dhammadharini

"women upholding the Dhamma"

 

 

 

 

Dhammadharini

Welcome Page

 

 

The Bodhi House

4196 Bidwell Drive

Fremont, CA 94538, USA

Tel: 510.683.9608

Bodhi House Blogspot

 

 

Aranya Bodhi

Awakening Forest Hermitage

Sonoma Coast, Northern California

www.aranyabodhi.org

Hermitage Blogspot

 

  

 

 

 

  Supporting our Buddhist Women's Monastic Community

at the Bodhi House and Aranya Bodhi Hermitage

 

Click Here to Donate Through Network for Good

 

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The Theravadan Buddhist women's monastic residence at the Bodhi House is located 4196 Bidwell Drive in Fremont, near the Fremont Hub and Lake Elizabeth in the San Francisco East Bay in Northern California.   

  

 

 

 

 

Our women's monastic community and our not-for-profit religious support foundation are named Dhammadharini, meaning "to uphold the Dharma in the feminine form" in the Pali Language, an ancient classical language of Southeast Asian Buddhism.   

 

Our monastic residence at the Bodhi House is led by fully-ordained female monastics, or bhikkhunis, (the male form is the bhikkhu), the type of monastic life and ordination established for both men and women in Buddhism at its inception in India more than 2500 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The establishment of our first women's monastic residence Dhammadharini Vihara and now the Bodhi House, with the presence of the bhikkhunis (pronounced: bee-koo-nee-z) here, is a historic event for Northern California and for Buddhism, as the full monastic ordination for women, as established by the Buddha, (although continually existant into the present in Northern Asia), is said to have died out in most of Southeastern Asia around a thousand years ago.

 

The past decade has seen the beginnings of a modern revival of the ancient tradition of full ordination for women into the Buddhist Monastic Community, or Sangha, in South and Southeast Asia as well as in the West.

 

Although the greater Bay Area and the Tri Cities have seen the establishment of numerous Buddhist monasteries, temples, Dhamma Centers and meditation retreats from the Southeast Asian Buddhist traditions led by male members of the monastic clergy from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Burma, Loas and Cambodia, etc.; Dhammadharini, established in 2005, was the first such monastic retreat center led by and for fully-ordained members of the Theravadan Buddhist Women's Monastic Clergy, or Bhikkhuni Sangha. 

 

The lifestyle and livelihood of the bhikkhunis resident here in Fremont follows that of classical Buddhism, which involves training and cultivation in three main fields: moral virtue, meditation and wisdom.  This training is effective not only to develop such excellent qualities, but also to alleviate, and ultimately eliminate greed, hatred and ignorance.  The practice leads to personal insight as well as a deep and abiding sense of internal peace, clarity, balance and well-being for the individual, as well as the benefits such insightful and moral persons bring to the greater society in any field.

 

In keeping with classical Buddhist teachings and practices, and the sanctity of their monastic discipline, the bhikkhunis charge nothing for their meditation instruction or their services to society; instead living by the sacred principles of freely-given generosity, kindness and mutual helpfulness, that open and free the heart from its binding in selfishness.  Following the Buddha's example, they do not live in utter seclusion, but regularly walk quietly through their local community in the morning with their almsbowls, giving them a chance to see their neighborhood closely and to deepen their understanding and compassion, bringing a presence of calm mindfulness and peace. 

 

 

 

 

If you see one of the rust- or saffron-robed monastics on their morning walk ~ the almsbowls are a chance for sharing an offering of food sustenance, not for soliciting monetary donations.  According to their monastic rule, the bhikkhunis walk silently, without mega- or micro-phones, pamphlets, door to door calls, or any other sort of disruption, invasiveness or prosetalization.  Generous or interested persons who do wish to offer support or to learn more about meditation or Buddhism, may visit or contact the Vihara at their leisure. 

 

Meditation instruction for insight, health and stress reduction and Buddhist life counseling are freely available on an ongoing basis. All are welcome.  There is no discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender-preference or economic status. 

 

Founding residential director of the Vihara is Venerable Bhikkhuni Tathaaloka Theri, an American-born member of the Buddhist Sangha, with a background in Zen and Theravadan Buddhism.  For more information contact Ayya Tathaaloka at 510.791.2331 or email: tathaaloka@msn.com.

 

This Dhammadharini google group is related to the Bodhi House blogspot: www.bodhihouse.blogspot.com, as well as to the blog for  Aranya Bodhi: Awakening Forest Hermitage: http://awakening-forest-hermitage.blogspot.com/

Ayya Tathaaloka's bio and other things are available at: www.myspace.com/ayyatathaalokabhikkhuni.

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 dedicated to the love of the Path

 

in Peace & Kindness