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Yoga and Women
Compiled by: Trisha Lamb
Last Revised: April 27, 2006
© 2005 by International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT)
International Association of Yoga Therapists
P.O. Box 2513 • Prescott • AZ 86302 • Phone: 928-541-0004
E-mail: [email protected] • URL: www.iayt.org
The contents of this bibliography do not provide medical advice and should not be so interpreted. Before beginning any
exercise program, see your physician for clearance.
Male or female, there is no great difference.
But if she develops the mind bent on enlightenment,
to be a woman is better.
—Padmasambhava speaking to Yeshe Tsogyal, translated by Tarthang Tulku
Mother of Knowledge, p. 102
“Many swamis and yogis in India told me that they hoped that in their next lives they would be
reincarnated as women because women have true devotion, true humility, and this is the path to
liberation.”
—Swami Sivananda Radha
Mantras: Words of Power, p. 100
“Nowhere in the Smritis, Kalpha shastras or any of the religious texts has it been said that a
woman cannot wear the sacred thread. In all the six philosophies, four Vedas, one hundred and
eight Upanishads, eighteen Puranas and two epics, nowhere is it written that a female cannot
wear the sacred thread.”
—Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Bhakti Yoga Sagar, p. 25
“Women, by and large, have more viveka or discrimination than men, not only in India but also in
the West and everywhere in the world. They can discriminate between right and wrong, true and
false, between dharma and adharma . . . It is due to their influence that dharma is still in existence.”
—Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Yoga, May 1999, p. 19
“Women have done more to spread Yoga throughout the world than their male counterparts.
They have literally gone to the ends of the earth in the interest of Yoga . . .”
—Dr. Swami Gitananda Giri
Yoga Life, Oct 1981
“In ancient India, the Sanskrit words a husband used to address his wife were patni (the one who
leads the husband through life); dharmapatni (the one who guides her husband on the path of
dharma or righteousness and responsibility); and sahadharmacharini (the one who moves
together with her husband on the path of dharma). All these terms imply that traditionally women
were meant to enjoy the same status as men in society, or perhaps even a higher one. In reality,
all men are a part of women. Every child first lies in the mother’s womb as a part of the woman’s
very being. Women are essentially mothers, the creators of life. Is God a man or a woman? The
answer to that question is that God is neither male nor female. God is ‘That.’ But if you insist on
God having a gender, then God is more female than male because the masculine is always
contained within the feminine.”
—H. H. Mata Amritanandamayi Devi,
2
excerpted from her speech at the Global Peace
Initiative of Women Spiritual Leaders,
Geneva, Swit zerland, May 19, 2003
“Where women are respected, there gods dwell.
Where they are disregarded, there all deeds go in vain.”
—Manu Smriti, III.55
“If being a woman is an inspiration, use it. If it is an obstacle, try not to be bothered.”
—Venerable Khandro Rinpoche
A Tibetan lineage holder in the Nyingma
and Kagyu traditions; she heads the Samten
Tse Retreat Centre in India
NOTE: See also the “Body Image/Self Concept,” “Eating Disorders,” “Infertility/Impotency,” “Menstruation and
PM S,” “Menopause,” “Osteoporosis,” and “Pregnancy” bibliographies.
Adams, Shanti. The challenge of emptiness: Vimala Thakar on the spiritual
emancipation of women. What Is Enlightenment? Article available online:
http://www.wie.org/j10/vim3.asp.
Adiele, Faith. Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun. Norton,
2004.
Agarwal, Vishal. Women in Hindu Dharma: A Tribute. Unpublished manuscript.
Minneapolis, Minn., 2004.
Agrawal, Vasodeva Sharan, ed. and trans. The Glorification of the Great Goddess
(Devi Mahatmya). Banaras, India.
Allione, Tsultrim. Women of Wisdom. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984.
Examines women’s experience of Buddhism through translations of the biographies of
six Tibetan female mystics, including Jomo Memo, Drenchen Re ma, and A-Yu Khadro.
The author also describes her own experience as a Tibetan Buddhist nun and
subsequently as a wife and a mother.
