Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming Against the Stream (Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism)

Combines the voices of scholars and practitioners in analysing Buddhist women's history. 26 articles document the lives of women who have set in motion changes within Buddhist societies, with analyses of issues such as gender, ethnicity, authority, and class that affect the lives of women in traditional Buddhist cultures and, increasingly, the west. Cover 1 INNOVATIVE BUDDHIST WOMEN 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 Contributors 9 Glossary 14 Introduction 18 PART I THE WORLD OF BUDDHIST WOMEN 30 BUDDHIST WOMEN OF SOUTH ASIA 31 Chapter 1 Inaccuracies in Buddhist Women's History 32 Chapter 2 At the Cutting Edge: Therāvada Nuns in the Kathmandu Valley 40 Chapter 3 Unity and Diversity Among Buddhist Nuns in Sri Lanka 57 Chapter 4 Factions and Fortitude: Buddhist Women in Bangladesh 69 BUDDHIST WOMEN OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 85 Chapter 5 Thammacarini Witthaya: The First Buddhist School for Girls in Thailand 86 Chapter 6 The Status and Values of the Santi Asoke Sikkhamat 97 Chapter 7 Rediscovering Cambodian Buddhist Women of the Past 109 Chapter 8 The Revival of the Don Chee Movement in Cambodia 116 Chapter 9 Khmer Women: Buddhist Survivors 121 Chapter 10 Dam Luu: An Eminent Vietnamese Buddhist Nun 129 BUDDHIST WOMEN OF EAST ASIA 146 Chapter 11 A Case of Ritual Zen: In Gratitude to Ānanda 147 Chapter 12 Tiexiangsi: A Gelugpa Nunnery in Contemporary China 154 Chapter 13 Birth, Death, and Resurrection of Shim Ch'ông: Mistress of the Spiritual Domain 166 Chapter 14 Lineage or Family Tree? The Implications for Gender 178 Chapter 15 Ordination, Legitimacy, and Sisterhood: The International Full Ordination Ceremony in Bodhgaya 192 BUDDHIST WOMEN IN THE HIMALAYAS 223 Chapter 16 Of Birds and Wings: Tibetan Nuns and their Encounters with Knowledge 224 Chapter 17 Yeshe's Tibetan Pilgrimage and the Founding of a Himalayan Nunnery 235 Chapter 18 Born Buddhist is Not Enough 252 BUDDHIST WOMEN IN HAWAI'I 255 Chapter 19 Mary Foster: The First Hawaiian Buddhist 256 Chapter 20 Bishop Jikyu Rose: A Tendai Ajari in Hawai'i 270 PART II WOMEN IN COMPASSIONATE SOCIAL ACTION 284 Chapter 21 Buddhism and the Media 285 Chapter 22 Diversity as Practice: Thinking about Race and "American" Buddhism 297 Chapter 23 Sexual Conduct and Misconduct: Buddhist Ethics in the West 305 Chapter 24 Daylighting the Feminine in American Buddhism 314 Chapter 25 Buddhism, Human Rights, Women's Rights, and Democracy 322 Chapter 26 Engaged Buddhism: "Moving" and Recreating Women's Stories 332 Chapter 27 Inner Transformation for World Peace 339 Epilogue Transforming Women's Position in Buddhism: Strategies 346 Bibliography 349 Index 356 Swimming Against the Stream More than five centuries before Christ, Sakyamuni Buddha affirmed women's spiritual potential.