Eminent Buddhist Women

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.
Preface

Introduction
Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Buddhist Women in South Asian Traditions

1. “My Sister’s Future Buddhahood”: A Jātaka of the Buddha’s Lifetime as a Woman
Karen Derris

2. Two Generations of Eminent Nepalese Nuns
Punyawati Guruma

Buddhist Women in Southeast Asian Traditions

3. Brave Daughters of the Buddha: The Feminisms of the Burmese Buddhist Nuns
Cristina Bonnet-Acosta

4. Pioneering Bhikkunīs in Contemporary Sri Lanka and Thailand
Tomomi Ito

5. Bhikkuni Ta Tao: Paving the Way for Future Generations
Bhikkuni Dhammananda (Chatsumarn Kabilsingh)

6. Eminent Nuns in Hue, Vietnam
Elise Anne DeVido

7. Bhikuī Như Thanh: A Polar Star among Vietnamese Nuns
Thích Nữ Như Nguyệt

8. Bhikuī Tri Hai: A Scented Lotus Life
Thich Nu Huong Nhu

Buddhist Women in East Asian Traditions

9. Bhikuī Hiuwen: Enlightening Society by Institutionalizing Buddhist Education
Yu-chen Li

10. Pongnyŏgwan: The Eminent Bhikuī of Cheju Island
Hyangsoon Yi

11. A Resolute Vision of the Future: Hyechun Sunim’s Founding of the National Bhikuī Association in Korea
Eun-su Cho

12. From Mountains to Metropolis: Sŏn Master Daehaeng’s Teachings on Contemporary Buddhist Practice
Hyeseon Sunim (Kyunhee Lee)

Buddhist Women in the Tibetan Cultural Region

13. The Importance of Jetsun Mingyur Paldron in the Development of Sikkimese Buddhism
Kalzang Dorjee Bhutia

14. The Legacy of a Female Sikkimese Buddhist Teacher: The Lineage of Pelling Ani Wangdzin and Gendered Religious Experience in Modern Sikkim
Amy Holmes-Tagchungdarpa

15. Kunzang Drolkar: A Delog in Eastern Tibet
Alyson Prude

16. Courage as Eminence: Tibetan Nuns at Yarchen Monastery in Kham
Padma‘tsho

17. Nuns, Dākinīs, and Ordinary Women in the Revival of Mongolian Buddhism
Karma Lekshe Tsomo

18. Mummy-la: The Life and Accomplishments of Freda Bedi
Tenzin Palmo

Buddhist Women in the West

19. Bhikuī Ruimiao: An Embodiment of Transcultural Values
Malia Dominica Wong

20. What Is a Relevant Role Model? The Example of an Ordinary Woman Who Achieved Enlightenment
Rita M. Gross

Bibliography
Contributors
Index

Sujets

• Buddhism
• History of religions

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 25 août 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438451329
• Langue: English

