Sakyadhita Australia

A national organisation representing Buddhist women in Australia across all traditions

Newsletter No. 16
SUMMER 2023

Contact details

sakyadhitaoz@gmail.com

Web: www.sakyadhitaoz.org
Facebook @sakyadhitaoz
Twitter @SakyadhitaOz

We’re delighted to announce that Brigid will be our guest for the first webinar in 2023. It will be held on Sunday February 26th at 5pm AEDT. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Brigid and participate in the conversation. It will be an interactive event so have paper and pen ready.
Join us via Zoom : https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86036197300

The Sakyadhita International Conference, Seoul, Korea.
June 23 – 27 2023

This will be the first ‘in person’ Conference since 2019. It is an exciting opportunity to get together again with Buddhist friends from around the world, to travel to Korea, explore its Buddhist culture, meet more like- minded Buddhist women and be inspired by both the country, the papers delivered, and teachings given at the Conference.
The Conference will explore the theme ‘Living in a Precarious World Impermanence, Resilience, Awakening'. It will explore implications of the Covid pandemic, plus sexism, racism, nationalism and war. Not to forget climate changes and the possibility of catastrophic climate events. These will be looked at from a Buddhist perspective.

There will be a number of Australians presenting papers and workshop; Dr Di Cousens will speak on preventing family violence among Buddhist communities; Ven Chi Kwang Sunim will give a workshop on Resilience for both Nuns and Laywomen, Sharon Thrup on ‘Mindful Writing in an upside-down world’ and Helen Richardson an interactive session on ‘Growing National Sakyadhita Organisations’.

After the conference there will be a two-day tour of places of interest around Seoul. Sakyadhita Australia is also offering the opportunity of a seven day tour and pilgrimage to significant Buddhist sites in Japan (see below).
More Information and Registration : https://sakyadhita2023.kr

Visiting South Korea – Explore the Temples of the Heart and Path
By Julian Bamford and Emma Song

Across the Republic of South Korea, there are some 900 or more traditional Buddhist temples of which many are hundreds of years old and some were founded well over a 1000 years ago. The footsteps of generations of devotees have worn down the stone steps as well as the polished timber floors of the Buddha halls (Daeoogjeong - Main Buddha Hall). Many of these have been renewed and rebuilt again and again throughout Korea’s history.

Korean Buddhist Temples are like nature and their design, architecture, heritage and intent quietly welcome you in.
Their rooves, made of interlaced timber work and tiles, are like vast umbrellas and are held aloft by great wooden columns. Their roof lines form silhouettes against the hills and protect the giant handmade Buddha images and the meditators seated before them.
Once you step through the paper covered lattice doors you will see paintings of Arhats and great Seon (Zen) Masters. You are surrounded by rich colours, ornately painted ceilings, and a unique aesthetic. The courtyards are mindfully swept, there are paper lanterns overhead, and there is the feeling of being watched by giant stone carved Buddhas and Bodhisattvas within the rain-washed pagodas. This is distinctly Korean.

Stepping through the paper covered lattice doors, to paintings of Arhats and great Seon (Zen) Masters, you’re surrounded by rich colours, ornately painted ceilings, and a unique aesthetic. The courtyards are mindfully swept, paper lanterns swing overhead watched by giant stone carved Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and rain-washed pagodas. Distinctly Korean.

Each temple stands as if painted into the landscape. They can be found nestled into deep valleys. Once you walk through their boundary gate, you enter into the heart of the temple's place beneath the sky. Often they are listed as Korean National Treasures. Some are built on mountains as if carved into rock and are accessible only to the hardy of foot and mind. Others are built in green forested valleys and there are still more which act as havens in the hearts of cities and towns, with streets and communities which grew out from around them.

To visit one, is in a sense to visit all.

Each Temple - as if painted into the landscape, can be found - nestled into deep valleys, where you walk through their boundary gate, into the heart of its place beneath the sky. Often, they are listed as Korean National Treasures, some on mountains as if carved into rock, accessible only to the hardy of foot and mind. Others in green forested valleys, and more still havens in the hearts of cities and towns, with streets and communities having grown out from around them.
To visit one, is in a sense to visit all.

In the still morning air, long before the sun appears, one wakes to the tap tap sound of the Moktok, a drum. This sound tells the beings it is time to wake up. It is a particular experience found in Korea and it marks the beginning of the day for monastics, visiting lay practitioners and helpers at temples around the country. The day begins with the deep resonance of the gong, the rhythmic beating of the giant drum, the fast clack on the painted wooden fish, and chiming of the cloud plate. The message is, 'Come to the hall, bow to Buddha, sit'.

Depending on the time available, the option of temple stays of one, three, seven days or more, offer a great way to taste Korean temple life. Look for details on the web.

