Self and Body Disappear, by Myoljin Sunim

Posted on 4 December 2009 by Buddhism Now

The first time I came to Korea in 1975, the first nun I talked to was Myoljin Sunim. Two years later we spent a memorable three-month retreat together. Fifteen years after that I was directed to a small temple in the outskirts of Seoul to meet a highly respected, veteran nun meditator, and there she was again — Myoljin Sunim! We were overjoyed at meeting once more after so long.

Martine Batchelor

In the Lotus Sutra it is said: ‘One has to experience difficulties and suffering in order to develop wisdom.’ From this text we can learn the right way to live.

We are all born in order to perform a certain task. There is not a blade of grass which has no name. Even people who perform negative actions have their place. If I see someone perform a negative action, I reflect that I must not do such a thing myself. The negative person, therefore, also has to be born.

Buddha giving teachings. Image from a Sutra scroll

Buddha giving teachings

Goodness can come out of badness, but badness does not come out of goodness. For this reason the world is impartial; it is the way of the One Vehicle. Everything can come on board this One Vehicle — animals, human beings, and everything. This is the vehicle propounded by the Lotus Sutra.

It is difficult to be a good nun, a great responsibility. We must be extremely careful of each thought and not go astray. If our thoughts go in the right direction, then realisation is easy. (more…)

Filed under: Buddhist, Buddhist meditation, Ch'an / Seon / Zen, Martine Batchelor | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Pat Wilkinson one of the earliest Western Buddhist nuns

Posted on 10 November 2009 by Buddhism Now

Pat Wilkinson went to Thailand to be a Buddhist nun (meichee) maybe fifty or sixty years ago.  She was one of the first English women and probably one of the first Westerners to go to Thailand to embark on a most unusual way of life. She spent some years there but found the experience gruelling.  It was a frugal life and the meichees were given little support, so they had to find their food amongst the natural vegetation.

Finally, she came back to Britain and spent almost the rest of her life as the registrar at the London Buddhist Society where she was a key figure and a very friendly one.  I met her in the late sixties at the Buddhist Society, but got to know her better at the Buddhist Society summer schools at High Leigh, Hoddesdon.  She was a great character and always had plenty of stories about those times as a nun in Thailand.

lr: Rosa Taylor, Pat Wilkinson, Phyllis

l-r: Rosa Taylor, Pat Wilkinson, Phyllis Turner

In memory of Pat Wilkinson, one of the earliest Westerners to go to Thailand to become a Buddhist nun.

RSR

Filed under: Biography, Buddhist, Encyclopedia, History, Theravada | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

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