Bhikkhuni Research Paper

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Bhikkhuni is the name given to a woman who is an ordained Buddhist nun. Women were not always allowed to become ordained and able to live their lives in a monastery. Today there are a lot of women practicing Buddhism and living in monasteries as nuns. Monasteries for nuns are more common in Asian countries then in the United States. There is a lot of history behind the first Buddhist Bhikkhuni and the way nuns live out their lives today. Being a Bhikkhuni consists of the history of the first Bhikkhuni, the eight Garudhammas, how a woman can become a Buddhist nun, the vows taken by a Buddhist nun and the life of a nun in a monastery.
An important part of being a Buddhist nun is knowing the history behind the first Bhikkhuni. The first Bhikkhuni …show more content…

The first step in becoming a Buddhist nun is to have a good understanding of the teachings of Buddhism. A student usually studies under a teacher for many years before being considered for ordination. A student must have a teacher that can make sure she is ready to be ordained, the teacher also must give permission to the student to be ordained. Next the student will start to work towards developing her spiritual practice. During this time, a student may practice celibacy and may take lay vows to prepare herself for living with vows. After this period of time, the student will establish herself as a Buddhist by taking refuge. The student should then live in a monastery for a while with other nuns to learn what it is like to be a monastic. The student should converse with the other nuns and monks to learn about the way of life in a monastery and to learn what to expect while living the monastic life. The student should also get as much advice form the other nuns and monks about keeping her commitment to the monastery life style. Taking the vows to be a Buddhist nun living in a monastery is a lifelong commitment. The student should make sure that she is well informed of the lifestyle and she should know that living the monastic lifestyle is what she really wants to do. If the student decides to become ordained, she will become part of the monastery community and will live with the four basic requisites of food, clothing, dwelling …show more content…

Every monastery is different and times things are done and what things are done are going to vary, but the following will be an example of the daily life of an ordained Buddhist nun living in a monastery. A nun will usually wake up at 5 am where they will purchase food outside of the temple to offer as alms food to the monks who make their alms rounds starting from 6 am. At 7 am the nuns will eat breakfast, which usually consists of porridge and occasionally fried rice. After breakfast is over at 7:30 am, it is time for the nuns to do their chanting. The nuns and monks do not chant in the same room together. At 11 am it is time for the last meal of the day, where nuns may eat as much as they can, to last them throughout the rest of the day. After eating and cleaning up after the meal, the nuns will have a short break for rest before meditation starts at 1 pm. Monks and nuns will meditate together, usually for around three hours. During meditating sitting down for an hour, the nuns and monks will meditate walking for an hour, then finish the meditation session sitting for the remaining hour. After meditation there is another break to rest before starting chanting the evening chanting that starts at 7:30 pm. The evening chanting ends the day’s activities. This is what a typical day for an ordained Buddhist nun would be

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