Voramai Kabilsingh

Voramai Kabilsingh (Thai: วรมัย กบิลสิงห์; RTGS: Woramai Kabinsing), also called Ta Tao Fa Tzu, was born Lamai Kabilsingh (Thai: ลมัย กบิลสิงห์; RTGS: Lamai Kabinsing; 6 April 1908; died 23 June 2003), was the first modern Thai bhikkhuni. Voramai's father had wanted sons and was disappointed her mother only produced one so left for China. Later her sister married a merchant and she would work at their store where she learned English. She also was taught by Catholic nuns at Assumption Girls' College. She developed a passion for writing and journalism. She also, unusual for a Thai woman of that era, excelled at sword fighting. While studying at a physical education college she met her husband. The marriage was largely an arrangement, however, so she could avoid being married to a Japanese man. It did lead her to gain the name "Voramai", but his political career ended up causing some physical distance. Despite that they remained supportive of each other while living apart. After a tumor scare she became more interested in religion.[1]

She took lower ordination when her daughter, Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, was ten. After this she turned the family home into Songdhammakalyani Monastery.[2] She later learned higher ordination was possible outside Thailand and was ordained in a Dharmaguptaka lineage in Taiwan in 1971. This is how she gained the name Ta Tao Fa Tzu.[3][4][5]

References
  1. Karma Lekshe Tsomo (25 August 2014). Eminent Buddhist Women. SUNY Press. pp. 61–70. ISBN 978-1-4384-5131-2.
  2. "Mama Asia" at ABC.net
  3. Christopher S. Queen; Sallie B. King (14 March 1996). Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia. SUNY Press. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-7914-2844-3.
  4. Christopher S. Queen, Sallie B. King Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia, p. 269, at Google Books
  5. Simba Shani Kamaria Russeau (November 1, 2013). "Thai Women Don Monks' Robes". Inter Press Service. Retrieved September 24, 2014. ...Venerable Voramai or Ta Tao Fa Tzu, became the first fully ordained Thai woman in the Mahayana lineage in Taiwan and turned their family home into a monastery.
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