ayya khema...

[alan...]

Ayya khema switched to linji buddhism? Is this correct? Was it due to lack of confidence in theravada or was it simply practicing both traditions? My concern is im reading a book by her on theravada meditation and if she lost confidence in theravada i will probably not put much stock in her theravada teachings. Did she write on zen after ordaining linji? If thats where she found enlightenment perhaps i should read about that part of her teaching as she seems like a realized individual based on her writings.

[Modus.Ponens]

My understanding is that she ordained in the chinese vinaya, but her teachings were theravada.

[alan...]

My understanding is that she ordained in the chinese vinaya, but her teachings were theravada.

Oh okay. Wikipedia is to blame then. It says "first ordination", then "second ordination" as if she changed schools.

[cooran]

Hello alan,

Here is a link to an excerpt from a book (Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia) mentioning the ordination of Ayya Khema:
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=I5- ... ya&f=false

with metta
Chris

[hermitwin]

the simple reason is she could not ordain as a nun in theravada.
there were no theravada nuns at that time.

[alan...]

the simple reason is she could not ordain as a nun in theravada.
there were no theravada nuns at that time.

okay i get that now, thanks. so since they share vinaya she ordained as a linji nun but practiced theravada. on wikipedia it says she ordained first as a theravada nun and then as linji. so it is just a poorly worded thing that lead to my confusion.

[lojong1]

Just listened to Ayya Khema for the first time, I'm all giddy now.

[alan...]

Just listened to Ayya Khema for the first time, I'm all giddy now.

isn't she wonderful? i bought "who is my self" which is a book on meditation by her.

[lojong1]

Just listened to Ayya Khema for the first time, I'm all giddy now.

isn't she wonderful? i bought "who is my self" which is a book on meditation by her.

Local library has this and 'i give you my life' and 'being nobody, going nowhere.'

[alan...]

Just listened to Ayya Khema for the first time, I'm all giddy now.

isn't she wonderful? i bought "who is my self" which is a book on meditation by her.

Local library has this and 'i give you my life' and 'being nobody, going nowhere.'

sweet! lucky you. my library doesn't have any so i had to buy the one i got. let me know how the others are.

[nem]

Ayya Khema...okay I have miraculous story about her. I actually and truly lost 30 pounds of weight, while running every day on an elliptical machine listening to her talks repeatedly on my computer. Every day. Ayya Khema and the machine.

Talks such as this:

"try to move your arm, try to move your leg...note what makes the limb move. What made it move? The body is the servant, the mind is the master, the master directs the servant... the awareness and clear comprehension of this is essential, to watch the mind and what is is doing, what action it is directing."

"Wash dishes, while washing dishes, no thought, other than washing the dish, just note the movement of the hand, try it, it's very revealing!"

So, I would run on that machine, running through the pain and through the sweat, just hearing Ayya Khema's words, and remembering that I can keep running, mind is the master of the body, watch the mind, and have awareness of what it is trying to do with the body! The mind was always making excuses. But, when pain came, or exhaustion came, I stopped the mind and just let the body keep moving. 30 pounds of weight gone in a matter of months with only a simple elliptical machine and Ayya Khema's slow calm talks playing while I was running fast. Quite different than the usual strategy of listening to some fast paced rock/pop/dance music while doing excercise. I could almost enter samadhi while running to Ayya Khema talks. Basically she takes it down the core, where you are not afraid of pain, not afraid of dying. Many times, I would get on the machine, and vow, I will do this much because this is only a body, this is not me, there is no me, and if this body dies here on the machine, so be it. She is really inspirational, and obviously "I" am still alive and 30 pounds lighter with a good BMI so the teachings did not kill me, but helped me to get to the point of fitness where I can easily sit and meditate without pain, do complicated yoga and everything else. I have a huge gratitude to the late Ayya Khema, for her willingness to teach. She is gone from that form, but the teachings live on and the talks are online... metta and merits to her^1000....

[pegembara]

Loved her story of Don Quixote.

Who is that person, who needs more? A figment of our own imagination, fighting windmills. That "more" is never ending. One can go from country to country, from person to person. There are billions of people on this globe; it's hardly likely that we will want to see every one of them, or even one-hundredth, a lifetime wouldn't be enough to do so. We may choose twenty or thirty people and then go from one to the next and back again, moving from one activity to another, from one idea to another. We are fighting against our own dukkha and don't want to admit that the windmills in our heart are self-generated. We believe somebody put them up against us, and by moving we can escape from them.

Few people come to the final conclusion that these windmills are imaginary, that one can remove them by not endowing them with strength and importance. That we can open our hearts without fear and gently, gradually let go of our preconceived notions and opinions, views and ideas, suppressions and conditioned responses. When all that is removed, what does one have left? A large, open space, which one can fill with whatever one likes. If one has good sense, one will fill it with love, compassion and equanimity. Then there is nothing left to fight. Only joy and peacefulness remain, which cannot be found outside of oneself. It is quite impossible to take anything from outside and put it into oneself.There is no opening in us through which peace can enter. We have to start within and work outward.Unless that becomes clear to us, we will always find another crusade.

http://www.budsas.org/ebud/all-of-us/allus05.htm

[Dmytro]

So, I would run on that machine, running through the pain and through the sweat, just hearing Ayya Khema's words, and remembering that I can keep running, mind is the master of the body, watch the mind, and have awareness of what it is trying to do with the body! The mind was always making excuses. But, when pain came, or exhaustion came, I stopped the mind and just let the body keep moving. 30 pounds of weight gone in a matter of months with only a simple elliptical machine and Ayya Khema's slow calm talks playing while I was running fast.

Amazing!

[hermitwin]

i would love to read 'i give you my life'

can you post some excerpts or give us a synopsis of the book?

[lojong1]

i would love to read 'i give you my life'. can you post some excerpts or give us a synopsis of the book?

I skipped some early chapters and skimmed through most of the rest because I was after specific subjects, but it was quite good. Ayya talks about her childhood during the war, experiences with deaths of friends and relatives, marriage, world exploration with family, meetings with inspirational characters, ordination, development of her bhikkhuni island, living with cancer for the last 15 years. A few photos.
I think you'll enjoy.