INNOVATIVE BUDDHIST WOMEN; Swimming Against the Stream by Karma Lekshe Tsomo
This book combines the voices of scholars and practitioners in documenting and analyzing Buddhist women's history. It addresses many gaps in the documentation of Buddhist women's experience. The 26 articles - written by a range of Asian, Asian American, and western Buddhists '- document the lives of women who, individually or collectively, have set in motion changes within Buddhist societies.
MEETING FAITH, The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun by Faith Adiele
Reluctantly leaving behind Pop Tarts and pop culture to battle flying rats, hissing cobras, forest fires, and decomposing corpses, Faith Adiele shows readers in this personal narrative, with accompanying journal entries, that the path to faith is full of conflicts for even the most devout. Residing in a forest temple, she endured nineteen-hour daily meditations, living on a single daily meal, and days without speaking. Internally Adiele battled against loneliness, fear, hunger, sexual desire, resistance to the Buddhist worldview, and her own rebellious Western ego.
MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE WOMEN Buddhist Teachers in America
Meeting with Remarkable Women celebrates the flowering of women in American Buddhism. Lenore Friedman profiles seventeen distinguished female teachers who have taught in the United States. The women she writes about vary in background, personality, and form of teaching, but together they represent the growing influence of women in American Buddhism - a development that will surely affect Buddhism in the West for years to come.
OPENING THE LOTUS: A Woman's Guide to Buddhism by Sandy Boucher
Part primer, part personal history, part guide to spiritual practice, this book opens the door to an understanding of buddhist spirituality, which engages more and more Westerners as the millenium approaches. Through personal anecdotes, lively explanations, and thoughtful discussions, Sandy Boucher presents a female perspective on fundamental Buddhist teachings such as compassion, detachment, and enlightenment.
PORTRAITS OF BUDDHIST WOMEN by Dharmasena, Ranjini Obeyesekere
A fascinating collection about Buddhist women translated from the thirteenth-century Sinhala Buddhist text, the Saddharmaratnavaliya, these stories provide insights into the social status and roles of women in medieval India and Sri Lanka and the Buddhist doctrinal ideal.
POWER OF DENIAL: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender by Bernard Faure
Innumerable studies have appeared in recent decades about practically every aspect of women's lives in Western societies. The few such works on Buddhism have been quite limited in scope. In The Power of Denial, Bernard Faure takes an important step toward redressing this situation by boldly asking: does Buddhism offer women liberation or limitation? Continuing the innovative exploration of sexuality in Buddhism he began in The Red Thread, here he moves from his earlier focus on male monastic sexuality to Buddhist conceptions of women and constructions of gender. Faure argues that Buddhism is neither as sexist nor as egalitarian as is usually thought. Above all, he asserts, the study of Buddhism through the gender lens leads us to question what we uncritically call Buddhism, in the singular.
Provides the first English translation of the Tibetan and Chinese texts on monastic discipline for Buddhist nuns and presents a comparative study of the two texts. An important contribution for studies of women's history, feminist philosophy, women's studies, women in religion, and feminist ethics.
TURNING THE WHEEL, American Women Creating the New Buddhism by Sandy Boucher
American Women Creating the New Buddhism
"Essential reading for anyone wanting to understand feminism, Buddhist practice in America today, and where and how these two movements meet."
-Susan Griffin, author of Woman and Nature
Traditionally most gurus, philosophers, and religious leaders have been men. But in this fascinating and thought-provoking book, Bancroft provides the feminine approach to mysticism by examining the methods and teachings of fifteen women who have developed their own insights into what the author calls the "truth that goes beyond the ordinary."
WOMAN AWAKE: Women Practicing Buddhism by Christina Feldman
Traditionally women are socialized to embrace values based on conformity, passivity, and surrender of the self, which can eventually contribute to feelings of low self-worth and powerlessness. Using the central tenets and practices of Buddhism, Woman Awake offers readers an opportunity to break out of negative belief systems and move toward increased self-acceptance, strength, and vitality. Through a thoughtful selection of exercises and reflections, readers are guided to expand their awareness of life and its connectedness to all things, as well as their own dignity and place within the universe. For those women new to Buddhist meditation, Christina Feldman offers sensitive and valuable guidelines on breathing and relaxation, using an approach that encourages readers to overcome their social conditioning and appreciate their own qualities in new and significant ways.
Top of page 
Go Back One Page