Bhikkhuni’s Life and Legacy: Women & Modern Buddhism with Venerable Losang Gendun & Cindy Rasicot
Schedule
Fri Sep 20 2024 at 06:30 pm
Location
22 W 15th St, New York, NY | New York, NY
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Friday, September 206:30-8:00pm ET
Hybrid | $35
Co-Sponsored with Shantideva Center
Register here: https://events.thus.org/programs/bhikkhunis-life-and-legacy-women-and-modern-buddhism-with-venerable-losang-gendun-and-cindy-rasicot/
Dhammananda Bhikkhuni defied convention to become the first fully ordained woman in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in Thailand. Dubbed “Rebel Monk” by the Thai press, she faced enormous opposition by the media, the public, and senior orthodox Thai monks. She is currently the abbess of Songdhammakalyani Temple, the first monastery established by and for Buddhist women in Thailand. As a Theravada nun, she has also encountered objections to incorporating Mahayana elements – for instance, constructing a temple to house a majestic blue statue of Medicine Buddha after seeing it years prior in a meditative vision. Once a highly respected academic and public media figure before her ordination, Venerable Dhammananda has become a figure eliciting both controversy and reverence . Yet at every step of the way, she has prioritized community, harmony, and outreach towards different Buddhist and other religious traditions over individualism, conflict, and sectarianism to bring about lasting and healing change. Join us for an interactive conversation to learn more about Dhammananda Bhikkhuni’s groundbreaking life and to explore its implications for modern Buddhism in an age of polarization, and societal and environmental degradation. This talk will be led by Cindy Rasicot, her student and author of her biography, This Fresh Existence: Heart Teachings.
Cindy Rasicot is a retired Marriage, Family Therapist and author of This Fresh Existence: Heart Teachings from Bhikkhuni Dhammananda. This book describes the remarkable life of Venerable Dhammananda and shares her gentle wisdom about how to live a more powerful and compassionate life. In 2005 Cindy travelled to Thailand with her family where she met Bhikkhuni Dhammananda — an encounter that changed her life forever. In 2020 she wrote the award-winning memoir Finding Venerable Mother: A Daughter’s Spiritual Quest to Thailand. Cindy has received novice temporary ordination twice from Bhikkhuni Dhammananda at Songdhammakalyani Temple, in Nakon Pathom, Thailand. She hosts the YouTube program, Casual Buddhism, a series of conversations with Venerable Dhammananda about spiritual issues and Buddhist practices. She lives in Pt. Richmond where she enjoys beautiful views of the San Francisco Bay. Learn more about Cindy at www.cindyrasicot.com.
Ven. Gendun has practiced Buddhism for nearly four decades and has been a Bhikshu (Buddhist monk) in the Tibetan tradition for the past 18 years. Until his ordination he worked in diverse areas such as palliative care, tech, refugee organizations, and commercial management. He studied Buddhist philosophy and practice for 10 years in monasteries in France, India, Nepal and Myanmar, before spending over four years in retreat, training in Tibetan sutra and tantra, as well as in the Burmese Theravada Forest Tradition. For the past 15 years, Ven. Gendun has been teaching Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and meditation across the world. He is a member of Mind & Life Europe, a multidisciplinary laboratory of researchers and contemplative practitioners for investigating the nature of experience. He is the interreligious canon of the Peace Cathedral in Tbilisi Georgia and is at home in a Mevlavi Sufi Dergah in Istabul. In 2023 Ven. Gendun founded The Buddha Project for the long-term guidance of Buddhist meditators, scientific research, art projects and intercontemplative social engagement.
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Where is it happening?
22 W 15th St, New York, NY, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
