The Great Passing Away of Mahapajapati – The First Buddhist Nun

IMC will host a grand dramatization of the great passing away of the first Buddhist nun, the Buddha’s aunt and adoptive mother, Mahāpajāpatī.  The dramatization will be based on an ancient poem that confidently asserts the spiritual potential of women. It also celebrates the role Buddhist nuns have for teaching the Dharma and displaying the attainment of liberation. It is likely this poem was originally composed to be dramatized. It is also likely that it was composed by women at a time when the nuns order was quite strong, before the decline of the position of women in Buddhism. Dramatizing the poem at IMC is thus a way of reviving an ancient form of teaching active among ancient Buddhist women.

The evening is a benefit for the Aloka Vihara nuns, a group of pioneering Theravada Buddhist nuns who are part of a modern movement reviving the nuns’ order. Property has been bought for the nuns for a monastery. Any donations given at the benefit will go to helping pay down the mortgage and the development of the monastery.

The financial stability of the nuns and their financial steward, Saranaloka Foundation, will go a long way to support them in their important work.

The dramatization will be hosted by women Buddhist teachers.

You download a flyer for the symposium and the evening dramatization here.

Schedule of the Evening

6:30 -7:30pm – Reception

7:30-9pm – Dramatization