Dear Venerable Sujato,
I am trying to grasp exactly what your position is on Bhikkhunis and
Bhikkhus outside of Theravada.
You say

"A bhikkhuni is a bhikkhuni. The bhikkhuni lineage was established by
the Buddha, and derives its authenticity from him, not from any
sect. No Vinaya or ordination procedure mentions the
words 'Theravada', 'Dharmagupta', 'Mahayana', etc. And as far as i
am aware, the kammavacas and other essentials of the ordination
procedure are the same in all traditions."

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They could be exactly the same but if they are from different sects
then they are not Theravada. You cannot say that someone who ordains
as a Tibetan Monk or a Dhamagupta is a Bhikkhu by Theravada
standards.

You seem to be saying that Theravada sangha has no right to not
recognize monks from other traditions - that they are the same- this
based on the fact that Theravada was not a term in use at the
Buddhas time. But the term Theravada or Vibhajavadin is used to
describe the non-schismatic Bhikkhus (and previously bhikkhunis)who
kept the Dhamma and Vinaya pristine to this day. They are the
genuine heirs of the Buddha, and trying to dismiss this tradition as
being only a convention based on terminology is wrong .

You wrote to Suan about the ordination of a nun in Australia

Venrable Sujato:"the ordination was carried out by a quorum
of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis. I'm not sure what role Lama Chodak
himself played in the ordination.
If you look closely at the ordination procedure in the Pali, you'll
see that there is a surprising amount of leeway given as to the role
of the upajjhaya. For example, if the upajjhaya is a layman, or an
animal(!), this does not invalidate the ordination, it merely
results in a dukkata offense for those carrying out the sanghakamma.
So even if Lama Chodak did carry out such a role - which i don't
know - this would not, in and of itself, invalidate the sanghakamma.
As long as there is a natticatutthakamma carried out in the
appropriate manner by a quorum, the ordination is valid."""""
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I do not think that this Bhikkhuni ordination was valid according to
the Theravada scriptures. Certainly it may be 100% kosher by Tibetan
standards, and if was as a tibetan nun, then fine.

I suspect the exemption you mention is given only if the monk
either didn't know he wasn't a monk (for example he was ordained but
was a eunuch and thus not properly a monk) or that the other monks
had no idea he was not a monk. I cannot believe that a group of
laymen or non-theravada monks could carry out an ordination that is
accepted as being a Theravada ordination.. But please, I would love
to see the relevant section of the Vinaya.
RobertK