Keeping Bhikshuni Vows Purely
A Western nun holding getsulma vows asked whether it was a good idea for nuns to aim toward taking bhikshuni, or gelongma, ordination, as it is called in Tibetan. She wanted to know whether it made a big difference for the mind to hold such higher ordination. Rinpoche gave the following reply.
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.