Extrait

Eminent Buddhist Women
Eminent Buddhist Women
Edited by
Karma Lekshe Tsomo
Cover art by Margaret Anne Smith
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2014 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production by Diane Ganeles
Marketing by Anne M. Valentine
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Eminent Buddhist women / Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-5131-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-5130-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Buddhist women—Biography. 2. Buddhist nuns—Biography. 3. Women in Buddhism. I. Karma Lekshe Tsomo, 1944– BQ850.E65 2014 294.3092'52—dc23 [B] 2013022608
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Karma Lekshe Tsomo
BUDDHIST WOMEN IN SOUTH ASIAN TRADITIONS
Chapter 1 “My Sister’s Future Buddhahood”: A Jātaka of the Buddha’s Lifetime as a Woman
Karen Derris
Chapter 2 Two Generations of Eminent Nepalese Nuns
Punyawati Guruma
BUDDHIST WOMEN IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN TRADITIONS
Chapter 3 Brave Daughters of the Buddha: The Feminisms of the Burmese Buddhist Nuns
Cristina Bonnet-Acosta
Chapter 4 Pioneering Bhikkhunī s in Contemporary Sri Lanka and Thailand
Tomomi Ito
Chapter 5 Bhikkhunī Ta Tao: Paving the Way for Future Generations
Bhikkhunī Dhammananda (Chatsumarn Kabilsingh)
Chapter 6 Eminent Nuns in Hue, Vietnam
Elise Anne DeVido
Chapter 7 Bhikṣuṇī Như Thanh: A Polar Star among Vietnamese Nuns
Thích Nữ Như Nguyệt
Chapter 8 Bhikṣuṇī Trí Hai: A Scented Lotus Life
Thích Nữ Huong Như
BUDDHIST WOMEN IN EAST ASIAN TRADITIONS
Chapter 9 Bhikṣuṇī Hiuwan: Enlightening Society by Institutionalizing Buddhist Education
Yu-chen Li
Chapter 10 Pongnyŏgwan: The Eminent Bhikṣuṇī of Cheju Island
Hyangsoon Yi
Chapter 11 A Resolute Vision of the Future: Hyechun Sunim’s Founding of the National Bhikṣuṇī Association in Korea
Eun-su Cho
Chapter 12 From Mountains to Metropolis: Sŏn Master Daehaeng’s Teachings on Contemporary Buddhist Practice
Hyeseon Sunim ( Kyunhee Lee )
BUDDHIST WOMEN IN THE TIBETAN CULTURAL REGION
Chapter 13 The Importance of Jetsun Mingyur Paldron in the Development of Sikkimese Buddhism
Kalzang Dorjee Bhutia
Chapter 14 The Legacy of a Female Sikkimese Buddhist Teacher: The Lineage of Pelling Ani Wangdzin and Gendered Religious Experience in Modern Sikkim
Amy Holmes-Tagchungdarpa
Chapter 15 Kunzang Drolkar: A Delog in Eastern Tibet
Alyson Prude
Chapter 16 Courage as Eminence: Tibetan Nuns at Yarchen Monastery in Kham
Padma‘tsho
Chapter 17 Nuns, Ḍākinī s, and Ordinary Women in the Revival of Mongolian Buddhism
Karma Lekshe Tsomo
Chapter 18 Mummy-la: The Life and Accomplishments of Freda Bedi
Tenzin Palmo
BUDDHIST WOMEN IN THE WEST
Chapter 19 Bhikṣuṇī Ruimiao: An Embodiment of Transcultural Values
Malia Dominica Wong
Chapter 20 What Is a Relevant Role Model? The Example of an Ordinary Woman Who Achieved Enlightenment
Rita M. Gross
Bibliography
Contributors
Index
Preface
This book has been a labor of love, not only for me but also for the many dear friends and colleagues who have taken part in this wonderful project. Many have been involved from start to finish. First, I would like to express my appreciation for the selfless dedication of the team who created, sustained, translated, and documented the Sakyadhita International Conference on Buddhist Women in Ho Chi Minh City in 2010, especially to Christie Yuling Chang, Yu-chen Li, Thích Nữ Vien Ngan, Thích Nữ Như Nguyệt, Bhikkhunī Lieu Phap, Emily Mariko Sanders, Malia Dominica Wong, the Vietnam Bhikṣuṇī Saṅgha, and to all those who support the global Buddhist women’s movement. Mere words are insufficient.
This heartfelt effort to document the lives of exceptional Buddhist women has come to fruition because of the kindness of an outstanding team of conscientious and astute editors. Boundless thanks go to Margaret Coberly, Rebecca Paxton, Bhikkhunī Adhimutti, Alison Hoffman, and Pamela Kirby for their diligence, expertise, compassion, and amazing turnaround time. Sincere appreciation also goes to Evelyn Diane Cowie, Anne Girard, Carol Stevens Gerstl, Constance Ellwood, Joy Fox, Karen Jensen, Kathleen Monaco, Mara Canizzaro, and many others who have helped along the way. Mahalo nui loa for your enthusiasm, encouragement, and friendship.
Immense gratitude also goes to the authors who so generously contributed their knowledge and insights. An international collaborative effort involving so many different languages and perspectives involves many risks—linguistically, philosophically, and politically. The contributors are to be commended for being courageous enough to venture those risks and for their patient cooperation throughout years of revision. In an attempt to preserve their original voices, I have retained their own use of either Pali or Sanskrit (for example, bhikkhunī or bhikṣuṇī ), with diacritics or without, and apologize for all errors in transcription.
