International Bhikkhuni Day
As I write this note to all of you who support the worldwide Bhikkhuni community, I am excited about our upcoming 4th International Bhikkhuni Day (IBD) celebration. The premise of IBD is to spread the word about Bhikkhunis as far and as wide as possible and each year it seems to be drawing more interest. On Saturday, September 6th we will pay respect to all Bhikkhunis and have chosen to honor Yasodhara, the wife of Siddhartha Gautama, who was a fully enlightened arahant. Last year’s IBD was a huge success because so many of you held celebrations, meditation events, fundraisers and other gatherings during the month of September. We already have several IBD events lining up for this year’s celebration! As events come in, we will add them to our interactive map on our website. If you will be holding an IBD event this year, please let us know of the location and your contact information at info@bhikkhuni.net so that followers from around the world can enjoy the communal joy and celebration along with you. You can read more about Yasodhara and International Bhikkhuni Day on the IBD page of our website: http://www.bhikkhuni.net/4th-international-bhikkhuni-day/ We have also created flyers that you can customize for your event. These can be downloaded at http://www.bhikkhuni.net/flyers-ibd/.
This year on IBD we have been offered a special treat by the producers of the wonderful video “The Buddha’s Forgotten Nuns”, found on Vimeo On Demand video service. They have generously offered to allow all of you to view the full length, 34-minute video free from September 6th - 13th. This special free viewing can be seen at https://vimeo.com/70402429/ with the password of IBD2014.
Thank you Wiriya Sati, director, for your generous gift of making this great video available to us!
Two Generous Donations
Recently, we received a couple of generous donations. One of them was
for the direct support of Bhikkhuni medical expenses. The latest
donation is from a woman who herself is about to take robes, which will
go into our general fund. These are her words upon offering up this
money for the greater good of other bhikkhunis: "I deeply
appreciate the precious work the Alliance for Bhikkhunis is doing,
supporting the Dhamma and the Bhikkhuni-Sangha, and helping the Nuns in
their practice. May you all be happy and at peace”. These monies
will go a long way to assist with ongoing and ever-present needs of our
blessed Bhikkhunis. We extend our utmost thanks to both of these
wonderful donors and wish our new monastic the very best in her pursuit
of the Buddhist path.
Portrait Of A Volunteer
On our website you will find a wonderful story about one of our AFB
volunteers, Mindy Zlotnick, written by another one of our volunteers,
Margo Mallar. This well-written commentary shines light on the
benevolence of volunteers like Mindy who give so much to the Bhikkhuni
cause. You can check it out here: http://www.bhikkhuni.net/2014/07/16/portrait-volunteer/
Our Work Continues
One of our most important functions here at Alliance for Bhikkhunis
(AFB) is to raise funds and provide other resources for Bhikkhunis
across the globe. Because of your generosity, we have been able to
contribute to these projects so far in 2014:
- Funds to help complete construction of the new communal library/office studio at Aranya Bodhi Hermitage
- Funding to help develop a new translation of the Bhikkhuni Vibhanga (Monastic Code)
- Funds to help in Aloka Vihara’s move to Placerville, CA
- Funds for to help provide a vehicle at Aloka Vihara
- Funds for ongoing monastic medical support
None of this can be made possible without your continued support. We realize that digging into your pockets and adding to this cause is asking a lot in these difficult times, especially when there are many other worthy organizations out there to donate your time and money to. On behalf of the AFB Board of Directors I want to say thank you for your contributions in the past. It is our hope that we can count on you once again for your help in this worthwhile cause.
With much metta,
Michael Bratton, President
Alliance For Bhikkhunis
Contact us: info@bhikkhuni.net
Website: http://www.bhikkhuni.net/
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