Ambedkar, B. M. The breath of liberty. Article available online:
http://www.fwbo.org/articles/breath_of_liberty.html.
“Does Buddhism treat women as second-class citizens?”
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Amritanandamayi Devi, Sri Mata. Amma on the power of motherhood and love
(address to the Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders).
Hinduism Today, Apr/May/Jun 2003, p. 63.
Andre ws, Karen. Women in Theravada Buddhism. Article available online:
http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/Archive/A/Andrews/womenTheraBudAndrews.ht
ml.
Avalon, Arthur (Sir John Woodroffe). Shakti and Shâkta. Available online:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/tant ra/sas/index.htm.
___________, ed. and trans. Hymns to Kali (Karpuradi Stotra). Madras, India.
Barnes, Nancy. Women in Buddhism. In Arvina Sharma, ed., Women in World
Religions. Albany, N.Y. : SUNY Press, 1987.
Bartholomeusz, Tessa. Women Under the Bo Tree: Buddhist Nuns in Sri Lanka.
Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Batchelor, Martine. Walking on Lotus Flowers: Buddhist Women Living, Loving and
Meditating. London: Thorsons, 1996.
___________. Women on the Buddhist Path. London: Thorsons.
“Martine Batchelor weaves together the stories and experiences of Buddhist women from
the East and the West. These women come from all walks of life—artists, social workers,
psychotherapists, nuns, professors, even a hermit, and a disc jockey. They all follow their
unique paths and yet what they have in common is a meditation practice that has
transformed their existence. Their stories illustrate how women can integrate Buddhism
and meditation into their busy family and working lives. This book is an inspiration not
only to Buddhists but also to all women who are seeking to incorporate spirituality into
their daily lives.”
Benard, Elisabeth A. Chinnamasta: The Aweful Buddhist and Hindu Tantric Goddess.
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1995.
___________. No time to sleep: Life as a Sakya dagmo. Talk given at Sakya Dechen
Ling, Oakland, California, 22 Jun 2005.
“. . . about Trinley Sangmo, a remarkable female Buddhist practitioner who was a faithful
auntie, masterful household manager, and legendary meditator in old Tibet . . . who for a
brief but critical moment in history held responsibility for the future of the Sakya
Buddhist tradition in Tibet.”
“When Trinley Sangmo (1906-1975) married into the Sakya’s royal Khön family in
1928, her two worlds of being a member of a political noble family and a devout
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Buddhist practitioner coalesced into a single vital role: that of preserving and
disseminating the ancient Sakya Buddhist teachings through a line of succession within
the Khön family.
“Yet after ten years of marriage, Trinley Sangmo had borne no children. At this point her
younger sister, Sonam Dolkar, became the second wife of Trinley Sangmo’s husband—
and the birth mother of Sakya Dechen Ling’s founder, Jetsun Kushola, and of the future
heir to the Sakya throne, His Holiness Sakya Trizin.
“With a frail Sonam Dolkar, one of Trinley’s many responsibilities was to raise her niece
and nephew. As an infant Jetsun Kushola cried at night, so Trinley developed a habit of
only taking catnaps. Later Trinley transformed this habit of staying awake into practicing
all night in her meditation box.
“In 1948, Sonam Dolkar died and the full responsibility of child-raising fell to Trinley
Sangmo. She made certain that eminent lamas who conferred the major teachings and
empowerments trained both Jetsun Kushola and Sakya Trizin. Being a dedicated
practitioner, she attended the teachings and did many of the required retreats along with
her niece and nephew.
“Dr. Benard examines how Trinley Sangmo handled all the complexity of running a
household of more than 80 people, doing her spiritual practices, and raising the two
children to become great lamas who continue the Sakya tradition to this day. Most of Dr.
Benard’s information was gathered through interviews with members of the Sakya
family, their main attendants, and other Tibetans.”
Beyer, Stephan. The Cult of Tara: Magic and Ritual in Tibet. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1973.
A study of Tibetan beliefs and practices concerning Tara, the Bodhisattva of
compassionate activity.
Bhajananda Saraswati, Swami, trans. Kali dhyana mantra. Namarupa, Winter 2004,
pp. 72-73.
