Aranya Bodhi

Awakening Forest Hermitage

Aranya Bodhi: Awakening Forest Hermitage is a rustic, "off the grid" Theravadin Buddhist women's monastic hermitage on more than 100 acres of mountain forest and meadows, pools and waterfalls on the Northern California Sonoma Coast. Ananya Bodhi is the monastic hermitage/retreat project of Dhammadharini, a religious non-profit organization with 501(c)3 Federal and State of California tax-exempt status.

Three Month Vassatime Women's Monastic Retreat

July 26 through October 23

Sangha Vassa Begins

Warm Dhamma greetings from our Aranya Bodhi Hermitage, in Vassa.

For all those who worked so hard to prepare this beautiful space, it was an aspiration come true when, quietly this past Monday morning, in our yurt Dhamma-sala surrounded by mist-shrouded redwoods, 7 women dedicated to monastic life entered into the traditional Buddhist vassa retreat period.

This is the first year, in North American history, that our Theravada Buddhist women's monastic community has gathered together to observe the vassatime retreat together. It is a beginning; a beginning that is the culmination of many years of dedicated effort and slow nurturing of the causes and conditions for women's *Sangha* to come together.

Pictured are Ayya Tathaaloka Bhikkhuni (center), Ayya Sudhamma Bhikkhuni (right front), Adhimutta Samaneri (mid-rt), Phalanyani Samaneri (fore-rt), Ayya Sobhana Bhikkhuni (left front), Suvijjana Samaneri (mid-left) and Anagarika Marajina (fore-left) in the hermitage's Dhamma-sala yurt. Full photo album is here.

Our first week of retreat together has been one of intense yogi work, lovingly collectively laboring to prepare and arrange the public and monastic commons areas, tent and kuti sites and trails for our full 3-months retreat time together - the completion of the past 2 years and 2 months of efforts by so many dear Dhamma friends. This month of August will be spent here in our Awakening Forest in monastic community life training, and preparatory training for ordination for the 3 samaneris who will be being fully ordained as bhikkhunis at the end of the month. The remain two thirds of the vassa retreat is dedicated to deep, quiet meditation retreat time, in seclusion and together, in the heart of the practice here in this great forest land.

Our thanks to all dear friends whose dedicated efforts, in kindness and generosity, have made and are making this retreat possible. We hope that this time will bring profound benefit to not only our own hearts and lives, but to our society as a whole, to our world, and all living beings.

Abiding pervading all quarters of the all encompassing world, with a heart of loving kindness, compassion, joy and great peacefulness,

The Sangha at Aranya Bodhi

~ The Dhamma ~

Beautiful in the beginning, beautiful in the middle, beautiful in the end

About the Hermitage

The Aranya Bodhi: Awakening Forest Hermitage is becoming a comfortable setting for monastic women and dedicated lay aspirants to practice for liberation … to live in a quiet forest environment, to practice solitary meditation, to receive alms food offered in faith, to hear the Dhamma, and to be part of a democratically organized sangha in accord with the ancient monastic code. There will be real seclusion for extended meditation, study and practice with daily activities.

In our branch of Buddhism, conditions for women’s monastic sangha have been slow to ripen. The bhikkhuni order died out over 900 years ago, and has only been revived in modern times. For over 25 years women have patiently sought to establish Theravada bhikkhuni sangha in America. So far, we have been too divided and subdivided … by the strong individualistic spirit of pioneer women; by the different ordination forms available in different Asian lineages; by the chicken-egg problem of reviving the bhikkhuni form without experienced noble leaders. We go on, step by step, trusting the Buddha’s advice that this community form of practice is the best and surest way to the goal.

The Buddha’s plan for us is actually simple — a community of bhikkhunis living together in harmony, close to nature, in utmost simplicity and frugality, no burden on society, supporting new aspirants to enter and mature in the holy life, and each one methodically working out her own liberation. The public face of Buddhism should emerge from this: monastics who have matured in strong communities may properly lead retreats, teach, counsel, and offer religious services.

