Siladhara

A siladhara was a Theravada Buddhist female monastic established by Ajahn Sumedho at Chithurst Buddhist Monastery, England. In 1983, he obtained permission from the Sangha in Thailand, to give a ten-precept pabbajja to the women, making them officially recognized female renunciants trained in the Ajahn Chah lineage. The reasons for its establishment are due to the historical loss of the bhikkhuni (nun's) ordination in Theravada Buddhism, limiting renunciation for female Theravadins to ad-hoc roles such as the thilashins and maechis, neither of which garner respect from the Theravada community as genuine renunciates.

Ajahn Sumedho enlisted Ajahn Sucitto to train the nuns from 1984 to 1991. By 2008, siladharas were trained in the discipline of more than one hundred precepts, including rules based on the patimokkha of the bhikkhuni order. The order waxed and waned throughout its brief history, peaking at around 14, mostly living at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery.

The siladhara order is formally considered a community junior to that of the bhikkhu order of fully ordained men. Over the last twenty years, many siladhara have therefore sought full bhikkhuni ordination with commensurate privileges, recognition and responsibilities enjoyed by male monastics. Making full ordination available to women is cultural issue with significant implications for the welfare of young girls living in poverty in Asian countries where Theravada Buddhism is prevalent, especially Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka. Speaking of Thailand, Lynne Hybels writes, "Young men in desperately poor families such as those in Chiang Rai can bring honor to their families by becoming monks, but girls are expected to provide financially. Traffickers understand this vulnerability, prey on it, and easily lure girls into life in the brothel."

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