The Emergence of Sakyadhita in Europe

After the founding of Sakyadhita International in Bodhgaya (India) in 1987, it was first represented by Bhikshuni Jampa Tsedroen (Dr. Carola Roloff) in Germany for the whole of Europe, with the aim of making the activities of Sakyadhita better known.

From 1995 until 1997, Sakyadhita was represented by Dr. Rotraut Wurst (Jampa) in Germany and again later from 2013 until 2019.

From 1998 until 2009 Gabriela Küstermann took over the representation in Germany. She is also very committed to Sakyadhita Sri Lanka and the full ordination of Singhalese and Tibetan women. Together with other Sakyadhita members in Europe she co-founded the network of Buddhist Women in Europe and its corresponding website.

After that, several long-life Sakyadhita members joined efforts to finally found Sakyadhita as a registered association. The founding meeting took place on 10.12.2021. First Chair of Sakyadhita Germany is Bhikshuni Jampa Tsedroen (Dr Carola Roloff).

Together with friends of different Buddhist traditions, Gabriela Frey founded Sakyadhita France in October 2006 as a registered organization in Strasbourg (84 Reg.No. 262).

The members of Sakyadhita France are active in supporting social projects for Buddhist women and nuns in Asia and Europe. They are also co-founders of the network of Buddhist Women in Europe, whose development is one of their key issues, together with its website. That is one of the reasons why Sakyadhita France became a member of the European Buddhist Union and is engaged in the activities of the Council of Europe.

Sakyadhita UK was founded in November 2007 by Konchok Jinpa (Jutta Gassner). This non-profit organization is currently represented by Tsultrim Tenzin Choesang und Archarya Modgala Duguid.

Cooperation

The members of Sakyadhita in France, Germany and Great Britain gladly work together as often as possible to put the aims of Sakyadhita into practice.

For example, they actively supported the "1st International Congress on Buddhist Women’s Role in the Sangha: Bhikshuni Vinaya and Ordination Lineages" held in Hamburg in 2007.

During these activities, they rapidly became aware of the fact that the communication and propagation of information of their aims in as many languages as possible is essential. Due to the diversity of languages in Europe, they decided to create this website which can be expanded to more languages.

They support renowned Buddhist female teachers, such as Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, by planning and organizing appearances and speeches all over Europe.

In 2008 Sakyadhita France became a member of the European Buddhist Union where it also represents the other European Sakyadhita branches. It also founded the EBU Committee "Buddhism and Women".

One very important part of their collaboration is to draw attention to the work of Sakyadhita International and to highlight its innovative biannual congress.

We invite you to join us in developing comprehensive resources to help Buddhist women all over the world in their efforts to study, practise, and create a better world. Please consider becoming a member of the Sakyadhita branch nearest to you. Thank you.

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