Venerable Pannavati received Dharma Holder transmission, conferred by Roshi Bernie 

  Glassman in the Zen Peacemakers lineage, flowing down from the Japanese lineage of his

  teacher Taizan Maezumi Roshi.

  Ven. Pannavati, who is fully ordained in Theravada and Chan to give precepts and pass 

  down those lineages, noted that this event marks full entry into life as an independent (but

  interconnected!) teacher in the Zen lineage. The ceremony took place in New York during

  the 20th anniversary "Street Retreat," where Bernie takes Zen Peacemaker participants to

  bear witness to and become one with people living on the street.

  It was an important ceremony, because Bernie has been reshaping the traditional Dharma

  Transmisson ceremony into a "Five Buddha Families Recognition Ceremony" presenting the nature of the ceremony as a celebration and affirmation of maturity of practice within your own quality of being. Ven. Pannavati has been reshaping the traditional Theravadan monastic lifestyle to accommodate and improve the mindsets of 21st century society. This is also what the Buddha did in his day.

PRINCESS OF THAILAND RECOGNIZES VENERABLE PANNAVATI

                                               Dear Friends: Just wanted you to see the mutual joy on our faces. While in Thailand, I ordained 5 samaneris.

                                              Two of these nuns already have temples with many mae chees. In addition, one is a known meditation master,

                                               one an abhidhamma master aready.

                                              With metta, Ven. Pannavati

 

                                             

                                            A year later Venerable Pannavati returned to Thailand and gave full bhikkhuni ordination to the samineris.

                                              

 

OUTSTANDING WOMEN IN BUDDHISM AWARD

 

  The Venerable Dr. Pannavati Bhikkhuni, Co-Abbot and Spiritual Director of Embracing-Simplicity Buddhist Hermitage in 

  Hendersonville, North Carolina, was selected by a distinguished international committee of Buddhist scholars and practitioners to be

  the United States recipient of the Outstanding Women in Buddhism 2009 award. The Outstanding Women in Buddhism Awards

  Ceremony was held in honor of the United Nations’ International Women’s Day in Bangkok, Thailand on March 6, 2009. Ven.

  Pannavati gave one of the two keynote addresses at the award ceremony.

  This ceremony and award now enters its eighth year and has honored more than 100 Buddhist women masters for their contributions

  to society. The objectives of the award are to mobilize public opinion and international action, to promote the role and status of

  Theravada Bhikkhunis in southeast Asia, thereby directing assistance to disadvantaged groups of women and girls,

to uplift the good deeds of Buddhist women so that others may know, to provide good role models for society, to encourage the award recipients,

to promote sorority in the overcoming of obstacles, to promote information of the award recipient’s role in developing her own life, that of her community,

her nation and the world, for training, research and the collection of sex-segregated data on the role and status of ordained women in Buddhism, to 

encourage a movement which uplifts the role and status of Buddhist women within the Buddhist faith, to  promote telling the history of women in Buddhism.,

and to promote a network of accomplished Buddhist women, ordained and lay.

One of the award presenters was Bhikkuni Dr. Lee, Co-Founder of the Outstanding Women in Buddhism Awards Committee. Dr. Lee has been in

Thailand for 9+ years, has a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Colorado, specializing in the cultural geography of Asia, and was the student

of America's first Peace Geographer. She is the abbess of two temples..

 

KATHINA ROBE CEREMONY November 2008 THE END OF VASSA (RAINS RETREAT) IS MARKED BY JOYOUS CELEBRATION, THE KATHINA ROBE CEREMONY, DURING WHICH THE LAITY GATHERS TO MAKE FORMAL OFFERINGS OF ROBE CLOTH AND OTHER REQUISITES TO THE SANGHA. Embracing Simplicity Hermitage celebrated its first Kathina Robe Ceremony in November 2008. About 40 of our dhamma friends were present to help celebrate this festive occasion. Bhante U Jotika presented a special dhamma teaching and led the sangha in meditation. Traditionally during this ceremony the Kathina Robe is presented to a designated monk who has given special service to the sangha. In respect and gratitude, Ven. Pannavati and Ven. Pannadipa offered the Kathina Robe to Bhante U Jotika, a Burmese monk (30+ years as a monastic), who came to stay with them during the 3-month period of the Rains Retreat, to teach and interpret Pali suttas so that they could complete their first official "Vassa" (rains retreat) and be qualified to hold the ceremony. After the ceremony everyone gathered for a pot luck meal where all enjoyed good food, good fellowship and good friends. See photos of this special occasion.

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Rare Multi-yana Buddhist Monastic Ordination Ceremony On Sunday, April 13, 2008, Embracing-Simplicity Buddhist Hermitage, Hendersonville, North Carolina held a Dual-Platform Grand Ordination for Buddhist monks, nuns, and dharma teachers. This ceremony was a rare opportunity for qualified Buddhists seeking ordination. It was particularly significant because the ordination included all traditions, and females as well as males were ordained. A quorum of bhikkhu and bhikkhuni Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana masters and teachers from Burma, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the United States gathered at the Hermitage to ordain the qualified male and female candidates. Officiating monks and nuns were: Ordination Masters Ven. Karuna Dharma (U.S.) and Ven. Rathvita Wimalajothi (Sri Lanka) Deputy Ordination Masters Ven. Gunasari (Burma) and Ven. Sujatha (Sri Lanka) Vinaya Masters Ven. Sudarshana (Sri Lanka) and Ven. Kanan Bodhi (Bangladesh) Witness Masters Ven. Pannavati (U.S.), Ven. Jinananda (Sri Lanka), Ven. Pannadipa (U.S.) and Rev. Chitta (U.S.) Ven. Dr. Karuna Dharma (Thich Tu-An), Abbess of International Buddhist Mediation Center in Los Angeles CA, the first American woman to take full Buddhist monastic vows in the United States (1976), officiated as the ceremony master. Ven. Dharma remarked, “Buddhist monastics of all traditions hold the hope that the Buddhadharma (teachings of Buddha) will flourish in the west and their communities will enlarge to meet the growing need for qualified teachers. Respecting the fact that Americans live in such a diverse society, I share that hope and I have continued the tradition of my teacher who desired to have a multi-yana ordination for monks and nuns.” Ven. Karuna Dharma is one of the few ordination masters in the world who has received the continuing respect and support of elders in all three schools. This Grand Ordination did not decree ordination into a particular school or tradition. The candidates received the dharmagupta vows, took on the robes of their own tradition and the name their own teacher chose for them. They were admitted into the Order of the Noble Sangha with the understanding they were to remain with their own teachers and traditions for five years. This rare multi-yana ordination ceremony adds to a list of firsts for Embracing-Simplicity Buddhist Hermitage, a contemporary Theravadan and Chan community led by female and male African-American co-abbots, with all Caucasian sangha. Said Ven. Pannavati, Co-Abbot of the hermitage, “Being heavily committed to interfaith work, I thought it strange that those of various Buddhist traditions should not also come together. I was introduced to the extremely qualified Ven. Dr. Karuna Dharma by Karma Lekshe, President of Sakyadhita, Int’l. Being unqualified to convene it myself as a junior bhikkhuni, I gave Ven. Karuna Dharma a lengthy explanation of why I thought this should happen. She responded with just three words: ‘How's April 13th?’ A very moving and powerful moment.” See the ordination photos.   _________________________________________________ Embracing Simplicity Hermitage Residence and Office 1020  State Street Hendersonville, NC 28739 828-338-2665     FAX 828-330-4245 Send us an e-mail ..........._____________________________________________________......... Home Who We Are