Female Monastic Takes Robes in Port Townsend
Written by Steve Wilhelm
It was an auspicious day, the full moon of October 29, 2023, when Anagārikā Bethany Axtman left her worldly life behind, and “went forth” as a sāmaṇerī (a novice, in the Theravāda tradition of Buddhism). This ordination ceremony, known as pabbajjā or “going forth,” signifies leaving behind one’s home life, taking on monastic robes, giving up the use of money, and training in the 10 precepts of ethics and renunciation. The ceremony took place at the Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Port Townsend. Buddhist nun Ayya Ānandabodhī, who led the ceremony, had been living and practicing with Anagārikā Bethany in…