BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Buddhism Women in Buddhism articles/Women's History Month

To Lisa,

One of the reasons I left Thereavada was the fact that I read an article on Thannissaro Bhikkhu,refusing to be touched by a woman, stating that Buddha had said the same thing regarding saving his mother;s life,having to touch her.

loong
simple buddhist.

Yes, unfortunately there are many issues with women and Buddhism, based on the cultures Buddhism has developed within. Mahayana is actually not any better than Theraveda in this regard. Within Tibetan Buddhism, nuns are still treated as second-class citizens within most lineages, and cannot receive full ordination. Some actually travel to Theraveda countries to take their vows there. The Dalai Lama and other high Lamas have gradually been working on changing this, but it has not yet completely changed. So I am not sure Mahayana is any better than Theraveda.

Buddhism in the West of course has very few restrictions, and some of the most well-known Buddhist teachers and authors in the West are women. For example in Theraveda (through the Insight Society) there are Sharon Salzburg and Sylvia Boorstein, within Tibetan Buddhism Pema Chodron, Tsultrim Allione. These are just a handful, but they are all best-selling authors and teachers, all Western women.

In terms of texts, Buddhism is very much like any other religion. One will always be able to find a writing somewhere that supports their view. So there are many texts in historical Buddhism that reflect very old cultural views. This of course has nothing to do with Buddhism itself, which is not about a culture, but about awakening.

I'm going to post another older article in honor of Women's History Month before I get my next new article up:

Tara - Female Buddha of Compassion

So many people connect with Tara and Tara energy in their practice. It's interesting that Green Tara, compassionate and enlightened action, is one of the Tibetan deities said to be accessible to anyone anywhere, whenever she is called upon, by Buddhist or not.

Of course, as I've mentioned many times, all these deities are also meant to be embodiments of energies within ourselves. Awakening to this energy within ourselves is really what deity practice is about. So Green Tara is the embodiment of that part of ourselves that engages in enlightened, compassionate action in the world. Such a beautiful connection...

To Lisa,

I had been waiting for you to write on TARA.You have written a beautiful article.At one point I had aprayer by The Green Tara..She is what all woman in Buddhism should be.About the prayer,I beleive I lost it when I moved to my new apt.

Again thank you

loong
simple buddhist

This is actually an older article, but soon I will write a new article on Prajna Paramita, the feminine representation of non-duality (a dual representation of non-duality!)

As always, I need to add my note that although there are feminine and masculine deities, they are all representations of enlightened awareness that are within all of us. So male practitioners do Tara and Prajna Paramita (and other) practices in order to awaken these qualities within themselves, and women do the male deity practices as well. In the relative world, enlightened awareness, Buddha-mind, expresses itself in many different ways, and awakening all of these within ourselves is what deity practice is really about.

To close out Women's History month, I have added another biography of a famous women teacher/practitioner, this one from 13th century Tibet. The story of Jomo Memo can be read both literally and symbolically:

Jomo Memo - 13th Century Tibetan Female 'Terton'

For those in southern California, a documentary about one of my favorite teachers, Lama Tsultrim Allione, will be shown in LA this weekend, here are the details:

Lama Tsultrim Allione documentary

Thank you Lisa, will forward the link to few Buddhist friends in LA.

Tashi Delek!!!

Tara Brach, one of my favorite contemporary women Buddhist teachers just posted this lovely passage - ties to Earth day in a beautiful way:

"Out of the soil of friendliness (metta)
Grows the beautiful bloom of compassion (karuna)
Watered with tears of joy (mudita)
Under the cool shade of the tree of equanimity (upekkha)."
- Longchen Rabjampa, a 14th-century Buddhist monk

Another Buddhist quote very appropriate for Earth Day, also by a leading women Buddhist scholar (and environmental activist), Joanna Macy:


"Because the relationship between self and world is reciprocal, it is not a matter of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the Earth, the Earth heals us. No need to wait. As we care enough to take risks, we loosen the grip of ego and begin to come home to our true nature. For in the co-arising nature of things, the world itself, if we are bold enough to love it, acts through us. It does not ask us to be pure or perfect, or wait until we are detached from all passions, but only to care to harness the sweet, pure intention of our deepest passions, and, as the early scripture of the Mother of the Buddhas says, 'fly like a Bodhisattva.'"

- Joanna Macy