The Sravasti Abbey sangha greets the Dharma Drum Mountain sangha, on the first day of the exchange.
Photos by: Dharma Drum Monastery, Sravasti Abbey

Monastics from Sravasti Abbey, a Buddhist monastery near Spokane, and Dharma Drum Mountain in Taiwan, gathered in May for a week-long religious and cultural exchange.

The event was born out of a friendship between Sravasti Abbey founder and abbess, Venerable Thubten Chodron, and Venerable Guoyi, director of Dharma Drum’s Nung Chan Monastery. It offered a rare opportunity for nuns and monks of different traditions to share openly, about the challenges and opportunities currently facing Buddhism and monastics.

In residence together at the abbey, the monastics shared meditation practices, chanting, teachings, and personal stories from their respective traditions, Tibetan Buddhism and Chinese Chan Buddhism. The 10 fully ordained Dharma Drum nuns were also thrilled to experience a small taste of offering service in a Pacific Northwest forest, when we went out to remove dead trees and branches.

Dharma Drum Mountain & Sravasti Abbey

The exchange allowed both sanghas a rare chance to learn the teachings and practices of another Buddhist tradition. Through history there has been limited contact between the Buddhist traditions spread across Asia, despite having the same founding teacher – Shakyamuni Buddha – and the same core teachings of the dharma. These include the four noble truths, the eightfold noble path, and the three higher trainings.

“Despite our outer differences we’re all the same.” said Ven. Thubten Puntsok, a Sravasti Abbey novice nun.

Ven. Guoyi headed the Dharma Drum delegation, along with Ven. Changwu, regional director for Dharma Drum Mountain North America, and Ven. Changzao, director of Dharma Drum Mountain Malaysia. Dharma Drum Mountain is one of the four major Buddhist organizations of Taiwanese Buddhism, and has centers in 14 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and other places. Its founder, the late Chan master Sheng Yen, envisioned establishing a “Pure Land on Earth,” through Buddhist education of society.

Sravasti Abbey is an American Buddhist monastic community where nuns and monks learn, practice, and live Tibetan Buddhism in the tradition of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, along with lay students. Founded in 2003 by author and teacher Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, the abbey’s network is much larger than its 370-acre property in rural Washington State, due to its global online connections.

A Renewed Appreciation for Monastic Life

Recognizing that geographical distances and cultural differences have led to misunderstandings, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said in his book “Approaching the Buddhist Path,” co-authored with Ven. Thubten Chodron, “The only solution to sectarianism is to study and practice other Buddhist traditions in addition to our own, and to develop a broad understanding of all of the Buddha’s teaching.” Venerables Chodron and Guoyi are attempting to fulfill their teachers’ visions of expanding dialogue across Buddhist traditions.

Interactions between the monastics practicing in different Buddhist traditions stimulated a renewed appreciation for the dharma.

“The Chinese monastics express their bodhicitta motivation beautifully, through their interactions with one another,” said monastic Venerable Thubten Semkye.

Abbey monastics were especially impressed with the respect that Dharma Drum monastics showed one another, with their group including nuns across three generations, ranging from over 30 years in ordination to under five. The Sravasti sangha contains monastics ranging from 50 years of ordination to fewer than one year, a good sign of the transfer of the light of the dharma from one generation to the next.

One of the discussions focused on the topic of gender and hierarchy, as Dharma Drum nuns were curious about the abbey’s uncommon practice of combining monks and nuns into one sangha (though not one residence). A moving exchange occurred when all four abbey monks stood up and bowed to the Taiwanese bhikshunis, in appreciation for their help in establishing the Vinaya monastic discipline at the abbey. With tears in her eyes, Ven. Gouyi said she had never received that kind of respect from monks before.

The Start of an Ongoing Exchange

In the book “Approaching the Buddhist Path,” His Holiness the Dalai Lama wrote, “Tibetan contact with the Zen, Pure Land, and Theravada traditions has not been adequate.”

It is certainly the abbey’s wish to continue with the important task of uniting Buddhists in the East and West, and across different traditions, so the Buddha’s teachings will continue to flourish in modern times. Monastic communities can especially benefit from this exchange, because they share the same focus on maintaining ethical conduct and continuing the transmission of the dharma and the precepts to future generations.

Ven. Guoyi wrote in an email after returning to Taiwan, “It was an unforgettable journey visiting your community. We are deeply inspired by your commitment to establishing a monastery in the U.S.”

Both sanghas see the week-long meeting as part of an ongoing exchange between Sravasti Abbey and Dharma Drum Mountain.