Definition of bhikshuni
plural bhikshunis
: a woman belonging to a Hindu or Buddhist monastic order : a Hindu or Buddhist nun
- Other precepts, such as the one requiring bhikshunis to receive instructions from a bhikshu twice a month (but not vice versa), clearly reflect gender inequalities in Indian society at that time.
- —Bhikshuni Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Blossoms of the Dharma: Living as a Buddhist Nun, 1999
- The number of vows varies among different Buddhist lineages, and within each lineage, the bhikshus and bhikshunis have different numbers of vows.
- —Thubten Chodron, Taming The Mind, 2004
