The Community of Buddhist Nuns is one of the oldest women s organizations in human history. In this book Dr. Wijayaratna explains how this community was started by the Buddha in the 5th century BCE, and how it developed gradually. To show the motivation and the way of life of these ordained women, the author uses the oldest texts of the Pali canon. Several chapters of this book discuss the position of Buddhist nuns in the field of the three famous monastic themes: poverty, chastity and obedience. This book describes in detail the structure of the organization of their Community, their day-to-day practices, and the virtues and mental discipline through which they strove to attain the sublime goal, Nibbana.

Buddhist Nuns: Birth and Development of a Women's Buddhist Order, Mohan Wijayaratna, BPS, Paperback, 2010, 239 Pages, $9.95

Mohan Wijayaratna (born in 1947) is a French anthropologist specializing in Buddhism and Theravada in particular, expert in Pali and Sanskrit languages , and translator from these languages. His works have partly focused on the life of the Buddha , as part of the Indian society of the time. Wijayaratna worked under the direction of Andre Bareau of the College de France .