Despite the obstacles, a sense of sisterhood has grown up among the diaspora of Theravada bhikkhunis world-wide. For example, Western, Thai and Indonesian bhikkhunis have organized a seminar on bhikkhuni concerns; joined for patimokkha recitation from time to time; joined for vinaya training; conducted novice and full ordinations; and formed a loose network of sister monasteries in six countries. Now, for the first time in America, we will have a complete sangha of four bhikkhunis living together in community for Vassa, the three-month rains retreat starting on July 25. Including the novices and lay aspirants, there will be from 10 to 16 women. At the full moon of August, we plan to conduct a bhikkhuni ordination at our hermitage. After Vassa, a few will stay on the land, holding the space and form for secluded practice.

We can feel the wind at our backs — much larger beneficial forces working in our favor. It seems that now is the time for the four-fold sangha to be fully established in America. Even though our funds are meager and our core volunteers stretched to their limits, we are lifted up, inspired by a sense of history. Many dozen volunteers and donors have joined to set up our physical infrastructure. We enjoy the ongoing support of well established practice communities, committed to helping monastic women. Substantial support has been pledged to help with the monastics’ medical needs.

Our hermitage has 120 acres of beautiful redwood forest, a vigorous stream, and a moderate climate influenced by the nearby Pacific Ocean. We have an initial land-use plan, a passable road and pure spring water piped in. There is a yurt being erected as our main hall, a teepee to be set up for monastic meetings, a kitchen-trailer and two more trailers partly fixed up, toilets and showers partly built, tent platforms to build, and our first two kutis to build.

Over this next year, our most urgent needs are for financial help to complete the infrastructure, builders and laborers at all skill levels, as well as transportation help from nearby airports to the hermitage. To receive announcements about projects, work days and useful items to donate, join Friends of the hermitage.

We stand on the shoulders
of many heroines

It is said that the Buddhasasana — the Buddha’s dispensation — is really established in a new land when her sons and daughters obtain ordination from a harmonious local sangha. Now, for the first time, we expect such an ordination for Theravada women, taking care of their own community transactions, with the support of the friendly bhikkhu sangha.

This accomplishment will not belong to this summer’s group of women, but is rather a continuation of the efforts and achievements of many.

***We bow in gratitude to all who have conducted multi-tradition ordinations over the years, Theravada and Mahayana sanghas joining together to re-start the Theravada ordination of women.

***We bow in gratitude to the Theravada bhikkhus who have conducted "one-sided" ordinations of women.

***We respect the Buddhist scholars who have proved the continuity of lineage of women's ordination from Sri Lanka to China, and back again to Sri Lanka, whence it is again spreading around the globe. They investigated the Buddhist monastic code in its technicalities and its whole meaning. They pointed out the Buddha's many compassionate actions in support of bhikkhunis, showing how he overturned obstacles to women's ordination instead of making it impossible.

***We honor the women who have trained and developed as mature, skillful monastic leaders — whether in Silashin, Siladhara, Dasa Sil Mata, Samaneri or Maechee forms — without yet having formal access to full ordination.

All this work was essential before we could find the way forward for bhikkhuni sangha to be fully established in the Theravada.

Prospects for Bhikkhuni Ordination and Training

In the long term, Aranya Bodhi will be a hermitage and not a training monastery for bhikkhunis. That is, it will be small, secluded setting for dedicated practitioners. We hope that a proper training monastery will be established during the coming decade and our hermitage will be complementary to that. There is need for both types of practice settings.

For now, Ayya Tathaaloka will accept a limited number of aspirants for going forth and training at the hermitage.

We do all this with confidence and hope, knowing the day is coming when North American women will be able to train, ordain as bhikkhunis, and practice in community, all within the Theravada tradition; so that finally we can follow the ideal way of life taught by the Buddha, on our own land.

According to Buddha’s teaching, our best chance for enlightenment is not in a heavenly realm but here in midst of elements and aggregates, within these bodies which age and sicken, among the earth, rain, wind, fire and consciousness elements. We wake up here, not in another ideal place. This is the ideal place.