Buddhist Women Across Cultures: Realizations [Paperback]

This is one of Tsomo's Buddhist women series of anthologies by practicing women Buddhists around the world-Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Nepal, the US, etc. (Sakyadhita-1988, Buddhism through American Women's Eyes-1995, this one-1999, Innovative Buddhist Women-2000, Buddhist Women & Social Justice-2004). Its purpose is "to examine Buddhist philosophical tenets & their expression in diverse Buddhist cultures from women's unique vantage points." Her writings are among the best in these books; here she addresses sexist Buddhist documents, pp. 27-8: proves logically that the 8 special rules making nuns subservient to monks were not originally given by the Buddha & says "textual analysis reveals that these discriminatory passages have been artificially embedded in earlier texts. It is unlikely that these are the only examples of textual interpolation related to women," & supports the ultimate viewpoint--p. 29: "The goal of Buddhist practice is spiritual enlightenment, not simply as an abstraction, but as a concrete possibility available to all human beings, women included." Similar to Thubten Chodron, the modern female Buddhist proponent of psychology, Tsomo has become the proponent of modern Buddhist sociology. She presents a balanced viewpoint: p. 30: "If a teaching is not in accord with the needs of the people & the realities of society, it is not truly Buddhist" but p. 31: "It is common [to] hear both nuns & laywomen state, `I don't care about equality. I only care about nirvana." She applies historical & cyclical analysis concluding that p. 32: "As the marginalized enter the stream, they inevitably change the stream." Others' entries include: Lorna Dewaraja's comparison of Buddhist marriage to Hindu et al; Senarat Wijayasundara's for re-establishing Sri Lanka Bhikkuni Order IAW Buddhist law; Paula Arai's on Japanese Bodhisattva nuns based on interviews, surveys, & living w/Soto Zen nuns; Hae-ju Sunim's on sexual transformation (esp. her analysis of Pali vs. later Chinese sexist interpolations & Buddha's 32 marks--taken from Indian hero legends); Janice Willis' Allione-like biographies; Sarah Pinto's on pregnancy & birth in Tibet; Cait Collins' on abortion & conception (noting Zygote splitting doesn't support Buddhist mythology); Anne Klein's on interfacing Buddhism & America ("England & America in the 17th century produced the novel ideal of the companionate marriage, which bequeaths to us our whole contemporary understanding of marriage, sexual love, & personal fulfillment through relationships"); Sara Shneiderman's experiences as a Western nun in the East ("Western nuns seem to be in a strange mediating position-they are often as educated & proficient in their practice as many Tibetan monks, or more so, yet they are still women who theoretically belong in the nunnery where nuns generally receive fewer privileges than monks...lack of connection & shared community between [Western] nun & the ethnically Tibetan nuns...their status as `foreigners' overrides that of `female'...with honorary male privileges that being a foreigner confers"); & Sanghadevi's & Rita Gross' on the new model of Western lay Buddhism. Also, p. 235: Shneiderman states: "Western Buddhists have the unique chance to influence a religion in its transformative stages"-possibly the intent of this fine series. Tsomo addresses interfaith dialog via the Christian-Buddhist monastic exchange program & the important issue of context: p. 173: "Western feminist responses to patterns of gender discrimination are sometimes limited by a lack of understanding of the lives of women in non-Western cultures. In the process of gaining such an understanding, moreover, there is a danger of overlaying one's own cultural presumptions & expectations on a starkly different realm of experience." These books & Sakyadhita help assuage such disconnects. This one is among the best in the series.