Bhattacharya, Bela. Buddhist Women Saints of India. Firma KLM.
“Women of India occupy high position in the society throughout the ages from the Vedic
period down to the Buddha and afterwards; whether as faithful wife and spiritual
companion of husband, as dignified mother of heroic sons, or as obedient daughters.
Indian women are ideal and full of respect and veneration. They not only conduct their
household life but also devote themselves to search for truth and advancement of spiritual
life. Women like Maitreyi and Gargi and others preferred intellectual and spiritual gain to
material property. In the book Buddhist Women Saints of India Dr. Bela Bhattacharya has
depicted [the] life and contribution of prominent women of India from [the] Vedic period
to [the] Jataka age and also Buddhist women saints, both nuns and lay women, like
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Mahapajapati Gotami, Ambapali, Visakha, Sanghamitta, etc.”
Bhattacharyya, Narendra Nath. History of the Sakta Religion. New Delhi, India :
Munshiram Manoharlal, 1973.
___________. The Indian Mother Goddess. 3rd enl. ed. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers
& Distributors, 1999.
Bhikkuni-Samyutta Suttas. Available online:
http://members.tripod.com/~Lhamo/6dharm.htm or
http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/Archive/Suttas/S/Samyutta/index.html.
“In these suttas Mara, the personification of doubt and evil, tries in vain to lure the
bhikkhunis (nuns) away from their meditation spots in the fo rest by asking them
provocative questions. Without exception, these wise women conquer Mara decisively.”
Blackstone, Kathryn. Women in the Footsteps of the Buddha: Struggle for Liberation in
the Therigata. Motilal Banarsidass.
“A detailed exploration of the quest for liberation on the part of the early bhikkhunis. The
issue is considered not only on the basis of previous historical studies based on the
complicated symbolism of texts, but also in order to unearth the attitudes and
assumptions inherent in the text, and to examine the terms, images, events, and situations
insofar as they reveal the feminine perspective of the bhikkhunisangha. The author’s
careful analysis of the language and imagery in the texts allows her to postulate some
bold new conclusio ns. This study of the only text in the Buddhist tradition of known
female authorship will be of importance to anyone investigating a woman’s perspective
of her own religion, and a clear statement on how renunciants view the nature of
nibbana.”
Blair, Roma. Yoga in Pictures: An Illustrated Course of Progressive Yoga Exercises for
Women of All Ages, in the Form of 25 Wall Charts for Easy Viewing. London: Health and
Vigour Visual Aids, 1965.
Blofeld, John. Bodhisattva of Compassion: The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin.
Boulder: Shambhala, 1978.
A study of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, in the female forms of Kuan
Yin (Chinese) and Tara (Tibetan).
Bode, Mabel. Women leaders of the Buddhist Reformation. Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1893, 25:517-566, 763-798.
Bodhi, Bikkhu, trans. Discourses of the Ancient Nuns (Bhikkuni-Samyutta). Kandy, Sri
Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, 1997. Available online:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bps/leaves/bl143.html
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Bokar Rinpoche. Tara: The Feminine Divine. ClearPoint Press, 1999.
From the publisher: “Bokar Rinpoche presents the various aspects of Tara and the origin
of her tantra, relates contemporary examples of her benevolent activity, provides an
explanation of her praise, offers instruction for devotional practice, and discusses
remarkable women in Indian and Tibetan Buddism. An extensive iconography completes
the text.”
Boucher, Sandy. Turning the Wheel: American Women Creating the New Buddhism
(387pp). San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988.
“An extensive and highly fascinating series of interviews with women active in North
American Buddhism. Contains interviews with ordained women. ”
___________. Opening the Lotus: A Woman’s Guide to Buddhism. Boston: Beacon
Press, 1997.
___________. Discovering Kwan Yin: Buddhist Goddess of Compassion. Boston: Beacon
Press, 1999.
___________. Hidden Spring: A Buddhist Woman Confronts Cancer. Somerville, Mass.:
Wisdom Publications, 2001. URL: http://www.buddhanet.net/wcancer.htm. (Colon
cancer.)
