Eminent Buddhist Women
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Explores the exemplary legacy of Buddhist women across the centuries and across the Buddhist world.
Description
Eminent Buddhist Women reveals the exemplary legacy of Buddhist women through the centuries. Despite the Buddha's own egalitarian values, Buddhism as a religion has been dominated by men for more than two thousand years. With few exceptions, the achievements of Buddhist women have remained hidden or ignored. The narratives in this book call into question the criteria for "eminence" in the Buddhist tradition and how these criteria are constructed and controlled. Each chapter pays a long-overdue tribute to one woman or a group of women from across the Buddhist world, including the West. Using a variety of sources, from orally transmitted legends to firsthand ethnographic research, contributors examine the key issues women face in their practice of Buddhist ethics, contemplation, and social action. What emerges are Buddhist principles that transcend gender: loving kindness, compassion, wisdom, spiritual attainment, and liberation.
Karma Lekshe Tsomo is Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. Her books include Into the Jaws of Yama, Lord of Death: Buddhism, Bioethics, and Death; Buddhist Women and Social Justice: Ideals, Challenges, and Achievements; Buddhist Women Across Cultures: Realizations; and Sisters in Solitude: Two Traditions of Buddhist Monastic Ethics for Women, all published by SUNY Press.
Reviews
"Given the many centuries of male-dominated history, Tsomo's collection of essays by Buddhist practitioners sharing the experiences and accomplishments of Buddhist women is wonderfully welcome. This invaluable selection of narratives adds immeasurably to a nuanced understanding of Buddhism in all of its complexity." — Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual
"… provide[s] a diversity of rarely documented female religious activity, enhancing understanding of marginalized, historically invisible people. Eminent Buddhist Women is thus an important contribution to the genre of literature on women in Buddhism, underscoring diversity in format, subject, and methodology." — Asian Highlands Perspectives
"In her chapter 'What Is a Relevant Role Model?' Rita Gross describes the need for more stories about Buddhist women, particularly those whose feats are not so fabled as to seem out of reach for contemporary practitioners. This volume advances that objective, mapping the paths of numerous, often lesser-known women who have dedicated their lives to Buddhism and inspired their communities." — Buddhadharma
"Educational and inspirational, this important collection will appeal to scholars and practitioners alike." — Hsiao-Lan Hu, author of This-Worldly Nibbāna: A Buddhist-Feminist Social Ethic for Peacemaking in the Global Community