Buddhist nuns contemplate life in the bush

Situated on 150 acres of rugged eucalyptus forest on the edge of Morton National Park, it is a place of unique beauty characterised by cliffs, caves and wildlife.

It is a rare place where Buddhist nuns can live in forest huts and practise the teachings of the Buddha, just like Buddhist monks.

The monastery is also home to Australia’s first residence designed to care for elderly Theravada Buddhist nuns and those living with disabilities and chronic illnesses.

The establishment of the new residence at leafy Leumah comes as the number of Theravada Buddhist nuns in Australia has steadily grown since the first nun was ordained 15 years ago.

There are now 25 ordained Theravada Buddhist nuns in Australia and more in training at their two Australian monasteries.

Those inside the order say that while the growing popularity of a female monastic lifestyle can partly be attributed to advocacy from nuns themselves, the increasing presence of female spiritual leadership in Buddhism has also played an important role, transforming perceptions and improving gender equality within Buddhist organisations and communities.

This wasn’t always the case.

Like many spiritual and religious traditions plagued by patriarchal inequality, women in certain Buddhist traditions have experienced significant gender-based discrimination and marginalisation.

Senior Australian Buddhist monk Ajahn Brahm was determined to address this.

A revered spiritual guide whose talks draw large crowds, Ajahn Brahm studied theoretical physics at Cambridge University before becoming a Buddhist monk in rural Thailand in the 1970s under the famous meditation master Ajahn Chah.

In 2009 Ajahn Brahm played a pivotal role in helping revive in Australia the order of Theravada nuns that was originally established by the Buddha himself.

The higher ordination of Buddhist nuns at Ajahn Brahm’s monastery caused an upheaval in the Theravada Buddhist world, and he was censured and ostracised by a section of the monastic order.

Despite its troubled birth, the order of Theravada Buddhist nuns is now thriving in Australia.

Lay Buddhist Leticia Funston, who is a student of Ajahn Brahm, said most meditation events are attended by women and non-binary people.

“One possibility is that monastic life provides women and non-binary people with all the basic requirements which facilitate deep meditation and access to inner wisdom and peace – the significance of which has to be experienced to be truly understood,” she said.

Monastic life gives women the opportunity to practise with like-minded monastics, laypeople and local communities, access the Dhamma (teachings) and have time to practice meditation.

“These ways of experiencing love, connection, meaning and purpose in life offer a meaningful alternative to raising families and forging careers while facilitating optimal wellbeing and human emotional and spiritual growth across the life-course,” said Ms Funston.

In his co-written book Flying Is Falling: The Dharma of Facing Adversity, Brahm said he knew empowering female monastics was the right thing to do.

"For me personally, having fully ordained Bhikkhunis (Theravada Buddhist nuns) was incredibly exciting. I knew Buddhism would be immeasurably enriched."

Brahm is currently the abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery in Perth and the spiritual director of the Buddhist Society of WA.

He was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2019 in recognition of his contribution to the Buddhist community and especially for his promotion of women’s rights in Buddhism.

Brahm is scheduled to visit Sydney from February 16 to 18 on a teaching tour to raise awareness of and support for Buddhist nuns in NSW and to offer teachings to the general public, free of charge.

The Monastery at Santi Forest is one of two large forest monasteries in Australia dedicated exclusively to nuns of the Theravada Buddhist tradition.

With the increase in women interested in taking up monastic life, more specialist facilities were required.

In July 2023, the nuns’ community at Santi Forest Monastery purchased a suburban property close to medical facilities for this purpose.

Ayya Karunika, senior resident monastic at Santi Forest, has lived a monastic life as a Theravada Buddhist nun for more than 12 years and highlights the special nature of the place she calls home.

"As a woman it is extremely rare to find a monastery where we can live in a natural forest feeling safe and well supported with all our basic requisites such as food, lodging, clothes and medicines as well as receive good teachings,” she said.

“At Santi we have all of this available and I feel extremely lucky to have this opportunity."

Ajahn Brahm will visit Sydney from February 16 to 18 on a teaching tour to raise awareness of and support for Buddhist nuns in NSW.