Sister Vajira
Encyclopedia
Sister Vajirā was a dasa sil mata
, a Buddhist ten precept-holder nun
in Sri Lanka
.
. Hannelore was so impressed that she came to the seminary group of Debes, one of the most prominent lay theravada teachers at that time, and took part in her first “weeks of investigation” in an Adult Education College in the Lüneburger Heide area. She worked as a private teacher. In June 1954 the Sinhalese monk Ven. Nārada turned up in Hamburg
and Hannelore took the opportunity to request to go to Ceylon and become a nun. Ven. Nārada gave Pali names to many Buddhists and Hannelore became Vajirā.
After much turmoil she finally got her chance to go to Ceylon. She took on the 10 training rules and was ordained as Sister Vajirā by Ven. Nārada on the full moon of July in 1955 at the Vihāra Mahā Devi Hermitage at Biyagāma near Colombo
, where other Buddhist nuns (dasa sil mata
or dasa sila upāsikā) lived.
One of the dāyakas of the monastery offered her healthier conditions and arranged for a nice bungalow to be built, into which she moved in 1959. Young Sinhalese women venerated her very much there, and one of them lived temporarily with her as a disciple.
Around autumn of 1961 the English monk Ven. Ñānavīra Thera
, who lived 40 km from her in a kuti in the jungle as a hermit, had sent her a text he had written, A Note on Paticca Samuppāda, wherein he criticized the extension-over-three-lives interpretation. Thereupon an intensive exchange of letters followed. The early letters show a woman who, in her own thinking and discussion with Ven. Ñānavīra, earnestly searches a way to approach the essence of the Buddha's Teaching by repeated trial-and-error. This search finally yielded its fruit when she, by her own account (as given in a letter to Ñānavīra Thera
), attained sotāpatti
, or Stream-entry in late January 1962. The one who has "entered the stream" has ipso facto abandoned personality-view
(sakkāya-ditthi), which is the self-view implicit in the experience of an ordinary worldling not free from ignorance, and understood the essential meaning of the Buddha's teaching on the Four Noble Truths
.But the rapidity and intensity of the change of her views caused a kind of nervous breakdown and she disrobed, returning to Germany in 22 February 1962.
She still held Ven. Nāṇavīra in high esteem. In 1986 Samanera Bodhesako
had written to her from Ceylon to request permission to publish parts of her letters to Ven. Ñānavīra in the planned book Clearing the Path
and she consented. She died on 7 December 1991 in her room in Maschen.
Dasa sil mata
A dasa sil mata is a Buddhist eight or ten precept-holder laywoman in Sri Lanka, where the newly re-established bhikkhuni lineage is not officially recognized yet. Dasa sil matas' status is between an ordinary lay follower and a fully ordained bhikkhuni...
, a Buddhist ten precept-holder nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
Lay Life
Hannelore was looking for religious meanings and in early summer 1949 she came across the teachings of the BuddhaBuddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
. Hannelore was so impressed that she came to the seminary group of Debes, one of the most prominent lay theravada teachers at that time, and took part in her first “weeks of investigation” in an Adult Education College in the Lüneburger Heide area. She worked as a private teacher. In June 1954 the Sinhalese monk Ven. Nārada turned up in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and Hannelore took the opportunity to request to go to Ceylon and become a nun. Ven. Nārada gave Pali names to many Buddhists and Hannelore became Vajirā.
After much turmoil she finally got her chance to go to Ceylon. She took on the 10 training rules and was ordained as Sister Vajirā by Ven. Nārada on the full moon of July in 1955 at the Vihāra Mahā Devi Hermitage at Biyagāma near Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, where other Buddhist nuns (dasa sil mata
Dasa sil mata
A dasa sil mata is a Buddhist eight or ten precept-holder laywoman in Sri Lanka, where the newly re-established bhikkhuni lineage is not officially recognized yet. Dasa sil matas' status is between an ordinary lay follower and a fully ordained bhikkhuni...
or dasa sila upāsikā) lived.
