HH the 70th Je Khenpo Trulku Jigme Chodrak’s Address on the First Bhikṣuṇī Ordination in Bhutan

HH the 70th Je Khenpo Trulku Jigme Chodrak’s Address on the First Bhikṣuṇī Ordination in Bhutan 23rd June 2022
HH the 70th Je Khenpo Trulku Jigme Chodrak’s Address on the First Bhikṣuṇī Ordination in Bhutan I would like to offer a brief background about the Bhikṣuṇī Ordination to the gathering here. Through the power of method and wisdom, there are male and female beings in this world. Over one hundred and forty young women, who are embodiment of wisdom, have today received the full ordination of Bhikshuni having entered the Buddhist path and have observed the vows of a Śrāmaṇerī or novice renunciate for over seven years. A new order of the Sangha community of Bhikṣuṇī has come into existence as a superb fi eld of accumulating merit for all sentient beings. It is a historic moment and a progressive step we have taken in tune with changing times. This is also a way of fulf i lling the noble wishes of His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, and Her Majesty, the Queen Mother Gyalyum Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck.
Over 2500 years ago, the Bhikṣuṇī community fl ourished in India but the Bhikṣuṇī community could not go to Tibet when the Buddha Dharma spread there. Thus, it was widely claimed that the transmission of the Bhikṣuṇī ordination did not exist in Tibet. Consequently, some people, who held this view, even thought that women in Tibet did not at all have the opportunity to obtain full ordination of a Bhikṣuṇī, like a fi re which has been extinguished and water which has dried up. Such view, I think, is incorrect.
Women were not deprived of the opportunity to obtain pratimokṣa vows in general as they can get the vows of the female lay Buddhist (Upāsikā) and the novice renunciate. Obtaining either of these vows, women took the Bodhisattva vows and, more importantly, adopted the secret Vajrayana path and a great number of them have achieved remarkable spiritual accomplishment. Being satisf i ed with such situation, they perhaps did not seriously consider Bhikṣuṇī ordination.
Today, we hear of the transmission of the Bhikṣuṇī ordination in the Chinese Buddhist tradition. In Bhutan, Her Majesty, the Queen Mother Gyalyum Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck, out of immense kindness and care for all sentient beings in general and for women in particular, established institutions for nuns, encouraged women to take the vows of a novice renunciate, and later, requested me repeatedly to administer Bhikṣuṇī ordination. However, I did not even have the slightest thought, let alone a full plan and conf i dence to preside over a momentous occasion such as this.
Nevertheless, as I hold the title of the Je Khenpo, I bear the responsibility of preserving and promoting the doctrinal and practice tradition of the precious Buddha’s teachings in Bhutan. His Majesty the Dharma King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, out of his magnanimous concern for the women who have entered the path of dharma but are deprived of the opportunity to get fully ordained although there are many nunneries in Bhutan, entrusted me to revive the Bhikṣuṇī ordination, a part of the pratimokṣa system which forms the basis of Buddha Dharma, by all means. The Sangha community is the foundation of the Buddha Dharma and the Dharma Kings are the supreme patrons of the Sangha communities as we know from the ancient Tibetan and Indian histories. Hence, when the Dharma King is pleased, it benef i ts the Buddha Dharma, and if the Buddha Dharma thrives, this is the best tribute to the Buddha. I felt the Buddha would not have stopped this initiative but only endorse this noble endeavor.
Upon further research, fi rstly I found that the Buddha’s Vinaya texts such as the Kṣudrakāgama and the Vinaya-uttaragrantha and many learned commentaries on Vinaya state that Bhikṣuṇī vow can come from a purely male Bhikṣu Sangha and thus female Bhikṣuṇī ordination can be given by male Bhikṣus if there are no Bhikṣuṇīs. Even if there is a Bhikṣuṇī community, the actual vows of a Bhikṣuṇī arise from the community of Bhikṣus, and the Bhikṣuṇī community only serves to consolidate the right circumstances.
Secondly, based on special cases, some of the highly learned and accomplished masters of Tibet such as Chogyal Phakpa, Bodong Chokle Namgyal, ShakyaChokden and many others have in the past conferred the Bhikṣuṇī ordination using male ordination procedures upon Tibetan women who earnestly sought to become a Bhikṣuṇī.
Thirdly, in the context of our times, I have also seen letters from His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, who earnestly wishes to initiate the Bhikṣuṇī ordination, and from the supreme heads of the four great schools of Tibetan Buddhism unanimously supporting the reintroduction of Bhikṣuṇī sangha. This quelled any lingering doubt concerning the appropriateness of the Bhikṣuṇī ordination.