At breakfast and lunch, the lightness of Korean temple food is a joy and it is always vegetarian. Apart from pungent roots called Oshinchae, no green (spring) onions, no garlic, no chives, no Korean wild chives and no heunggwo (a type of leek) are used in cooking. The cuisine includes the savoury hot taste of kimchi, soy bean pastes cured through winter, tofu, mushrooms and lotus root, freshly picked vegetables from the temple garden and clear water from the mountain streams.

You can get to the temples by simply catching a local bus or hiring a car. Take Google maps for guidance. On arrival you will walk through the temple gate and along the soft gravel path between the tall bending pine trees on either side. There will be the sounds of running water nearby and the songs of cicadas if you come in summer. Then step into the inner gate, maybe climb some steep stone stairs and pass between the giant protectors. Arrival.

If you are in Seoul it is recommended to visit Jogyesa which is the chief temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. After bowing and sitting for a time in the great hall and seeing the stories of Buddha painted on its outside walls and doors there is time to circumambulate the pagoda (Stupa) which houses relics of Sakyamuni Buddha. You could also make time to sit for a while in the shade of the 500-year-old Chinese Scholar Tree and then have lunch at the community restaurant. Temple food brings you home.

Also in Seoul is the Jinkwansa temple, which is one of the city’s four largest temples. It also offers a temple stay including one day programs and has been renowned for its traditional temple food for over a millennium.

Around an hour from central Seoul in Soowon is the Bongeunsa* temple. The nunnery’s quiet spaces and architecture and beautiful flower gardens provide a tranquil stop hidden from the bustling streets around it. The chance to try vegetarian temple food there is highly recommended as is visiting the temple at night.

Further afield and some distance from the cities is the beautiful Gayasan National Park in South Gyeongsang Province. Here is the UNESCO World Heritage listed Haeinsa temple. It was built in 802CE and is home to the Tripitaka Koreana, the Buddhist canon. The texts are carved onto 81,350 wooden printing blocks and have been housed there since 1938.

Wherever you go in South Korea, whether to towns, seaside destinations, historic sites like those of the Silla kingdom at Kyengju (Gyeongju) near Daegu, tasting the food culture and experiencing Korean eateries is integral. Whether you visit community dining spaces in temples or the smallest of family run restaurants where hardly a handful of patrons can fit, fresh cooked food is prepared right there in front of you. There are also stall in traditional markets where you will find yourself sitting among the hustle, bustle and sounds of Koreans shopping and daily life. Special dishes include - dumplings, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, special local favourites and all sorts of different types of kimchi.

Welcome to South Korea, please enjoy.

Emma is a Korean Buddhist who, with her partner Julian, (first visit in 2012 for the World Fellowship of Buddhists Conference), have visited and stayed at Temples in Korea, and of course sampled the culinary delights. The photos are their gift to you from their travels.

Note – The Bongeunsa Temple will be the site for morning meditation sessions at the Sakyadhita Conference. Temple food experts from all over the country will be gathering to provide breakfast and lunch for participants. Ed.

Beth Goldring has been a humanitarian/human rights worker for many years, including seven years in Palestine and seventeen years working with destitute AIDS patients in Cambodia. In our final webinar of 2022 she examined the discrepancies between social justice work and Buddhist teachings and practice.

“It was around 2017 I began to question the role of Buddhist activism and its confusion with ideological response. Buddhist training - particularly meditation training - is sadly no guarantee against corruption. The problems are there; we see the Burmese monks calling for genocide against the Rohingya, we hear about the Sri Lankan monks doing the same sort of thing. We see the corruption. All religions have these things and Buddhism is no exception.

But in addition, Buddhism does not have a concept of justice, especially when you are working within the meditative traditions. The concept of justice is ideological. Buddhist teachings do not supply a framework to respond directly to ideology. Most importantly, the teachings do not and cannot address structural violence in the world ideologically. Rather, as practitioners, we are asked to be grounded in ethics and be grounded in liberation.

On a recent retreat my teacher did a very beautiful thing. He insisted in looking at the distinction between what happens in the world and what happens in meditation. And then, within the depths of meditation, to be really looking at what it means not to want anything to be different. This is what we do in our hearts in the depths of meditation. We do this because the moment we don’t want anything to be other than it is, then we’re not limiting our understanding of what anything is. And if we reach a point of not limiting our understanding of what is, then when we go to respond, we can respond more deeply, more compassionately, more strongly without being caught in the dynamics of ideology. So, while Buddhism does not have a direct response to structural violence, ethical and meditative training towards liberation allows a wholehearted compassionate response to suffering at both the deepest and most comprehensive levels. Furthermore, it helps us develop the skills to do that.

“When I was opposing the Vietnam War in the 1960s, I got caught in those traps, as did many of us; my own anger was there, and there was a perceived polarization between personal liberation and anti-war work. But that polarization doesn’t have to be there - the teachings allow us to engage fully with the world. They teach us how to do that without prejudice, without limitation. That seems to me tremendously important. When I talk about my own journey what engages me now is the possibility of a deeply authentic, compassionate response, without limitation.”