___________. Woman to woman: Sandy Boucher on memorable encounters with her
teacher. Shambhala Sun.
___________. The dance of gender: A woman’s guide to American Buddhism. Adapted
Opening the Lotus: A Woman’s Guide to Buddhism. Boston: Beacon Press, 1997.
Shambhala Sun Online. Article available online:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/revolving_themes/woman/boucher.htm.
Brahmanandagiri. Tara Rahasya. Varanasi, India: 1970. [In Sanskrit.]
Ritual worship of Tara Devi.
Brock, Rita Nakashima, et al., eds. The questions that won’t go away: A dialogue about
women in Buddhism and Christianity. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Fall 1990,
6(2):87-120.
Brown, Beverly J. Yoga for Women class. Biology of Women program (BIO 226W).
Nazareth College, Rochester, New York. URL: http://wwwpub.naz.edu:9000/~bio226w/health/yoga/yoga.htm.
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Brown, Cheever Mackenzie. The Triumph of the Goddess : The Canonical Models and
Theological Visions of the Devi-Bhagavata. Albany: State University of New York Press,
1990.
___________. The Devi Gita: The Song of the Goddess: A Translation, Annotation, and
Commentary. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1998.
___________. God is Mother: A Feminine Theology in India. Hartford, Ct.
Brown, Sid. The Journey of One Buddhist Nun. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New
York Press, 2001.
“Recounts the struggles of a young Thai woman to become a Buddhist nun and the
challenges and rewards of that life.”
Buddhism and women. Article available online:
http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhism/dhammananda/227.htm.
Buddhist attitudes: A woman’s perspective. In Jeanne Beacher, ed., Women, Religion,
and Sexuality: Studies on the Impact of Religious Teachings on Women. Geneva: WCC
Publications, 1990, pp. 154-171.
Budilovsky, Joan. Letter to the editor in response to Nischala Joy Devi and Esther
Myer’s article “The Feminine Critique” on the irrelevance of the Bhagavad-Gita for
modern women. Yoga Journal, Nov 2003, pp. 16-18.
Cabezón, José Ignacio, ed. Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender. Albany, N.Y.: State
University of New York Press, 1992.
From the publisher: “This book explores historical, textual, and social questions relating
to the position and experience of women and gay people in the Buddhist world from
India and Tibet to Sri Lanka, China, and Japan. It focuses on four key areas: Buddhist
history, contemporary culture, Buddhist symbols, and homosexuality, and it covers
Buddhism's entire history, from its origins to the present day. The result of original and
innovative research, the author offers new perspectives on the history of the attitudes
toward, and of the self-perception of, women in both ancient and modern Buddhist
societies. He explores key social issues such as abortion, he examines the use of rhetoric
and symbols in Buddhist texts and cultures, and he discusses the neglected subject of
Buddhism and homosexuality.”
Women-related contents: Attitudes toward Women and the Feminine in Early Buddhism
(Alan Sponberg), The Female Mendicant in Buddhist Sri Lanka (Tessa Bartholomeusz),
Buddhism and Abortion in Contemporary Japan: Mizuko Kuyo and the Confrontation
with Death (Bardwell Smith), Buddhist Women of the Contemporary Maharashtrian
Conversion Movement (Eleanor Zelliot), Gender and Persuasion: The Portrayal of
Beauty, Anguish, and Nurturance in an Account of a Tamil Nun (Paula Richman), Lin-
8
chi (Rinzai) Ch'an and Gender: The Rhetoric of Equality and the Rhetoric of Heroism
(Miriam L. Levering), The Gender Symbolism of Kuan- yin Bodhisattva (Barbara E.
Reed), and Mother Wisdom, Father Love: Gender-Based Imagery in Mahayana Buddhist
Thought (José Ignacio Cabezón)
Caldwell, Sarah. Oh Terrifying Mother: Sexuality, Violence, and Worship of the
Goddess Kali. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999.
___________. Worship of the goddess in Hinduism. Article available online:
http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/i_es/i_es_caldw_goddess.htm.
