Meet the Thai women fighting for Spiritual Equality | Foreign Correspondent

[Music] as dawn breaks each day across thailand one of the country's most important and revered traditions unfolds theravada buddhist monks go out on their morning arms rounds to give blessings in exchange for food but in a few neighborhoods there's a quiet revolution going on the saffron robes are worn by women and the all-male thai clergy is not happy here in thailand only men can become fully ordained monks for females it's forbidden but there's a growing movement of women challenging this rule they're standing up to the patriarchy and fighting for spiritual equality thai women are very sweet and very tame and i'm also sweet but i'm not tame women have found a loophole they're holding ordination ceremonies of their own and more and more candidates are signing up my focus is really clear that i have to do this if people don't like it it's their problem [Music] [Music] as pandemic restrictions ease in thailand the capital bangkok is roaring back to life [Music] and is getting back into the swing of things but the quiet times during covert made her reassess everything every single day you get up at 5 30 you put your makeup get dressed go out drive to work and then yeah clocking clock out [Music] after doing that life for many years i just think what the next chapter the new journey of my life [Music] anne works in life insurance and does enjoy her job she's 43 married and loves her family and friends but she's been searching for more meaning and when i turned like 40 and the cold weed came along after that i kind of think oh yeah probably i'm having a mid-life crisis today anne's saying goodbye to work for a couple of weeks to go and do something very few thai women have done she's defying the thai clergy and going to be ordained as a novice monk surprise event that's inside 95 of thailand's population is buddhist but anne comes from a christian family after her father died in an accident twenty years ago a friend took her to a temple for the first time then seven years ago she married dee who's a buddhist over the years and interest in buddha's teachings has grown it's probably the only things that i believe can make me in a better person self-development start with his teaching keen to delve deeper she's about to go into a female-only monastery for 12 days first though one last family dinner before the strict monastery routine begins who will i be meeting tonight uh this is like my mom brother dana because like she's her birthday is coming up next week but i will be away so my brother my sister my mom and my husband be here tonight and are you all close yeah we are very close a small little family it's important to anne to have her family's support she wants her ordination to bring them good karma so foreign we are okay if you want to do this you can be a man you can be everything what you like but you have mom and you have husband you have to come back to the real life not go forever whatever you want to do just go ahead do whatever you love do what you do but you have to come back they all planned to go to the monastery for anne's big ordination day well you were saying you think you're going to be emotional too like a baby i don't know it's a beautiful moment deep inside my heart yeah i'm happy here happy tears yeah happy tears if anne was male none of this would be remarkable men ordain as monks for short periods all the time in thailand it's a rite of passage and a way to bring merit to their families for longer and happier lives only a handful of women are doing it but their movements growing [Music] i'm on my way to ratchabri province about a hundred kilometres west of bangkok to meet another woman signing up wants to push the boundaries even further to start as a novice but then go as high as the men do and become a fully ordained monk so all these big established trees are you're doing that's beautiful and tom is the one who will design a house and build a house such a great house archera became a widow eight years ago after her husband tom died i didn't expect it's gonna happen right he just bang he got heart attack their wonderful life together was over in an instant when i first lost him still like grief grief and just suffer so what i did like start to chant now at the age of 60 achara's devotion to buddhism is stronger than it's ever been after two years as a novice she plans to become a bhikkhuni the ancient indian term for a fully ordained female monk i decide to be a bikini because i feel like i had enough with my life i don't mean enough in terms of give up my life but i have such a good life you know and enjoy my life every day but then that time that i feel uh suffer a lot after i lost my husband but i've been through it because i pick up like a buddha teaching and his teaching can help to stay away from suffering or help lay suffering you don't know what's going on and mommy going to be leaving soon as archura prepares to move to the female monastery there's a huge to-do list at home including some things she won't be allowed to do once she enters monastic life the buddhist text says monks can't kill living things right down to ants so this is the last time she can work on the farm like this [Music] will you miss this yes i think i do because i've been here for like 20 years you know it's my home and it's the only home [Music] i love this place and i said to myself how i can walk away from what you learn and this is the most difficult to walk away from what you have to go to something having nothing [Music] but then buddha said become a monk is like you become like a baker and i think i look forward to to my new life and i'm ready for that achara's niece and her husband will take care of the farm while she's away and also plan to go to the monastery to support her ordination in thailand there are around 240 000 male monks but only a few hundred women the governing body for monks the supreme sunker council refuses to recognize them it says female monks have never existed in this country advocates though argue they're trying to restore a long-lost female monastic order started by the lord buddha himself when he ordained his own stepmother the first known attempt to introduce female monks in thailand was back in the late 1920s when an outspoken critic of the clergy arranged to have his two daughters ordained the supreme sunker council was infuriated the two women were arrested and defrocked and the council made an order banning thailand's male monks from ordaining women that ban is still in place today [Music] the supreme sunker council wouldn't do an interview so i've come to meet a former member senior monk can you explain why the supreme sunker council here in thailand does not accept women as monks didn't may die [Music] ann and achara aren't discouraged by the ban they'll be heading to nakam patom one of the oldest provinces in thailand where theravada buddhism was introduced from india more than two thousand years ago it's also home to watson thailand's first all-female monastery a monastery that's not recognised by the religious authorities the head is the venerable damananda bhikkhuni the first thai woman to take on the powerful all-male clergy and be fully ordained as a theravada buddhist monk thailand's clergy refused to ordain her not deterred she went to sri lanka for the ceremony instead where male monks are willing to ordain women from our side we are asking for ordination you are not giving us that's fine so we go somewhere else and then we come back with the lineage you've been described as a