Making monks of women

Wat Songhammakalyan has differentiated itself from male dominated monasteries in Thailand, in that the Bhikkuni have developed a strong rapport with the communities around them, and an exemplary empathy and ability to address the needs of the local residents. The bhikkuni directly engage the community, not just helping in their spiritual needs, but rendering assistance in many other ways, especially to the needy, sick, and infirmed. The Bhikkhuni were there giving assistance when floods hit their community a couple of years ago.

According to Dhammakamala Bhikkhuni, wherever and whenever people come into contact with the Bhikkuni, they very quickly become accepting and are generally happy to see them. Many of the male Sangha now also accept the Bhikkhuni and in some parts of Thailand it is now not unusual to see male and female monks jointly participating in prayers and other rituals.

Over a number of visits the author has made to Bhikkhuni temples, some stark differences can be seen in comparison to conventional temples. The Bhikkhuni seem to share a much stronger sense of community, than their more individualistic male counterparts. There also seems to be a strong sense of mission about what they are doing. Although the dhamma espoused is along the similar modernist themes as Sulak Sivaraksa, Thich Nhat Hahn, and Buddhadasa Bikkhu, the Bhikkhuni's method of practice and dissemination is very different. There is a warmth, empathy, and "a sense of personalization" in their approach to counseling and teaching of dhamma.

The Bhikkhuni have a nurturing approach based upon their various personal experiences before they were ordained, which has given many of them the ability to frame dhamma teachings in a practical way, which can be easily understood by people. The Bhikkhuni have managed to take scripture and turn it into something pragmatic that can be understood and used as "everyday dhamma", or socially engaged Buddhism.

According to Dhammakamala Bhikkhuni, the most important contribution the Bhikkhuni are making is their open approach to issues concerning women that are very difficult for males to discuss with females. This is very important as around 90% of people visiting temples for dhamma instruction are now females. The Bhikkhuni see gender as an essential bridge to women.

The Bhikkhuni are heavily involved in family counseling, assisting in solving everyday problems that are facing people in society today, particularly in regards to child and family issues. They are enabling dhamma to be used as a means to live by for the benefit of the individual, family, and community. Many supporting the case of the Bhikkhuni in Thailand believe that it is this group who are maintaining contemporary relevance of dhamma to everyday life. In this way the Bhikkhuni are performing a major role in maintaining Buddhism as a useable guide to everyday life.

With many of the Bhikkhuni coming from professional and higher education backgrounds, many modern pedagogy and teaching methods have been adopted to help disseminate dhamma teachings to the young within communities and schools around their temples.

The Bhikkhuni appear to be realists and have not relied upon donations to survive. They are not totally dependent on outside food donations and grow some of their own food. They even engage in enterprise and sell their surpluses. Practicality, self reliance, and a collective action orientation are signatures that the Bhikkhuni display to the rest of society in the manner of their dealings with outsiders. This manifests itself in an 'aura' of strong will and motivation, that is inspiring to many of those who come into contact with them.

There have been a number of scandals involving male monks of late, creating a small crisis in public trust. In addition, a large part of the Sangha is focused on doctrine and tradition, rather than the needs of their followers. Some would argue that if things don't change the Sangha may only be able to play a more limited role in society in the future, perhaps just restricted to performing the rites and rituals on formal occasions.

The Bhikkhuni approach to dhamma, may be able to rebuild trust and maintain the relevance of Buddhism to society.

What appears to be one of the important aspirations for sramaneri women who want to be fully ordained as a monk, is to be ordained in Thailand in front of their peers, rather than run away to another country to be ordained, and then returning to proclaim themselves a Bhikkhuni. This is now possible where a member of the Sri Lanka Sangha travels to Thailand for the ordination and a number of Thai Bhikkhu or male monks are willing to make up the necessary quorum of five Bhikkhu being present at the ordination. They feel it is symbolically important that ordinations are carried out in Thailand.