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Current Center activities

The nuns who stay in the Center now are those who have finished their Pirivena studies and pursuing higher education. Training and education for the nuns do not just include theoretical studies but the nuns also have to know how to apply their knowledge to their spiritual practices as well as to extend their hands to those who like to learn the Buddhadhamma. That’s the reason why we are conducting children Dhamma classes since last year. Besides that, we also have various counselling programs for pregnant mothers and families as well as for girls from correction schools.

To engage in such social activities not only allow the nuns to apply their knowledge, it also helps to promote a new image of Bhikkhunis and samaneris that differs from the traditional image that nuns are not well educated and that they cannot preach and teach the Buddhadhamma. On this year Vesak day, our young nuns prepared a power point slideshow titled “The History of Sri Lanka Bhikkhunis” and presented it to the people coming for the poya day programs. There were about 350 people on that day and what we got from the feedback is that the people were very happy to see such presentation from the nuns which they never saw before even from the monks or from any monk temples. More and more people are coming to our Center for poya day programs because they said they learn more from the nuns here. Well, it is encouraging for us that we are moving on the right direction. Every month, we conduct 7 days meditation retreat for nuns so as to deepen in one's spiritual path.

As to the present situation of Bhikkhunis in Sri Lanka (2010) the following remark seems to resemble the mood amongst many monks:

According to a teacher monk of one of the Bhikkhunis of the Center who is studying in University, he said that actually the monks are holding now a kind of “open” attitude towards this issue. He mentioned that the senior monks neither accept nor reject the growing numbers of the Bhikkhunis because they are just waiting to see how far the Bhikkhunis can go.

The Bhikkhuni continues: “Well, compared to the reactions of the senior monks in Myanmar and Thailand, Sri Lanka monks are indeed holding a more open attitude towards the raising of Bhikkhunis. Thus, it also provides the public a chance to get in touch with the Bhikkhunis. In our village, there are 3 monks temples but we have no problem with them or the villagers though we are Bhikkhunis arama. Every year after vassa season, we have Kathina ceremony and many people support such religious ceremony. No complaints from the monks nearby us. Our nuns even went to monks' temples to preach Dhamma on every poya day.