Campbell, June. Traveler in Space: In Search of Female Identity in Tibetan Buddhism.
Braziller Inc., 2002.
Castle, Le ila. The flesh of the dakinis: Journey to Shoto Terdrom, Tibet, and the cave of
Yeshe Tsogyal. In Leila Castle, ed., Earthwalking Sky Dancers: Women’s Pilgrimages to
Sacred Places. Frog, Ltd., 1996.
Chadral Rinpoche. Trans. by Dechen Yeshe Wangmo. The Wellbeing of Benefit and
Bliss: The Liturgy of the Foundational Practices of the Profound Path of the Dakini
Heart essence. 2002.
Chakravarti, Sri Surath. Conceptions of God and Goddesses in Buddhism. Cakra: A
Journal of Tantra and Yoga, 1971, 3:128-131.
Changchub, Gyalwa, and Namkhai Nyingpo. Lady of the Lotus-Born: The Life and
Enlightenment of Yeshe Tsogyal. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2002.
“The first Tibetan ever to attain complete enlightenment was in all probability the woman
Yeshe Tsogyal, closest disciple of Padmasambhava, the master who introduced the
Buddhist teachings to Tibet in the eighth century.”
Chayat, Roko Sherry. Dai-en: Great Circle. Shambhala Sun, May 1994, 2(5):45-51, 6465.
“Two American women braved hardship and prejudice in Japan to achieve recognition as
true teachers of Zen. Two powerful stories of sacrifice and spiritual success, and a
brilliant life cut tragically short.”
___________, ed. Subtle Sound: The Zen Teachings of Maurine Stuart. Boston:
Shambhala, 1996.
A collection of teachings by the late female Roshi Maurine Stuart—a principal American
student of Soen Nakagawa Roshi and a teacher at the Cambridge Buddhist Association.
9
Cheng, Wei-Yi. Luminary Buddhist Nuns in Contemporary Taiwan: A Quiet Feminist
Movement. Author email: [email protected].
Abstract: “Luminary order is a well- respected Buddhist nun’' order in Taiwan. In this
essay, I will examine the phenomenon of Luminary nuns from three aspects: symbol,
structure, and education. Through the examination of the three aspects, I will show why
the phenomenon of Luminary nuns might be seen as a feminist movement. Although an
active agent in many aspects, I will also show that the success of Luminary nuns has its
roots in the social, historical, and economic conditions in Taiwan.
One notable feature of Buddhism in contemporary Taiwan is the large number of nuns. It
is estimated that between 70 and 75 percent of the Buddhist monastic members are nuns;
many of them have a higher education background. Many Buddhist nuns hold high
esteem in the society, such as the artist and founder of Hua Fan University, bhik?u?i Hiu
Wan, and the founder of one of the world’s biggest Buddhist organizations, bhik?u?i
Cheng-yen. While bhik?u?i Hiu Wan and bhik?u?i Cheng-yen are known as highlyachieved individuals, the nuns of the Luminary nunnery are known collectively as a
group. During my fieldwork in Taiwan in 2001, many informants mentioned Luminary
nuns to me as group of nuns well- trained in Buddhist doctrines, practices, and precepts.
The term Luminary nuns seems to be equivalent to the image of knowledgeable and
disciplined Buddhist nuns. In this paper, I will talk about the significance and influence
of Luminary nuns, and why I think theirs is a feminist movement. But first, I will give a
short introduction of the social- historical background of Buddhism in Taiwan.
Ching, Yu-ing. Master of Love and Mercy: Cheng Yen. Nevada City, Calif.: Blue
Dolphin Publishing, 1995.
A biography of Cheng Yen (Chen Yuan), the founder of the Tzu-Chi Foundation.
Chödron, Ven. Thubten. Blossoms of the Dharma: Living as a Buddhist Nun. Berkeley,
Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 1999.
