Fully accepted, fully ordained. New bhikkhunis with their teachers, preceptors and their ordaining Dual Sangha upon the completion of two full days of bhikkhuni ordinations. Photo courtesy of Kanjana Suthikul By Ven. Tathaloka Theri Sukha Sanghassa Samaggi—“Happy is the Harmony of the Sangha” [1] Buddhagaya, the site of the Buddha’s Great Awakening or Maha Bodhi, is […]
women
Yashodhara: The Buddha’s Wife in Many Lives
Buddha begging for food in front of his wife Yashodhara and his son Rahula. Cave 17, Ajanta. From personal.carthage.edu Yashodhara, which means “Bearer of Glory,” was the wife of Prince Siddhartha and the mother of their son, Rahula. She was born in the Sun Clan, to the daughter of King Suppabuddha and Amita. Amita was […]
The Great Deeds of Gautami: The Achievements of the First Buddhist Nun
Buddha Shakyamuni with Mahaprajapati Gautami. From dhamma-stream.blogspot.com The stories of a number of nuns (Skt. bhikshuni) in early Buddhism were written down in various parts of the Pali Buddhist scriptures, especially in the Therigatha, commonly translated as Verses of the Elder Nuns, composed about 600 BCE, and also in the Theri Apadana or The Great […]
Mahaprajapati Gautami: The First Buddhist Nun
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 […]
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. […]