Tathālokā Therī
Dear Venerables & Friends,
Warm greetings from this full moon afternoon. I am just returned from a glad gathering of our Bhikkhuni Sangha at Aranya Bodhi were we recited the Bhikkhuni Patimokkha together up on the mountain saddle by the ancient stone stupa and had highly interesting and dynamic Vinaya discussion together with regards Ven Analayo's new articles (now released - below) and mine (soon to be released) on "Bhikkhus' Right to Ordain Bhikkhunis".
I remembered that i'd posted the first "Revival" article to you already in early July with Ven Bhikkhu Analayo's message (here), which contains promise of the second article when it be released. This very important second article has now come forth -- just in time for this 2596th Bhikkhuni Sangha Anniversary full moon and for the contemporary Journal of Buddhist Ethics special 20th Anniversary edition.
With Ven Analayo's kind permission, both articles have been uploaded to the Alliance for Bhikkhuni's website and are freely available as resources for you there under 3rd IBD. The live links to the articles cached on their site are directly below.
Ven. Analayo Bhikkhu
The first article here "The Legality of Bhikkhuni Ordination" takes an orthodox traditionalist look at the legality of the important 1998 Bodhgaya (India) Bhikkhuni Ordinations from the standpoint of the Pali-text Vinaya. This article is shorter and simpler and is focused on the Pali-texts. It concludes that in the case of the absence of a Bhikkhuni Sangha, the ordination of bhikkhunis by bhikkhus is legal in the Pali-text Vinaya.
The second article, "The Revival of the Bhikkhuni Order and Decline of the Sasana" is a more lengthy work of Comparative Vinaya scholarship. As the name implies, it investigates the textual relationship between the existence of bhikkhunis and the life of the Sasana, finding the overwhelming majority of Canonical Buddhist texts to be supportive of the presence of well-practicing bhikkhunis as an essential component for the long life of the Buddha's Sasana (dispensation). It covers more ground more extensively than the "Legality" article, and includes a Vinaya investigation of contemporary Buddhist sectarianism and its Vinaya relationship (or non-relationship) to bhikkhuni ordination. It also provides a comparative review of multi-traditional known extant Vinaya texts on the subject of bhikkhus' ordination of bhikkhunis, which is supportive of the conclusion drawn above.
I hope this will be useful and interesting -- even illuminating -- reading for those who care about this subject.
With much metta,
and great appreciation for all the support that enables me to share these works with you all so freely,
Ayya Tathālokā
September 19, 2013