“In recent years Buddhist nuns from Asia and the West have met together to become
more active in improving their status in the female sangha. At “Life As a Buddhist Nun,”
the 1996 conference in Dharamsala, His Holiness the Dalai Lama supported this effort of
Buddhist nuns to clarify their purpose in taking vows, widening their context, broadening
community beyond their own abbeys, and supporting one another on their quest to
achieve greater equality with men in liturgical matters, especially ordination. They
received concentrated teachings on the bhikshuni precepts, discussed their lives and
Dharma practice, and compared traditions and precepts in different lineages. This book
gathers some of the presentations and teachings at this conference. Coming from many
different countries and backgrounds, these women show ways they have found to
embrace group practice in an era when most societies extol individualism. Their passion
for earned wisdom should inspire lay practitioners and other nuns seeking the essence of
Buddhist practice.”
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___________. Life as a Western Buddhist nun. Article available online:
http://members.tripod.com/~Lhamo/Chodron.htm.
___________, ed. Preparing for ordination: Reflections for Westerners considering
monastic ordination in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Article available online:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~tsomo/ordination/ord_content.html.
___________, ed. Spiritual Sisters. Seattle, Wash.: Dharma Friendship Foundation, 1995.
Singapore: Dana Promotion Pte Ltd, 1996.
“This book shares the experience of two spiritual sisters, one a Benedictine nun, the other
a Buddhist nun, who discuss their beliefs, practice and personal experience. It also
contains a talk given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Christian monks, and an article
by a Buddhist nun who visited an Anglican convent.”
Chonam, Lama, and Sangye Khandro, trans. The Lives and Liberation of Princess
Mandarava: The Indian Consort of Padmasambhava. Wisdom Publications, 1998.
Cleary, Thomas, and Sartaz Aziz. Twilight Goddess: Spiritual Feminism and Feminine
Spirituality. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2000.
Contents: Introduction: Spiritual Feminism and Feminine Spirituality, The Divine Matrix:
Mother Goddess, Tantric Goddess Worship, Goddess of Rebellion, The Yin Factor,
Usurping the Yin, Women of the Way, The Cult of Orgasmic Energy, The Underground
Path, Goddess of Wisdom, Wakeful Women, The Lotus and the Thunderbolt, Kissing
Kannon, Twin Souls, Reverencing the Womb, Saintly Women, The Marriage That
Pervades All Creation
Coburn, Thomas B. Devi-Mahatmya: The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition.
Motilal Banarsidass: New Delhi, 1984.
___________. Encountering the Goddess: A Translation of the Devi-Mahatmya and a
Study of Its Interpretation. State University of New York Press, 1991.
Composed c. 1,500 years ago, the Devi-Mahatmya is the first comprehensive account of
the Goddess in Sanskrit, and it has maintained its centrality in the Goddess (Shakta)
tradition to the present day. Coburn’s book explores how an anonymous Sanskrit text
articulates a view of ultimate reality as feminine when there is virtually no precedent in
the Sanskrit tradition for such a view. The scriptural analysis involves an examination of
Hindu understanding of the Puranas in general, and of the Devi-Mahatmya in particular,
along with consideration of several recent scholarly discussions in India and elsewhere.
___________. Consort of none, Sakti of all: The vision of the Devi Mahatmya. In John
Stratton Hawley and Donna Marie Wulff, eds., The Divine Consort: Radha and
Goddesses of India. Berkeley, Calif.
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Coleman, Rev. Mary Teal (Ven. Tenzin Yeshe). MONASTIC: An Ordained Tibetan
Buddhist Speaks on Behalf of Full Ordination for Women.
Collie, El. Resurrection of the feminine. Article available online:
http://www.elcollie.com/html/Issue20a.html.
Cornell, Laura. The Moon Salutation: Expression of the feminine in body, psyche,
spirit. Master’s thesis, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, 2000.
Available for purchase from UMI (http://www.umi.com), thesis # 1398437. Author
email: [email protected].
