The Monk on a Motorbike Trouble in Paradise: An interview with Venerable Canda
Today I’m talking to Venerable Candavissudhi. Ven Canda is a Buddhist nun in the Theravadan Thai forest tradition.
Born and raised in England Ven Canda went to Asia at the Age of 19 where she discovered Vipassana meditation. She spent the next 10 years practicing mostly with her teacher S N Goenkaji at his centres in India before becoming a nun and moving to Burma to deepen her practice and commitment to the Dhamma
Here she came across the teachings of Ajahn Brahm an English monk, based in Australia and she moved over to study with him in Perth, Western Australia
Under his supervision she received the training and rules to become a Bhikkhuni, or fully ordained Buddhist nun.
Only a few nuns in Asia and the west have been given full ordination, and the practise has been condemned by many especially in Thailand.
On the face of it this may seem quite niche and of interest only to those involved in Buddhism, but actually many see it as a huge victory for gender equality round the globe
Asian Buddhism is traditionally very patriarchal, with monks enjoying a much higher status than nuns, who for centuries have been viewed as secondary to their male counterparts.
Spiritual life is arguably at the core of any culture and is often the driver of positive change. In a world that seems to be out of control restoring the feminine to its rightful place in spirituality is seen as an important move in the efforts to restore balance to the world at a time of crisis
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