Author : Kathryn R. Blackstone
Publisher : Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Page : 212 pages
File Size : 33,83 MB
Release : 2000
Category : Buddhism
ISBN : 9788120817159
Kathryn Blackstone coaxes the reader into a detailed exploration of the quest for liberation on the part of the early bhikkhunis. She considers this issue not only on the basic of previous historical studies, informed by the complicated symbolism of the text but also in order to unearth the attitudes and assumptions inherent in the text and to examine the terms, images, events, and situations insofar as they reveal the feminine perspective of the bhikkhunisangha.
Author : Kathryn R Blackstone
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 24,38 MB
Release :
Category :
ISBN : 9788177270204
Author : Wendy Garling
Publisher : Shambhala Publications
Page : 329 pages
File Size : 50,99 MB
Release : 2016-08-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1611802652
A contemporary and provocative examination of the life of the Buddha highlighting the influence of women from his journey to awakening through his teaching career--based on overlooked or neglected stories from ancient source material. In this retelling of the ancient legends of the women in the Buddha’s intimate circle, lesser-known stories from Sanskrit and Pali sources are for the first time woven into an illuminating, coherent narrative that follows his life from his birth to his parinirvana or death. Interspersed with original insights, fresh interpretations, and bold challenges to the status quo, the stories are both entertaining and thought-provoking—some may even appear controversial. Focusing first on laywomen from the time before the Buddha’s enlightenment—his birth mother and stepmother, his co-wives, and members of his harem when he was known as Prince Siddhartha—then moving on to the Buddha’s first female disciples, early nuns, and to female patrons, Wendy Garling invites us to open our minds to a new understanding of their roles.
Author : Wendy Garling
Publisher : Shambhala Publications
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 33,60 MB
Release : 2021-03-23
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1611806690
Nautilus Book Award Winner The first full biography of Mahaprajapati Gautami, the woman who raised the Buddha--examining her life through stories and canonical records. Mahaprajapati was the only mother the Buddha ever knew. His birth mother, Maya, died shortly after childbirth, and her sister Mahaprajapati took the infant to her breast, nurturing and raising him into adulthood. While there is a lot of ambiguity overall in the Buddha's biography, this detail remains consistent across all Buddhist traditions and literature. In this first full biography of Mahaprajapati, The Woman Who Raised the Buddha presents her life story, with attention to her early years as sister, queen, matriarch, and mother, as well as her later years as a nun. Drawing from story fragments and canonical records, Wendy Garling reveals just how exceptional Mahaprajapati's role was as leader of the first generation of Buddhist women, helping the Buddha establish an equal community of lay and monastic women and men. Mother to the Buddha, mother to early Buddhist women, mother to the Buddhist faith, Mahaprajapati's journey is finally presented as one interwoven with the founding of Buddhism.
Author : Christine Toomey
Publisher : Portobello Books
Page : 278 pages
File Size : 19,84 MB
Release : 2015-06-04
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 184627494X
A brief meeting with a Buddhist nun in India made a deep impression on Christine Toomey. It sent her on a two-year, 60,000-mile odyssey to learn more about the contemporary women choosing in their thousands to become part of a long tradition of female spirituality that stretches back through the centuries and now embraces the radical possibility that the next Dalai Lama could be female. In The Saffron Road, Toomey follows in the footsteps of earlier generations of Buddhist nuns to trace the routes by which the philosophy has spread from a solitary order in a remote area of India in the 5th century BC, via 1950s San Francisco where Zen was popularised by the Beat generation, to the globally-renowned practitioners of mindfulness of today. Beginning her journey in the Himalayas, close to the birthplace of the Buddha, Toomey travels from Nepal, to India, through Burma, Japan and on to North America and Europe, along the way visiting contemporary nunneries to meet the women who practise there. Amongst those she talks to are a group of "kung fu" nuns, an acclaimed novelist, a princess, a concert violinist, a former BBC journalist, and a one-time Washington political aide. Through these conversations, the daily reality of the Buddhist existence is gradually revealed, together with the diverse spiritual paths leading these women towards nirvana. Combining travelogue, history, interviews and personal reflection, The Saffron Road opens the door to a rarely glimpsed world of ritual, discipline and enlightenment.
