Dhammananda is a self-described â??rare species.â? Sheâ??s a monk. Sheâ??s also a mom. And in the eyes of her homelandâ??s Buddhist establishment, sheâ??s a feminist insurgent.
Each day, she and her female disciples wear the same clothing: flowing robes the color of ripe mangoes. Their heads are shorn down to stubble. Their possessions are limited to flip flops and little else.
In other words, their day-to-day lives are largely indistinguishable from that of any upstanding Buddhist monk in their native Thailand.
But because they are women, Dhammananda and her flock of 15 female monks are shunned by the state-backed Buddhist hierarchy. This powerful all-male order, known as the â??sangha,â? regards them as imposters.
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