Life as a Nun
To provide her with greater quietude, supporters built a bungalow for her in the palm-tree forest of the monastery garden. However, she suffered internal lack and noticed that she could not possibly meditate all day long and became physically ill. Taking on scholastic work offered itself as a way out of her frustration. Having learned English quickly, she then started intensive Pali studies and soon started to translate texts and carried on correspondence about Dhamma topics with various people.One of the dāyakas of the monastery offered her healthier conditions and arranged for a nice bungalow to be built, into which she moved in 1959. Young Sinhalese women venerated her very much there, and one of them lived temporarily with her as a disciple.
Nanavira Thera
Ñāṇavīra Thera born Harold Edward Musson was an English Theravāda Buddhist monk, ordained in 1950 in Sri Lanka...
, who lived 40 km from her in a kuti in the jungle as a hermit, had sent her a text he had written, A Note on Paticca Samuppāda, wherein he criticized the extension-over-three-lives interpretation. Thereupon an intensive exchange of letters followed. The early letters show a woman who, in her own thinking and discussion with Ven. Ñānavīra, earnestly searches a way to approach the essence of the Buddha's Teaching by repeated trial-and-error. This search finally yielded its fruit when she, by her own account (as given in a letter to Ñānavīra Thera
Nanavira Thera
Ñāṇavīra Thera born Harold Edward Musson was an English Theravāda Buddhist monk, ordained in 1950 in Sri Lanka...
), attained sotāpatti
Sotapanna
In Buddhism, a Sotāpanna , Srotāpanna , or "stream-winner" is a person who has eradicated the first three fetters of the mind. Sotapanna literally means "one who entered the stream ", after a metaphor which calls the Noble Eightfold Path, 'a stream'...
, or Stream-entry in late January 1962. The one who has "entered the stream" has ipso facto abandoned personality-view
View (Buddhism)
View or position is a central idea in Buddhism. In Buddhist thought, in contrast with the commonsense understanding, a view is not a simple, abstract collection of propositions, but a charged interpretation of experience which intensely shapes and affects thought, sensation, and action...
(sakkāya-ditthi), which is the self-view implicit in the experience of an ordinary worldling not free from ignorance, and understood the essential meaning of the Buddha's teaching on the Four Noble Truths
Four Noble Truths
The Four Noble Truths are an important principle in Buddhism, classically taught by the Buddha in the Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra....
.But the rapidity and intensity of the change of her views caused a kind of nervous breakdown and she disrobed, returning to Germany in 22 February 1962.
Back in Germany
Upon her return to Hamburg she ceased to have any contact with her former Buddhist friends. This, commented Ven. Nāṇavīra, was "a good sign, not a bad one- when one has got what one wants, one stops making a fuss about it and sits down quietly." . After recovering from her breakdown she started to work for a textile machine factory, Artos, in Hamburg.She still held Ven. Nāṇavīra in high esteem. In 1986 Samanera Bodhesako
Samanera Bodhesako
Sāmanera Bodhesako was an American Buddhist monk. Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1939, he studied at the University of Iowa, specializing in Literature and Creative Writing...
had written to her from Ceylon to request permission to publish parts of her letters to Ven. Ñānavīra in the planned book Clearing the Path
Nanavira Thera
Ñāṇavīra Thera born Harold Edward Musson was an English Theravāda Buddhist monk, ordained in 1950 in Sri Lanka...
and she consented. She died on 7 December 1991 in her room in Maschen.
Work
- Leters of Sister Vajira - Correspondence between Nanavira Thera and Sister Vajira.
See also
- Full Biography -- by Dr. Hellmuth Hecker.
- Last Days of the Buddha - booklet of her translation from the Pali Canon into English.
- Letters - An archive of Vajirā's letters.
- Path PressPath PressPath Press is a non-profit entity, which handles legal matters and holds the copyrights of all Ven. Ñāṇavīra Thera's writings together with some the writings from others; Path Press Publications is an independent for-profit publisher of books, Nanavira Thera Dhamma Page, and databases in the...
Book
- The Letters of Sister Vajirā - The Letters to Sister Vajirā documents the correspondence of the Ven. Ñāṇavīra Thera with Sister Vajirā (Hannelore Wolf, 1928–1991) between November 1961 and January 1962.
Websites
- Ñāṇavīra Thera Dhamma Page - An archive of Ñāṇavīra Thera's writings.
- Path Press - Publishers of works by Ñāṇavīra Thera
- Ñāṇavīra Thera Dhamma Page - Forum