rebel monk are you a rebel hey the buddha was a rebel true if you read the history of buddhism buddha also stood up against many things that he did not agree you know he gave up social structure that was such a movement you know and to allow women to be ordained such a movement so that's the beauty of buddhism the idea of becoming ordained didn't occur to dr chatsuman kuban singh until she was in her 50s she was happily married with grown-up children was a professor of religion and philosophy at one of thailand's top universities and had even become a tv personality but then one day when i was putting on makeup there was inner voice there was like another person asked how long do i have to do this that kind of lifestyle that success in late life no success in building up wealth and glory in life very colorful very beautiful enough so you had a husband three sons a great career house you had it all was there something missing yes something was missing through and i spent more than two decades feeling this strange loneliness not fitting in the world until the time when i was ordained that's it this is what i was seeking for you know this is the most meaningful part of my life but thailand's first fully ordained female monk returned home to a storm of criticism when she came back she was fiercely attacked by the clergy and people who didn't really understand what she's trying to do the clergy saw her move as a challenge of their power and they couldn't accept women you know as equals sinitsuda ekechai is a journalist who writes extensively about thai buddhism sexism is very deep rooted in our culture and organized religion in thailand organized buddhism in thailand is not free from that sexism it's a totally male-dominated system buddhism in thailand is tainted by this cultural belief that women are lower than men socially and spiritually you often hear this term a boys club is the man called a boys club or boys club yes run by old boys who live in the past and want to maintain it that way because it's the system that maintains their power [Music] temples for male monks are given substantial funds by the thai government boys who enter the monk would receive a free education making it a path out of poverty for many thai women can become nuns known as mei chi but they're not held in the same esteem as monks receive no financial assistance and cannot be fully ordained means women women who are called dharma women who uphold the teaching of the buddha anne and achara are joining 11 other novice candidates at dhammananda bikuni's monastery for three days of study and rehearsals before ordination day they're a chance to memorize and precepts to learn [Music] there's a strict routine around eating monks aren't allowed meals after midday [Music] and there are chores to do everyone pitches in [Music] there's also time for contemplation we have learned a lot we are really getting into the process of self-transformation that's what we learned from dharmananda dhamananda is leading by example standing up against sexism and showing that women can also be spiritual leaders a woman can do it too men can say anything they want but if someone some women decide to do it just go for it nothing going to stop you right nothing would have stopped you and nothing should stop you [Music] says the monkhood isn't sexist but he worries about the temptations that might arise if women come into the fold why couldn't male monks just behave as opposed to women being banned in that's already happening there have been a number of recent saffron scandals with sex or temple fraud at the centre of most monk numbers have dropped by around fifty thousand in recent years too damon under believes the way to restore public faith in buddhism and grow the religion is to work together but she says the council won't engage with her they should appreciate what i do but i'm afraid from a distance you know looking from a distance uh they they might see me as this outspoken nun you know this very strong character that kind of thing because in our culture we are very quiet and we are very tame and i'm also sweet but i'm not tame [Music] it's the eve of ordination for achara and anne we made it my journey will be happening tomorrow this is something i've been waiting for long time and i feel good [Music] [Music] early the next morning friends and families arrive at the monastery [Music] they'll play a special role throughout the ordination ceremony it starts with the women seeking forgiveness from those closest to them [Music] the women's hair is cut and their heads are shaved to symbolize their rejection of ego and possessions [Music] two months ago i start to think oh my god i need to shave my hair what i will look like i i kind of get worried about my beauty and then i just like beauty is nothing for me anymore [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] ordination ceremonies happen regularly for men in thailand and are usually far more elaborate what's happening here is understated but significant each step you are certain you are aware you are aware that you are making a history i keep telling them you know that do you realize that you are part of this movement that is going to be written down in the history we are on the right side of history [Music] in thailand buddhist women are told to wear white never saffron but these women are reclaiming the saffron robe it's the most important day of their spiritual journey so far [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the women take their final vows committing to uphold the teachings of the lord buddha i have changed and i am now become a daughter of lord of buddha every single moment after this i need to be careful the way i think the way i said the way i act i need to be a good representative of buddhism she'll stay at the monastery for another week before returning home as i promised to myself my family and my husband i can't just leave them now but in the future we no one knows because the futures have some haven't come yet is clear about what she wants for her future to travel to sri lanka for full ordination like damanda did and i i think i got to go whatever it take you know i would do it [Music] [Music] the community around damananda's monastery has embraced the women in saffron robes the morning after ordination locals are waiting to offer the new novices food and other essentials for simple blessings [Music] [Music] these women are determined to walk their own spiritual paths and they're not waiting for permission from anyone in the clergy to do it instead they hope the thai people will recognize them as they devote their lives to their faith things will change in the teaching of buddhism also nothing remains so it will also change do you think you'll see that change in your lifetime i didn't think that i would see pikuli in my lifetime so yes it might happen in my lifetime i i need to live long [Music] [Music] you

Channel: ABC News In-depth

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Keywords: abc news indepth, abc news, foreign correspondent, thailand, woman monks, female monks, buddhism, buddhism documentary, buddhism in thailand, ordination for women, thailand documentary, spiritual equality, woman priests, women in religion, feminism and religion, news, thai, Theravada Buddhist monks, Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, Thai bhikkhuni, bhikkuni, australian news, Supreme Sangha Council, buddhism scandals, buddhist scandals, monk scandal

Id: TXdyclB9I7A

Length: 28min 47sec (1727 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 04 2022