Contents: Introduction; The Sun Salutation: Traditions and Myths; The Tenuous Role of
Women in the Field of Hatha Yoga; The Birth of the Moon Salutation; The Moon
Salutation Unveiled: Physiological and Psychological Aspects of the Poses; The Moon
Salutation on a Woman’s Body: Menstruation, Menopause, and Pregnancy; A Model for
Archetypal Masculine and Feminine; The Moon Salutation and the Archetypal Feminine;
The Moon Salutation as Mystery of Descent and Return; The Moon Salutation as Healing
Tool; Conclusion; Appendix A: Meditation on the Moon Salutation; Appendix B:
Personal; Stories of the Moon Salutation; Appendix C: Variations on the Moon
Salutation: Gentle Beginner through Advanced
___________. The Moon Salutation. Kripalu Yoga Teachers Association Yoga Bulletin,
Fall 2000, 9(3):6. Article available online: http://www.kripalu.org/kyta_artcl.php?id=53.
Author email: [email protected]. (Adapted from The Moon Salutation:
Expression of the feminine in body, psyche, spirit.)
Crawford, Colette. Yoga for Women’s Health. Seattle, Wash.: Seattle Holistic Center,
2002.URL: www.seattleholisticcenter.com. 60 minutes.
From the cover: “Through her own experience in healing from a severe back injury and a
prolapsed uterus and as a women’s health nurse and certified yoga instructor, Colette
Crawford, R.N., has gained a deep understanding of how to help . . . Whether you are a
teenager, a new mother or a post- menopausal woman, in this . . . video you will learn
how to: combat pelvic weakness and incontinence, tone and strengthen your entire body,
reduce low back and pelvic pain, release built- up tension, link yoga postures with breath
awareness and imagery, and listen inwardly for guidance and support.”
Culavedalla Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 44): The shorter set of questions -and-answers.
Available online:
http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/Archive/Suttas/C/CulavedallaSutta.html.
Translator’s note: The Buddha praised Dhammadinna the nun as the foremost Dhamma
teacher among his nun disciples. In this discourse she answers questions put to her by a
layman—Visakha—who, according to the commentary, was her former husband, a
merchant of Rajagaha, and a non-returner.
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Dakini. URL: http://www.khandro.net/dakini_khandro.htm.
Dakini Tantra. 108 female siddhas, dakinis, yoginis, vajra masters & tantric adepts.
URL: http://www.dakinitantra.org/khandro.html.
Damle, Manjiri. Pune’s women poojaris: Breaking through the ‘sacred’ cordon. The
Times of India, 7 Jul 2002. Article available online:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com//articleshow.asp?art_id=15204870.
“Hinduism comes in almost as many forms as there are deities in its pantheon.
“It has continuously evolved, changed and adapted itself to the times — except for one
thing. In matters theological, like most other religions, it has been dominated by men.
“Oil lamps may have been replaced by electric lights, vedic chants by blaring film
‘bhajans’, but ask anyone who has ever witnessed a Hindu ritual and the first picture
which springs to mind is that of a male priest conducting the ceremonies.
“Not any more. In Pune, the very heartland of Maharashtra’s orthodox Brahminical
culture, a quiet, but significant revolution is taking place.
“The world of male Hindu priests is facing competition from a most unexpected
quarter—women.
“The credit for this path-breaking change goes to two Pune-based organizations—the
Shankar Seva Samiti (SSS), which has challenged the male dominance in priesthood
since 1976, and the Jnana Prabodhini, which took up cudgels on behalf of women priests
in 1990.
“While the SSS preferred to train women in performance of rituals in the traditional
manner, Jnana Prabodhini (JP) went a step further by modifying some of the rituals by
combining the traditional with the modern . . .
“Not only are women taking up this calling in growing numbers, but more importantly,
no eyebrows are being raised when a priestess supervises weddings, conducts poojas or
even a shradh — the rite of passage after death. In fact, there is a now a growing
preference for women priests for conducting these ceremonies.
“. . . as a client put it, they ‘do not take short cuts while performing rituals, explain the
meaning and always have time’.”
Dasasilmatha, Panadure Vajira. The enlightened nun Subha. Article available online:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~tsomo/NewsLetters/5-1.htm#Subha.
Deason, Suzanne. Yoga Conditioning for Women video/DVD. Boulder, Colo.: Gaiam,
2002. 60 minutes. The DVD contains an extra 20- minutes practice to assist during the
menstrual cycle or at any time for stress or fatigue.