Author : Christine Toomey
Publisher : The Experiment
Page : 386 pages
File Size : 21,57 MB
Release : 2017-03-21
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1615191941
A 60,000-mile odyssey in search of Buddhist nuns—hailed as “inspiring and necessary” (Kirkus), “ambitious” (Tricycle), and “compelling” (Financial Times) They come to the monastic Buddhist life from every faith and career: a policewoman, a princess, a Bollywood star, a violinist. Out of the public eye, despite hardship and even persecution, they vow to seek enlightenment in a world full of noise. Who are these women? What motivates them, and what stands in their way? Award-winning journalist Christine Toomey investigates. From Nepal to California, she encounters unforgettable nuns who reveal the blessings—and perils—of carrying a 2,500-year tradition into the twenty-first century. Often denied equal status with monks, they are nonetheless devoted—to their faith, and to change.
Author : Lenore Friedman
Publisher : Shambhala Publications
Page : 381 pages
File Size : 23,72 MB
Release : 2000-08-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1570624747
This book celebrates the flowering of women in American Buddhism. Lenore Friedman set out to explore this phenomenon by interviewing some of the remarkable women who were teaching Buddhism in the United States. The seventeen women she writes about vary in background, personality, and form of teaching. Together the represent the growing presence and influence of women teachers in America—a development that will surely affect Buddhism in the West for years to come. This revised edition includes a new section describing developments in these women's lives and work since the book's first publication in 1987. Teachers include:Toni Packer, Maurine Stuart, Pema Chödrön, Joko Beck, Ruth Denison, Bobby Rhodes, Jiyu Kennett, Sharon Salzberg, Karuna Dharma, Joanna Macy, Gesshin Prabhasa Dharma, Sonja Margulies, Yvonne Rand, Jacqueline Mandell, Colleen Schmitz, Ayya Khema, Tsering Everest
Author : Sunita Pant Bansal
Publisher :
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 30,72 MB
Release : 2006
Category : Buddhism
ISBN :
Author : Sandy Boucher
Publisher : Beacon Press
Page : 412 pages
File Size : 16,44 MB
Release : 1993-10-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780807073056
Boucher celebrates the many contributions of women to American Buddhism and provides an intimate look at the lives of women who are the teachers, scholars, nuns, and followers of a newly evolving Buddhist practice in this country. "A thought-provoking examination".--Victoria Scott, San Francisco Chronicle. Photos.
Author : Vanessa R. Sasson
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 46,91 MB
Release : 2020-12-10
Category : Religion
ISBN : 135016318X
By combining the spirit of fiction with the fabulism of Indian mythology and in-depth academic research, Vanessa R. Sasson shares the evocative story of the Buddha from the perspective of a forgotten woman: Yasodhara, the Buddha's wife. Although often marginalized, Yasodhara's narrative here comes to life. Written with a strong feminist voice, we encounter Yasodhara as a fiercely independent, passionate and resilient individual. We witness her joys and sorrows, her expectations and frustrations, her fairy-tale wedding, and her overwhelming devastation at the departure of her beloved. It is through her eyes that we witness Siddhattha's slow transformation, from a sheltered prince to a deeply sensitive young man. On the way, we see how the gods watch over the future Buddha from the clouds, how the king and his ministers try to keep the suffering of the world from him and how he eventually renounces the throne, his wife and newly-born son to seek enlightenment. Along with a foreword from Wendy Doniger, the book includes a scholarly introduction to Yasodhara's narrative and offers extensive notes along with study questions, to help readers navigate the traditional literature in a new way, making this an essential book for anyone wanting to learn about Buddhist narratives.
