Bhikshuni Ordination

My very dear Venerable,
Thank you very much your kind letter, and numberless thanks that you became a nun.

Now, why are you thinking to take the gelongma vows? We do have some nuns who have taken these vows because an abbot in Taiwan started to ordain Western nuns, but I think there are only a few [Western] nuns and Tibetan nuns from Dharamsala. I doubt they are from Gelugpa; I don’t think there is even one who got ordained.

I think there are 365 vows—more than fully ordained monks in the Tibetan lineage—but I don’t see those Western nuns who have taken the gelongma vows really keeping the vows. There were two Western nuns who lived in Dharamsala for some years and were always going together. I think they were ordained by the same master in Taiwan (maybe). However some of the nuns who have taken gelongma vows, somehow I don’t see them keeping the gelongma vows and I don’t know why they have taken the gelongma vows.

His Holiness asked me to check the lineage of gelongma vows, whether it is an unbroken lineage from the Buddha or not. In Singapore the abbess from one small nunnery told me that one monk came from China and did a Manjushri retreat for a long time, then he decided to grant gelongma vows. However, you don’t normally hear that publicly.

Of course, if one takes the vows and keeps them with Dharma motivation, even though there is no unbroken lineage, you might have the benefit of keeping the vows with a Dharma motivation, not the eight worldly dharmas. If the motivation is the eight worldly dharmas, then the action of keeping the vows does not become Dharma.

There are getsul vows one can keep purely, as much as possible. There is this possibility. Then on top of that there are bodhisattva vows—to abstain from the eighteen root downfalls and forty-six vices. Then there are tantric vows—[to abstain from] the fourteen root downfalls and vices of mother tantra and samaya.

I think there is a lot to practice. I don’t think there is a shortage, therefore one thing is to check your motivation, why you want to take these vows.

Thank you very much. I hope to see you soon.

With much love and prayers...

Most precious jewel Sangha,
Holy object of refuge of sentient beings, supreme in assemblies, I offer my greetings and pay homage.

I offer my support in your research on the bhikshuni vows and wish for the most beneficial outcome.

For fortunate Buddhist women, who already have the full potential and opportunity to attain enlightenment, in case the lineage of the bhikshuni ordination doesn’t succeed, still you can keep pure the sramanerika vows. If you wish for higher and more vows, you can take the bodhisattva vows, and if you wish for yet higher and more vows, you can take the tantric vows. So, in essence, whatever the outcome may be, you should take the freedom to achieve enlightenment quickly for the sake of all sentient beings, as no one is stopping you. This is the most meaningful activity – the best Olympics.

I thank you all for bringing peace within yourselves and the world.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

PS. Of course, I support bhikshuni ordination, but in case it does not happen then you should not get upset, as there are still so many more vows which can be kept.

Bhikshuni (gelongma) ordination is not officially accepted yet in Tibetan society, particularly by Tibetan lamas, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The lineage that confers this ordination has not yet been accepted. For that to happen, there needs to be an assembly of the abbots of all the Buddhist traditions, including the four Tibetan traditions, and senior monks of the Theravadin traditions, and so forth. If they agreed about this, it would be fine, but this hasn’t happened yet. So, at this point, officially bhikshuni ordination is not accepted.

In the past, there have been a few nuns from the FPMT who have taken bhikshuni ordination, and this has inspired others to do so. My suggestion is that 36 vows are very few, a small number compared with the vows that bhikshunis have, about 350. Therefore, there may be benefit when you make such a promise, but it depends on how much you keep it. For example, one of the secondary remainder vows of bhikshunis—not a root vow—is that you can’t travel alone without another nun. If you can’t keep the 36 vows purely, how can you keep bhikshuni vows? It would be impossible.

There are many important vows to practice and to cherish. In the Tibetan tradition, there are bodhisattva vows, 18 root vows, and 46 secondary vows. Then, there are tantric vows and commitments, including the five dhyani Buddhas’ samaya and mother tantra samaya vows. Bodhisattva vows create the cause for you to attain full enlightenment, and tantric vows cause you to achieve enlightenment very quickly. Therefore, it doesn’t make much sense to take gelongma vows if it’s only to hold the title gelongma.

As far as practice is concerned, there is not much meaning. However, if one can live purely according to 348 vows, then it’s good. But if it’s only to be a gelongma in name, then even the motivation is not good. There are so many vows to keep and practice purely. If one can’t keep tantric and bodhisattva vows purely, then one won’t be able to keep these 348 vows purely.

I was invited to attend a bhikshuni ordination, when a few nuns from the FPMT were taking vows, but as it has not yet been accepted by the Tibetan tradition, I didn’t attend.

My very dear Venerable,
Thank you very much your kind letter. It would be very good for you to take full ordination. I hope the reason you want to take it is not because it looks good, or because it is a fashion to enjoy for some time. This is really a serious matter and decision in one’s life.

The thought that you should have every day, the basic idea, is this:

"I am doing this to achieve liberation and the total cessation of sufferings and their cause—delusion and karma—which have no beginning. But not only this, the reason that I have taken these vows is to free the countless hell beings from sufferings and their causes and bring them to enlightenment; to free the countless hungry ghost beings from sufferings and their causes and bring them to enlightenment; to free the countless animal beings from sufferings and their causes and bring them to enlightenment; to free the countless human beings from sufferings and their causes and bring them to enlightenment; to free the countless asura beings from sufferings and their causes and bring them to enlightenment; to free the countless sura beings from sufferings and their causes and bring them to enlightenment; and also to free the countless intermediate state beings from sufferings and their causes and bring them to enlightenment. Therefore, I must achieve enlightenment. For that reason I am living in ordination.

"To liberate and enlighten other sentient beings is the ultimate goal of my life. That’s why I have taken this human body, for that aim: to actualize the path, achieve enlightenment, and liberate and enlighten all sentient beings. The human body gives all the opportunities for this, including achieving enlightenment in one life. This is on the basis of this human body, born in this southern continent, where tantra is existing. This body is the only, best thing, which gives all these opportunities.

"I have collected merits, by practicing charity and dedicating merits, to receive a perfect human body for so many lifetimes. I have worked so hard for thousands of lifetimes to receive this human body, so therefore I must use this human life in the best, most productive, beneficial way for all sentient beings, not only for myself."

This is what you should think every day. Learn the vows and try to live in them as much as possible, otherwise you take the vows and are very virtuous at the beginning, but after some time they mean nothing, you just see a person’s robes, and that’s all. It shouldn’t be like that. Thank you very much for your letter.

With much love and prayers...