Reconnect with two old friends as they delve into the heart of Buddhism in "What Are You Waiting For?". Journalist Irmgard Kirchner and Buddhist nun Santacitta Bhikkhuni reunite after decades, sparking intimate and insightful conversations about life, spirituality, and the modern world. Irmgard's curious, often skeptical questions meet Santacitta's profound wisdom and personal journey, from a searching youth to co-founding a monastery for women. Through their engaging dialogue, they explore core Buddhist concepts like the Middle Way, emptiness, mindfulness, and karma within the context of everyday challenges. This book offers an accessible and relatable entry point into Buddhist philosophy for beginners and those already familiar with the teachings. It's a testament to the enduring power of friendship and the relevance of Buddhist wisdom today.
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Sr. Santacitta is a founding member of Aloka Earth Room, a women-led Buddhist sanctuary integrating spiritual practice and climate awareness in the San Francisco Bay Area. A pioneer in reviving women's ordination in Theravada Buddhism, Sr. Santacitta is also a respected teacher at Spirit Rock and the Insight Meditation Society. Perfectly positioned to reach American and European Dharma communities. Sr. Santacitta has an established network of students and centers across the U.S. and Europe for events and retreats. Targeted outreach to Buddhist magazines, spiritual podcasts, and feminist publications. Tricycle, Lion's Roar, Buddhistdoor, Emergence Magazine, and On Being. Regional book tours and Dharma center events. A rare first-person memoir by a Western Theravada Buddhist nun. Offers insider insight into the monastic path-an experience few women in the West have had, and even fewer have written about.
Foreword by Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
Introduction
Wide Open Doors
Finding the Middle Way
Healing and Moving Forward
Practising Emptiness
A Dent in the Patriarchy
The Power to Say No
Emotions and Mindfulness
Buddhism in Daily Life
What Are You Waiting For? Buddhism Here and Now
The Next Steps on the Path: Santacitta Bhikkhuni Explains the Aloka Earth
Room Concept
Appendix 1: Biography of Santacitta Bhikkhuni
Appendix 2: Short Biography of Irmgard Kirchner
Appendix 3: Short Biography of Gwen Clayton
Appendix 4: Bhikkhuni Ordination in the Theravada Tradition of Buddhism: A
Conversation between Irmgard Kirchner and Ute Husken, Professor of Cultural
and Religious History of South Asia at the University of Heidelberg
Appendix 5: Thirty-Seven Qualities That Inspire Awakening
(bodhipakkhiya-dhamma)
Irmgard Kirchner (main author) Irmgard Kirchner was born in 1959 in Innsbruck in Tyrol. After leaving school moved to Vienna in order to study cultural and social anthropology and psychology. She turned the skills that she had learned - research, speak to people, listen, and ask relevant questions - into a lifelong career in journalism. Following more than twenty years as editor in chief of Sudwind, a magazine devoted to international politics, culture, and development, she still devotes herself to writing today, except when she is watching insects and birds in the wildlife haven that is her garden.
Santacitta Bhikkhuni(main subject of the book, and co-author) Santacitta Bhikkhuni, born Sylvia Helga Bayer in Austria, grew up in a hotel environment and traveled extensively with her family. After hotel management school and studies in cultural anthropology in Vienna, she worked in theatre before her travels to Thailand sparked an interest in Buddhism. Following personal losses, she visited Wat Suan Mokkh and learned to meditate. After a brief marriage and further experiences in Thailand, she moved to Amaravati monastery in England, where she became an anagarika and later a siladhara named Santacitta.
Becoming increasingly aware of gender limitations in the monastery, she later traveled and explored Tibetan Buddhism. In 2011, she and a fellow nun left the Ajahn Chah lineage and were ordained as bhikkhunis. They established Aloka Vihara forest monastery in California, later founding the Aloka Earth Room, focusing on Dharma, ecology, and art.
Gwen Clayton - Translator (German to English) Gwen Clayton was born in 1971 in Cambridge, England. She grew up in Canton Thurgau and Cambridge, and spent many happy childhood holidays visiting her German grandparents in the Black Forest. She read Japanese studies at the University of Oxford, then trained as a solicitor, working in commercial law firms in London, Tokyo, and Zurich. She has been active as a professional translator for the last sixteen years, specializing in law and the humanities. For further details, please see www.perfectlyphrased.com.
Lisainfo e-raamatute kohta