Public Lecture By Dr. Susanne Mrozik
on
Why Bhikkhunis Matter:
Views from Sri Lanka and Abroad
Sri Lanka made history in 1998 when it revived its lineage of bhikkhunis (fully ordained nuns), which had become defunct in the early 11th c. in the wake of invasions from South India. Sri Lanka’s revival of the Theravada bhikkhuni lineage has been controversial in Sri Lanka and abroad, sparking renewed debate across the Buddhist world over women’s access to bhikkhuni ordination in both Theravada Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. This lecture places the Sri Lankan bhikkhuni revival in historical and global perspective, asking what is at stake—and for whom—in the successful revival of a Theravada bhikkhuni lineage.
Date: 15th of February 2011
Time: 4.00 - 5.00 p.m.
Tea will be served from 3.30 – 4.00 p.m.
Venue: United States-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission Auditorium
New Address: 22 Flower Terrace (off Flower Road), Colombo 7
Entry: By prior registration – seating on a first-come first-served basis.
Call: 471- 8744 to register
Susanne Mrozik is Associate Professor of Religion at Mount Holyoke College and is currently a Fulbright scholar in Sri Lanka, researching the bhikkhuni revival. She is also the author of Virtuous Bodies: The Physical Dimensions of Morality in Buddhist Ethics and co-editor (with Peter N. Gregory) of Women Practicing Buddhism: American Experiences. Mrozik received her doctorate in the Study of Religion from Harvard University in 1999.