Photos : Beth working in the Brahmavihara AIDS Project. Bennett Stevens.

She is a teacher, human rights worker, Zen nun, Buddhist chaplain and teacher of Buddhism and meditation. She has worked as a human rights worker in Occupied Palestine and with the International Network of Engaged Buddhists in Thailand. In 2000 Beth founded Brahmavihara, the Cambodian AIDS Project, which ran through 2016.: More about Beth

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo has been many things to me over the years - teacher, mentor and friend. I had the opportunity to meet her on many occasions whilst living in Dharamsala, the last time being February 2020 just before all the borders closed. So I was very fortunate that I was able to meet her again on my recent visit in December 2022.

Jetsumna shared that during Covid she stayed in her nunnery - Dongyu Gyatsal Ling - for most of the time, along with the nuns. She decided that she would no longer travel but would teach and have Q & A discussions via Zoom, in line with the rest of the world.
During this forced retreat, the nuns were able to study without the fear of getting sick as the nunnery remained Covid free.

Jetsumna did, however, travel to Bhutan in June 2022 for a ceremony in the Bhutanese town of Paro to fully ordain 142 Buddhist nuns. While most of the newly ordained bhikshunis were Bhutanese, several attended the ceremony from other Buddhist communities in the Himalayan region. This was an historic step towards realizing greater equality within the monastic institutions of Buddhism and Jetsunma was delighted to be part of this history making event.

Jetsunma congratulated Sakyadhita Australia for being an active group offering interesting and informative webinars to other members of Sakyadhita and the wider Buddhist community. She is looking forward to meeting other members of Sakyadhita Australia in Seoul at the biennial conference in June 2023.

Thank you to everyone who donated so generously to our Sri Lankan nuns’ fundraiser.
We are indebted to Ranjani de Silva (a previous Sakyadhita International President) who, on a visit to Sri Lanka late last year, personally distributed funds to various nunneries throughout Sri Lanka. She reported that the country is still struggling economically, costs of the basics keep rising and the rupee is devaluing, all of which make it extremely difficult for the nuns who rely on dana from nearby villages.

Travelling the country at a difficult time - we think this was a fabulous effort from an 85 year old! All funds have been accounted for.
We have kept the fundraiser open, as Ranjani tells us ‘the need is still there’. You can donate here – https://www.sakyadhitaoz.org/donations. Please label the donation ‘Sri Lankan Nuns’. Many thanks.

Jill in 2022 with the friends who deliver food aid to IDPS (internally displaced people), in camps after their villages have been destroyed by the Myanmar military.

Sakyadhita Australia generously supported the humanitarian work of the wider sangha in Myanmar over a year ago. Funds were sent through INEB (International Network of Engaged Buddhists) and then distributed locally. Last November I had the opportunity to visit the Thai – Burma border to meet with friends who work in organisations under the INEB umbrella and some community leaders, to both offer support and to explore further needs. I saw remarkable resilience in many I met but there are also urgent needs for trauma healing.

I was inspired by the work being done with limited resources and huge challenges, which responds to the humanitarian needs of communities due to the ongoing violence of the Myanmar military. Here are some of the actions being undertaken by local organisations:

