Taking the Vinaya as Our Teacher

A training course for Buddhist nuns of all traditions

Live and train in community at Sravasti Abbey, USA

Admission

• Admission is by application.
• The course is offered on a dana basis.
• Nuns are responsible for their transportation to and from Sravasti Abbey.
• Sponsorships for meals and housing are welcomed.

Venerable Bhikshuni Master Wuyin

Venerable Master Wuyin entered the Buddhist sangha in 1957 and received full ordination as a bhikshuni in 1959. She is the current abbess of Luminary International Buddhist Society (LIBS) and oversees study programs for nuns and laypeople, as well as translation and publishing projects. She is the president of the Luminary Buddhist Institute that she founded in 1980, publisher and editor-in-chief of Luminary Magazine, and the abbess of Luminary Mountain Temple, the head temple of LIBS. 

Venerable Master Wuyin has dedicated her life to improving the education and status of bhikshunis, especially through providing teachings and well-rounded training for women monastics. She has closely analyzed the Vinaya both theoretically and experientially, and has taught the bhikshuni precepts in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Myanmar, India, and the USA. Her teachings have provided inspiration and support for Buddhist nuns from different traditions around the world to establish the bhikshuni sangha and enable the Dharma to continue to flourish in the modern world.

She first taught Western nuns at the Life as a Western Buddhist Nun conference in Bodhgaya in 1996, which resulted in her book Choosing Simplicity. She also taught Living the Vinaya in the West at Sravasti Abbey in 2018, which led to the publication of Building Community and Living the Vinaya.

The Bhikshunis of Luminary International Buddhist Society

Since its establishment in the 1980s, the Luminary International Buddhist Society has grown steadily and now comprises about a hundred nuns. Its main monastery is Luminary Mountain Temple in Taoyuan, Taiwan, with seven other branch temples spread across Taiwan and one branch temple near Seattle, USA. The organization also includes the Luminary Buddhist Institute and library that focus on monastic education, and magazine and book publication houses that spread Buddhist teachings and culture.

The bhikshunis of Luminary International Buddhist Society come from all levels of society and share a common aspiration—to build a model center for the education of women monastics. They seek to become well-qualified religious practitioners who can disseminate Buddhist education based on correct knowledge and views, so that the general public will understand the Buddha’s teachings based on reasoned faith, improve their daily lives through practicing the Dharma, and illuminate their own and others’ lives.

Sravasti Abbey

Sravasti Abbey is among the first of its kind—an American Buddhist monastic community where nuns, monks, and lay students learn, practice, and live the Buddha’s teachings. Founded in 2003 by author and teacher Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, the Sravasti Abbey community practices Tibetan Buddhism in the tradition of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Abbey monastics are ordained in the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya lineage, which offers full ordination nuns.

Commitment to monastic training

The Abbey is committed to the preserving the Buddhadharma, including the bhikshuni lineage, through dedicated Vinaya practice at the Abbey and supporting nuns’ training worldwide.

Nuns attending this course will have the opportunity to live and train in a Western monastic community. With 16 resident bhikshunis, the Sravasti Abbey sangha conducts the three essential rites the Buddha prescribed for monastics: the fortnightly confession and renewal of precepts (posadha, sojong), an annual three-month monastic retreat (varsa, yarne), and an invitation to hear feedback at the end of the retreat (pravarana, gagye.) Observing these three is the mark of a fully functioning sangha community.

In 2018, we hosted our first Living the Vinaya in the West course with Venerable Master Wuyin. We are honored that she has accepted our invitation to return for further teachings.

Volunteers Welcome!

We welcome lay volunteers to help make this course possible. We welcome help with cooking, cleaning, videography, photography, and other daily tasks. We will need assistance both before, during, and after the course—you are welcome to join us for all, or some part of it.

If you have volunteered for us before, please fill out this form. If this will be your first time volunteering with us, please fill out this form.

FAQ