It is a great joy to bring to light the stories of these extraordinary Buddhist women. Among others, I am delighted to preserve in these pages the lives of several of my own teachers, the bhiksunīs Khechog Palmo, Hyechun Sunim, and Shig Hiuwan. The book is dedicated to them and to all the wonderful, often unheralded women who have kept alight the lamp of Dharma over many centuries. May their stories encourage other women on the path to awakening. May they also inspire the continual discovery of other stories and achievements of eminent practitioners whose voices have not yet been heard.
All merits derived from these efforts accrue to this spectacular team, while all flaws are entirely my own. May the merits be shared with countless beings throughout time and space. And may all sufferings derived from gender discrimination and other insidious forms of oppression be banished forever!
Introduction
Karma Lekshe Tsomo
For centuries, women have been relegated to live, practice, and teach in the shadows of far more visibly-placed men. History is dominated by the deeds, thoughts, and influences of men considered to be eminent, with the value of human achievement determined exclusively by the standards of men, the unfortunate method of assessment until recent times. But eminence can be interpreted in many different ways—to define it as merely having visibility, power, and authority is to misunderstand the word. When the word is applied to the majority of women in Buddhist cultures, the definition expands to influential, important, notable, and superior. As in other spheres of life, women perform vital functions in religion throughout Buddhist communities in Asia and abroad.
For too long, the measure of what was true and valuable in the human experience ignored a crucial component—millions of women who have loved, worked, fought, compromised, suffered, and succeeded in realizing their own highest potential, but who remain unknown to us simply because their stories were never deemed worthy of recording. When eminence is predicated on a larger set of qualities than those typically recognized as marks of achievement; when eminence recognizes inner qualities such as sincerity, warm-heartedness, kindness to children, care for the weak and disenfranchised, wisdom, tenderness, patience, and compassion, then the term eminence includes a host of individuals who existed and flourished throughout history but were overlooked, ignored, undervalued, or invisible simply because they were women.
Now, in an era of greater openness and awareness, it is appropriate and timely to reassess the lives of exemplary Buddhist women whose stories have been hidden or ignored. We can bring to light narratives that teach us to reconsider the past criteria of eminence and compel us to question how and by whom those criteria are constructed and controlled. In the Buddhist world, until very recently, the reputed knowledge holders have been male. Upon reflection, this is rather odd, especially considering the nongendered nature of Buddhism’s primary values: loving kindness, compassion, knowledge, wisdom, authenticity, spiritual attainment, and liberation. In view of this apparent contradiction between the universal nature of fundamental Buddhist principles and unapologetic male dominance for more than two thousand years of Buddhist history and development, a reassessment of the lives and experiences of women within the tradition is imperative. For instance, why is the story of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī and her five hundred noble women companions, who led the first march for women’s rights in recorded history, not well known today, even in many Buddhist countries? It is essential to recognize the work of women and their inner attainments so that this knowledge and inspiration can be imparted to future generations. In an effort to elevate the status of all women everywhere, especially because the struggles of women in earlier generations still remain largely unacknowledged and unappreciated, it is essential that we begin to collect these stories and bring to light the bountiful accomplishments of women thus far. A review of Buddhist women’s contributions is a long-overdue tribute to their determination, realizations, and achievements. This book is a step along that path.
Rediscovering Buddhist Women’s Legacy
The Buddhist traditions are not bereft of feminine imagery and exemplars. The legacy of eminent Buddhist women begins with