You should read that letter more carefully. : ) Specifically:
Bhikkhu Bodhi supports the Bhikkhuni ordination as such, not this particular ordination.Anders Honore wrote:Please be assured that, while I express these reservations about the way Ajahn Brahm proceeded in this affair, I still lend him my moral support just as much as I support the revival of bhikkhuni ordination in the Theravāda tradition.
That's the key question. Without a clear authority, except some undefined 'scholarly opinion', the whole thing will end up in small sects, and eventually perish, as it did in India.That is of course the question.And who will decide what's correct?
So I'm glad the Thai Sangha undertakes decisive actions.
Well, let's discuss facts. Here's what Ajahn Brahm said:My point here is your portrayal of Ajahn Brahms as someone who goes simply his own way without regard for protocol or vinaya is inaccurate. He has acted in accord with what he believes the Vinaya to say and that is an interpretration supported by many reputable scholars.
I am quite aware that there are reputable scholars who will say otherwise as well, but I think the above is sufficient to establish that your claim that he 'wanted to split from Forest Sangha and establish his own rules' is not an accurate portrayal of what has happened. Your attribution of questionable motivations is something I likewise would consider, if not slanderous, then certainly lowering the tone of debate.
"... One of the biggest myths is that bhikkhunis in the Mahayana tradition are somehow separated from the Theravada. But the truth of the matter is, there is no such thing as a Mahayana Vinaya. In all the Mahayana schools, they follow mostly a Dharmagupta Vinaya. Dharmagupta is one of the Theravada sects. They follow Theravada Vinaya. So the bhikkhunis we see even now in Taiwan and China is a lineage that is unbroken since the time of the Buddha. ..."
http://www.bangkokpost.com/leisure/leis ... i-question" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I can't desist from a joke.
Guess what's that thing -
- uses Dharmagupta Vinaya transmission;
- follows Sarvastivada Agama texts;
- calls itself Theravada?
Answer:
It's Australian pre-sectarian Buddhism :^)