Statue of Mahaprajapati Gautami at Upaya Zen Center, USA. From womeninbuddhismtour-india.blogspot.com Mahaprajapati Gautami was the aunt and foster mother of prince Siddhartha. She raised him after the death of her sister, the Buddha’s mother: Mayadevi. The meaning of the Sanskrit name Mahaprajapati is “The great patroness of all beings” and Gautami is the female equivalent […]
women
Education for Development
Sónia Gomes has a PhD in Marketing and Communication and is the founder, CEO and owner of Spaso Zen Wellness Centers in Portugal. Her interests lie in female empowerment, Tibetan Medicine, health and education, gender discrimination and the role of women in Tantric Buddhism. She has been an international advisor in a Nepalese NGO called Lotus Heart since February 2018 and […]
The Buddhist Concept of Femininity in Western Thought
In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, femininity is related to transcendental or primordial wisdom. The concept of feminine wisdom can be found in the Buddhist tradition but also in Western schools of thought in philosophy and science. There are profound representatives of the sacred feminine in Buddhism that share parallels, for example, in the applied science […]
Education: A critical factor for female empowerment in developing countries
By Sónia Gomes What is the significance of education in general? The entire process of attending school, learning to read, write, and develop interests in different disciplines when you start absorbing knowledge is imperative for a number of reasons. And this does not only involve the person in question, but all of society. A person […]
Women as Spiritual Partners in Vajrayana Buddhism
From the perspective of Vajrayana, if a woman has a strong aspiration and the necessary karmic prerequisites to overcome the instinctive need for procreation, her capacity for higher awareness is greater than that of a man. But even if she does choose to be a mother, she still has a chance to use her karmic […]
Dharma Dispatch, 12-17 March 2018: Sri Lankan Conflict, International Women’s Day, FGS Celebrations
Good morning! We start with some encouraging news amidst a sad backdrop of religious and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. Buddhist monks and activists gathered in their hundreds on the streets of Colombo on Friday to protest violence between Buddhists and Muslims. The protesting monks were joined by activists that included academics, artists, and representatives of civil society […]
Gender Equality and Female Empowerment: A Dharmic Responsibility
By Sónia Gomes PhD Today is International Women’s Day, the day we celebrate the progress we’ve made so far and examine honestly how far we need to go. The very notion of gender equality entails the belief that injustice is associated with the concept’s very definition. It is imperative that we reflect deeply on this association. […]
Evolving into Buddhahood: A Dispatch from Anam Thubten Rinpoche
It’s always a delight to catch up with Anam Thubten Rinpoche whenever he returns to Hong Kong (he’s based mainly in the US). I enjoy listening to his thoughtful, spontaneous, and frank responses about the big questions of our day. He is also a most engaging writer, and you can verify this for yourself at […]
The 15th Sakyadhita Conference in Hong Kong: Women’s Empowerment through Diversity and Plurality
Although gender equality has enjoyed progress in many sectors of our society, we can still see that discrimination against women in varying degrees is a feature of most societies. Gender casts a shadow in ongoing discussions about the re-establishment of Bhikkhuni Order, one of the crucial fourfold assemblies in the Theravada and Vajrayana Buddhist traditions. […]
Exploration and Freedom: Womanhood, Relationships, and Love
Making women’s issues more visible is not just about putting more females in positions of religious authority, like fully ordained bhikkhunis. It is about discussing and acting out ways of relating and loving that women feel liberated by and unleash everyone’s potential to provide fulfillment, satisfaction, and even enlightenment for others. When it comes to the […]