S1* based in Chiang Mae, have offered trauma healing for interfaith religious leaders and civil society leaders in the past, but now there are many challenges. In providing humanitarian support to vulnerable communities, there are now many check-points to check their shopping lists and what has been bought, and the local administrators have to report on visitors, often with dire consequences. Like many organisations they now offer on-line training due to safety concerns for their staff. They continue to offer community support through religious leaders and a common issue often concerns the traditional view of karma to explain their suffering. The perception of lay people has changed towards monks, being critical of the leading monk, Sitagu Sayadaw, for being close to the military, so there is a turning towards the secular.
S2* in Mae Sot send in food and medicine - not money - through local organisations such as Karen Women’s Organisation, and they give psycho-social support with a social counsellor offering on-line and personal support as well as supporting a school for children inside Burma.
K-* continue their interfaith humanitarian work. They told me how some monks use their bank accounts for donations to help others. In the dry zone of central Myanmar where they work, people have nowhere to hide from the military strikes. They are supporting the villagers whose homes have been burnt down, responding to their small requests such as for nails. They are also responding to the increasing food insecurity by teaching people to make compost and grow vegetables. People are helping each other in many ways.
Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM): a small group of CDMers have set up a self- supporting eco-printing business. CDM professionals such as nurses and teachers, will take any work on offer such as waitressing and taxi driving, such as the former Central Bank employee who drove me to appointments.
Spring Revolution Sangha Network: There are about 30 monks in the network, 25 of whom have relocated to ethnic areas and are teaching the dharma. They are responding to community needs as best they can, keeping a low profile in ethnic areas. I met with Bhikkhu Issariya on the border, a leader of the Saffron Revolution of 2007, who also attended a peace-building training 10 years ago with me. He gives ‘talk shows’ on aspects of the dharma relevant to current situation, for example how to ‘bring your light to the pain’, and ‘how to change your mind-set and let go of fear’. He also writes on Facebook on how to reduce stress and offers some peace-building tools. I asked him, was he safe? ‘Afraid every minute’….said with a smile! He said, like many others, there was a great need for counselling and mental health /well-being workshops, especially for CDMers.
Citizen Journalists: With training for over 140 people on the border, most of the news on Myanmar now comes from their sources. A friend and former journalist with mainstream media is a trainer, and they do ‘talk shows’ live-streamed on Facebook, with questions to panellists, sharing information about the Revolution. This friend, a former political prisoner who was jailed from 2007 for four years, counselled others in prison and gained strength from this, and she continues this now. She has also started a small business to be independent and be able to help others.
Synergy: Social Harmony Organisation formed by Thet - a human rights defender, who has worked with Rohingyas and other minorities and who continues to bridge the divide between Rohingyas and Burmese through art and poetry. Many people, he said, are impacted by trauma and the enforced confines of Mae Sot – ‘it’s like living in a zoo, living in a small room, afraid of the police and most people with no jobs’. Thet is also helping people with accommodation - 50 people are in safe-houses – as well as providing advice on police protection and running a tea shop to support people.

Many of the religious leaders in the Spring Revolution Interfaith Network who got involved with the Spring Revolution, Thet said, don’t know much about social harmony. Before the coup, their focus was on religious teachings, but after the coup many had difficulty controlling their angry minds. On the other hand, many who have joined the PDF (People’s Defense Force) are feeling conflicted by growing up as Buddhist and having learnt not to kill. He felt it could be helpful if INEB could bring some Thai Buddhist leaders to Mae Sot for engagement with their network. Healing trauma and strengthening well-being workshops would also be greatly appreciated, and funding support is needed for religious leaders.

Another organisation which received your support in 2021 was the Saya Foundation. They teach in monastic schools and focus on teachers’ capacity development and holistic development of children. They offer hope for the future in Myanmar in their dedication to teaching across the divides in the future generation. They focus on ‘functional co-existence’ as a Buddhist approach to peace-building, in an environment where ‘peace’ is met with suspicion! Some months ago, I was able to respond to their request to offer on-line workshops for the teaching staff on ways to promote ‘mental well-being’. This also gave me further understanding of the very challenging and violent environment in which they work. It is unsafe to go outside their homes and those they are teaching - whether students, parents or other teachers - are also dealing with trauma on many levels. They found walking meditation a valuable practice and more accessible than sitting meditation.

May all beings be free from suffering. May all be at ease and know peace.

*These groups must remain anonymous
Jill Jameson, January 2023.

There will be a gathering and picnic in beautiful Kings Park, Perth, on Sunday March 12 at 8am. Venerable Thubten Chokyi will offer a blessing and meditation and we have a guest speaker to speak about spiritual care in hospices and end of life care.

Our photo shows the initial meeting in WA and includes two Sakyadhita Australia committee members: Ven Thubten Chokyi and Sky Dawson.

Victoria
Melbourne has many different Buddhist temples and centres. We aim to organise small group tours to temples of interest. Details to be confirmed. Email us to register your interest: sakyadhitaoz@gmail.com

This Newsletter was compiled by Helen Richardson, editing by Di Cousens. Graphics by Shiv Kumar.
Thanks to all our contributors.

To create a network of communication and support for Buddhist nuns and lay women in Australia, regardless of cultural and language background.
To function as a noticeboard to promote all Buddhist activity, with particular attention to female participation.
To promote harmony and dialogue among the Buddhist traditions.
To work for gender equity in Buddhist education, training, institutional structures, and ordination.
To foster compassionate social action for the benefit of humanity.
To promote awareness of the Sakyadhita conferences and to support attendance at the conferences.
To act as advocates for the protection of the natural environment and the protection of the planet from global warming.
To build relationships with faith traditions in the wider community.

Photo : Haeinsa Temple, Korea.

In this Issue:

From the President

Book Review.
A Year of Loving Kindness to Myself - & Other Essays by Sonja Webb

Sakyadhita Australia Membership

‘Living in a Precarious World’

Pilgrimage to Japan

Integrating Buddhist Teachings, Activism, Ethical Training and Compassion

Beth Goldring

Dharamsala Revisited
By Sharon Thrupp

Fundraising Reports

Supporting Sangha in Myanmar – An Update.
Jill Jameson

State Events:
Western Australia

Sakyadhita Australia
Aims and Objectives