Thursday, November 19, 2015

Basic Sangha Community Rights for Sangha discussion only

Basic Sangha community rights

  1. Full citizenry rights in the resident country and overseas.
  2. Full support in daily living includes 4-requisites
  3. All possible opportunities for education given everyone without payback expected.
  4. Respect by 4-fold assembly of host country Sangha members.
  5. Appropriately sensitive to Sangha include celebrations that do not harm or create ethical problems for the Sangha including indigenous cultures and customs of host country.
  6. Monthly stipend that suitable for the area and allows a fund to be used by the individual as they wish, not the home country of the ethnic founders.
  7. Access to good internet connection to prevent isolation from family, friends, and peers. Freedom to decide online presence as long as precepts are being observed online as well.  Anything harmful or illegal should be regarded as reasons to report to the law to protect the community. Politics cause problems enough so Sangha should up their security and use pass code locks on their electronics like phones and computers, even ipads, 
  8. Every Sangha member has a right to decide without pressure from a temple or individuals what to do with their own money.  They can save for their own purpose, invest, donate as they see fit.  If they fritter their money away how can that benefit their progress on the Path?
  9. Freedom to receive visitors of their own approval and to leave to visit others.
  10. Freedom to speak, visit, travel with other Sangha in good standing regardless of robes or tradition as long as the Sangha they visit are in good standing.
  11. Freedom to speak, visit, travel with other monastic religious outside of Buddhism.
  12. All countries, all languages, all abilities of Sangha who remain in good standing have the full ability to preserve, protect, and propagate Buddha dharma, the precepts, perform any service or transmission regardless of origin in Buddhism, participate and confer with appropriate Vinaya numbers of Sangha full ordination, Bodhisattva vows, and confer lineages either new or ancient.
This is a work in progress.  It will be edited and added to or deletions as other Sangha are welcome to comment with suggestions. As this is a Sangha affair nobody else should comment. 

Ven. Hongyang,Bhikshuni
Abbess
Calm Clarity Temple


Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Vinaya Masters in the West ~ the USA

I'm pretty mature in monastic age entering the age requirement for a Vinaya master, but I am becoming known through my online presence and in my meetings with other Western and Eastern people in robes.  In my tradition, the Chinese Buddhist Sangha really considers more senior bhikshu and bhikshuni Vinaya masters of more than 20 rains years or exceptional younger ones.

For the myself being 11 rains as of this writing I'm among the younger ones.  I've been on a 2 year Vinaya retreat with the purpose of preparing for next year being my ordination giving age of 12 years as an upadhyayani [ooh-pah-dye-ni].

I'm serious about my training, very serious about the Vinaya and those who claim to uphold it while engaging in worldly matters.  I've been outspoken for years in favor of adherence to Vinaya over popularity.

The past 30 years has seen a decline of Western people in robes, many disrobing after years of being in robes.  Most often complaints in meetings are of lack of support from their communities both in training and in the 4 requisites.  The highest rate is claimed by the Western Tibetans, then the Western Thai/Sri Lanka Theravada monks.  It's rare to see it happen in other communities like those founded by Chinese, Korean or Vietnamese.

Resilience in the face of lack of support in those issues is not reason enough to disrobe, lacking renewed robes means you need to repair the old ones and investigate into making your own.

I know American bhikshuni who has lacked such and remained in robes more than 20 years already.
Not every Sangha member around the world whether they are from a well-funded temple or not is provided enough of the 4 requisites or treated fairly being sponsored for an education or leadership roles.

We are in 163rd year of existing in the USA through the Chinese Buddhist lineages.  That is young by their standards and ours.  Keep hoping and keep your precepts and all will be well.

Immortality Buddha!

I bow to Buddha!

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Floating Clouds, Folded Palms - A Mahayana Chinese rebirth in Iowa: Iowa's own Bhikshuni soon to release author's autobiography

My autobiography has been the hardest thing to write.  I'm happy I made the effort to publish many sutras before I attempted the hardest thing I have ever sat down to to do.  At first I made lists, wrote snippets of my challenges and victories.  I had a difficult life, not unlike your own.  However, I made choices that led me to the Path.  And it is too my credit that I made those beneficial decisions.  All the while I mused how to bring this work to you and inspire you to knuckle down and really study while practicing Buddha dharma!

I concluded that what you need less of is personal glimpses into masters lives; something you can use is concrete examples of what works from a Sangha member who has considerable amount of time spent in robes.

I am not famous to my knowledge.  I am not interested in that or in bigger, better prettier temples or to be in charge of such grandeur.  I don't need the prestige nor the bother of it, unless another Sangha member is in real need then I would suffer it, and really it would be suffering the loss of my practice time and my interest translating the Tripitaka completely into English.

I support the Triple Jewel, I am pure in precepts and I have faith in Buddha's teachings.  I am a senior bhikshuni in robes being true to my practice and striving to bring more practices to light in my translations of sutras and commentaries into English from the Tripitaka.

Please support my efforts and donate to the website monthly or the gofundme page on Calm Clarity Temple.
  gofund.me/CalmClarityTemple