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Bhikshuni Sama: Without Argument

After twenty-five years on the Path, I’d experienced almost everything, except peace.

When I was young, my mother told me that I would find true happiness only in marriage.

Remembering her words all those years later, something in me began to tremble.

I gave myself to the trembling, and it showed me all the pain this little heart had ever known.

And how countless lives of searching had brought me, at last, to the present moment, which I happily married.

Can you imagine?

We’ve been living together ever since, without a single argument.


This verse is adapted by Matty Weingast from the Therigatha, a Buddhist text consisting of a collection of 73 short poems of women who were senior nuns. The poems date from a three hundred year period, starting in the late 6th century BCE. It is the companion text to the Theragatha, verses attributed to senior monks. It is the earliest known collection of women’s literature composed in India.

Source: Great Middle Way

4 comments on “Bhikshuni Sama: Without Argument

  1. loranneke
    June 17, 2022

    “searching had brought me, at last, to the present moment, which I happily married.” I am in such a relationship right now. Every day. Such quiet blessings…

    Liked by 1 person

  2. José A. Alcántara
    June 17, 2022

    Fantastic! I love the journey from dark to light. Good trembling like good trouble.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Vox Populi
      June 17, 2022

      Thanks, Jose! I’m fond of these ancient poems as well… early feminism rendered beautifully.

      Liked by 1 person

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