enlightenment, is also a ‘social status’ that depends on social and cultural context. Therefore when the Buddha gave permission for women to be ordained there were also tight conditions as seen in the eight garudhammas, starting with the rule: ‘A bhikkhuni ordained even for 100 years will pay respect to a monk ordained but that day.’
This reflects the social context within Indian society which did not recognize gender equality. In Brahmanistic culture not only were women not allowed to be ordained, they were not allowed even to read the Veda. But in Buddhist culture women were given opportunity to study and to practice towards enlightenment since the time of the conception of Buddhism.
Therefore when the Buddha allowed women to become bhikkhunis, in spite of the fact that women have the same spiritual potential to become enlightened like men, there was also the social context of the time where there was no gender equality to be taken into consideration.
But now Buddhism is in the modern world, which accepts and recognizes more of the equality between men and women. If we accept the reason ‘according to the true nature of humanity’, to accept ordination of women in the present social context would be much easier than in the Buddha’s time.
But the reaction of the Thai Sangha to the Sangha of Bodhinyana Monastery (and to Bhikkhuni Dhammananda few years earlier) reflects how the Thai Sangha is not ready to face any new challenge. Not to mention the new challenges which come with the globalization in economics, society, or politics, even when it comes to an old challenge like bhikkhuni ordination, the Thai Sangha can only make them ‘the other’. They push their own people who are more progressive to become ‘the other’. This is not solving the problem but pushing it away.
From now on, the monks who remain warmly preserved in the arms of the Thai Sangha and the Department of National Buddhist Affairs will be only those monks who are good at making amulets and engaged in business under the name of Buddhism, taking money from the public by various means. These monks in fact are ‘the others’ from the true teaching of the Buddha, but become the same flesh and bone with the Thai Sangha. Meanwhile the Sangha who are truly following the teaching and the spirit of the Buddha are being pushed out and become more and more ‘the other’.
In fact, if we look closely at the case of Bodhinyana Monastery having ordained bhikkhunis and being pushed out, the problem does not lie with the Sangha of Bodhinyana Monastery but with the Thai Sangha. It is an attempt to cover up the true reason for ordaining women as accepted and initiated by the Buddha. It is the problem of adjusting and changing to accommodate co-existence in the modern world.
Let me speak very frankly: this is a problem of isolating oneself from reason and truth in the modern world. Eventually it will be a case of missing the boat when the Thai Sangha is not able to adjust Buddhist teaching to accommodate and benefit the modern lifestyle. The Buddhist leaders the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh both emphasise that ‘the world still has Buddhism to free society from suffering.’

I am just a visitor here...

Before I left for Vietnam I had watched man

y video clips and read articles on the attacks on Bat Nha monastery. I expected at least some discussion about it given that I have visited dozens of temples in Vietnam so far. It seems to me to be the elephant in the room, atleast in my room. It has been quite hush-hush. Why? I'm just trying to listen, have quiet conversations, get a feel for why no one in the Vietnam Buddhist world seems to be doing anything about this. There are probably many things I am not privy to, coming as an outsider with my idea about how to speak out about injustice. I have never lived under a communist/socialist government so I cannot claim to know the best way to act under these circumstances. Especially since the temples here seem to be well-funded and well supported by the government. Next to the Buddhist flag, flies the red flag at most temples. For now, I am listening. Watching. Meeting everyone with a gentle curiousity. I have to say I have heard many nuns and monks describe a real reverence and admiration for Thich Nhat Hanh. I have no doubt that he is well loved here. Ok, I must head back to the temple.

"socially engaged Buddhist women"

In a way, this phrase is redundant. It seems as though, from many of the presentations, that Buddhist women see their religious vocation as implicitly for the benefit of society, and thus their social action is quite seamless. It is not some special thing they do. It is inherent in why they became nuns or devoted laywomen. Several papers talked about the Buddhist nun in Taiwan, Zhengyan who is the founder of the Tzu Chi, or Ciji, Movement, the Buddhist Compassion Relief Merit Association. This organization has grown immensely worldwide taking on projects of social welfare and ecological issues. They operate a hospital, medical school, and a university as well as disaster relief.

The woman in the picture is wonderful. She lives in Cambodia and continues much of the work of Maha Gosananda. Right now she is working on a peace walk which will take place in Cambodia this March. The walk will incorperate many social causes ... I will write more when I run upstairs and get the beautiful write-up ... sorry for the delay ...

Her friend, BethGoldring is an American Zen priest living in Cambodia. She runs an AIDS hospice in Phnom Penh. She and her staff help people find as much peace as possible within their situation. They provide emotional and spiritual support, listening and counseling, and material aid as well, including medicine, foodand transportation. They use Reiki and Healing Touch as well as Khmer chanting ceremonies and Buddhist ceremonies. She presented a beautiful slide show of the staff and patients and told stories of their lives. I will write more about Beth in a few weeks when I visit her project.

Buddhist women, lay and ordained run projects dedicated to children, the poor, victims of disasters, both human and natural, animals, the environment and the terminally ill. Paper after paper, we heard about dozens of women and their inspiring life's work. I will continue to post these stories. For now, I am sweaty and need water.

Whew.

So the conference has ended. What a whirlwind. Our days began at 6 AM and didn't end until 9Pm. We heard 66 papers and had a workshop every afternoon, there were atleast 9 to choose from each day. The meals were a great time to chat and meet each other. I'm pretty sure I met women from every country that attended.

I have finally gotten a good nights sleep. I feel refreshed and ready for this week's tours. We will visit many temples, travelling all the way up to Hanoi with the Sakyadhita group.

With the final dedication of merit, I had my hands in gassho (palms together) and suddenly my mala burst off of my wrist. Beads went everywhere. It was the mala I recieved on my jukai day. Auspicious.

the conference...

This is a picture of me and Susmita Barua, the Buddhist Peace Fellowship ambassadors... Susmita is leading a workshop called "Deep Conscious Capitalism"... We hope to share our experiences of the conference with the socially engaged Buddhist community and everyone else soon...

Feeling all at once like an insider and outsider, between nun and laywoman, half-academic half-religious... These seeming contradictions leave a burden. I arrived with the question: Is the current state of women in Buddhism oppressive or liberative? Are things a mess and going to hell or is the future bright with equality? Both. (of course) The theme of this years International Conference on Women in Buddhism is "Eminent Buddhist Women". Each day we have heard dozens of papers about amazing female teachers, devoted laywomen and agents of social change from many countries. There are women from Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan, Korea, India, Nepal, Australia, England, Tibet, Taiwan, China, US, Germany, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Mongolia, Bangladesh and more. History is being written, from our perspective now. We are documenting our teachers, our challenges, our practice, our lives. The complete sangha is coming to life again.

Happy New Year

This video is from the ceremony of offering light (candles) for New Years...