13
From the publisher: “. . . a fluid, dance- like program that strengthens and opens your
body from the core outward, unlocking powerful energy . . .”
Dehejia, Vidya. Yogini, Cult and Temples: A Tantric Tradition. New Delhi: National
Museum, 1986.
___________. Devi: The Great Goddess: Female Divinity in South Asian Art.
Washington, D.C.: Published by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution,
in association with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, and Prestel Verlag, Munich, 1999.
Denton, Lynn Teskey. Varieties of Hindu female asceticism. In Julia Leslie, ed., Roles
and Rituals for Hindu Women. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University pRess,
1991, pp. 211-231.
Dev, Usha. The Concept of Sakti in the Puranas. New Delhi, India: Nag Publishers,
1987.
Devi, Nischala Joy, and Esther Myers. The feminine critique. Yoga Journal, Jul/Aug
2002. (See follow- up letters to the editor in the Nov 2002 issue, pp. 16-18.)
One the irrelevance of the Bhagavad-Gita for modern women.
Devi Mahatmyam or Durga Saptashati. Vedanta Press.
“Regarded as the bible for worshippers of the Divine Mother. With Sanskrit and
English.”
Dewaraja, L. S. The position of women in Buddhism. Wheel No. 280. Kandy, Sri
Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, 1981. Article available online:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bps/wheels/index.html or
http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/Archive/D/Dewaraja/womenInBudCountryDewaraj
a.html.
Dhammadhinna, Dharmacharini. Women in search of an order. Golden Drum, no. 15.
Article available online: http://www.fwbo.org/articles/search_fo r_an_order.html.
The author wonders whether the current debate over the ordination of women into the
Theravada sangha is missing the point.
Dhammavihari, Venerable Professor. The dignified position of woman in religion and
society (as seen through Buddhism). Article available online:
http://departments.colgate.edu/greatreligions/pages/buddhanet/theravada/womenbud.txt.
Dhargyey, Geshe Ngawang. Vajrayogini Sadhana and Commentary. New Delhi, India:
Library of Tibetan Works and Archives.
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A translation of an oral explanation given by Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey in Seattle,
Washington, in 1981.
Dharma, Krishna. The Many Faces of the Goddess. San Rafael, Calif.: Mandala
Publishing, 2005.
Dharma, Sarika. The first Buddhist nun. Dharma talk given 19 Mar 1995. Available
online: http://dharma.fourwhitefeet.com/paja.html.
Dharma-Dykes website and mailing list. URL: http://dharma.fourwhitefeet.com. To
subscribe to Dharma-Dykes mailing list, send an email to [email protected]
requesting subscription to the list. The latter is a private mailing list for lesbians who
study and practice Buddhism in any tradition. There are no requirements in terms of
length of time one has been following the path. Beginners are as welcome as those with
experience. The homepage for dharma-dykes also offers an archive, online articles by/for
women, and other related links.
Divine Mothers and their institutions. Links to their websites:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/7153/mother.html.
Teachers linked to: Mother Meera, Anandamayi Ma, Ammachi, Karunamayi, Guru Maa,
Nirmala Devi, Shree Maa, The Mother, Ma Bhagavati, Shantimayi, Swami
Chidvilasananda, Gangaji, Swami Sivananda Radha, Vimala Thakar, Sarada Devi
Dodd, D. Aileen. More women taking vows of Buddhist nuns. Savannah Morning News
on the Web, 14 Jul 2001. Article available online:
http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/071401/LOCbuddism.shtml.
Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery and International Retreat Centre for Women. URL:
http://www.tenzinpalmo.com.
Do-drup-chen. Rig ’dzin yum ka bde chen rgyal mo’i sgrub gzhung gi zin bris bde chen
lam gzang gsal ba’i gron me (Notes on the Basic Text for Emulating the Mother
Knowledge, Bearer, the Great Bliss Queen: A Lamp Clarifying the Good Path of Great
Bliss) in the Collected Works of Do-drup-chen. Gantok, Sikkhim: Do-drup-chenRinboche [IV], Vol. 5.
Dorje, Dorje Loppön Lodrö. Dancer in the Coemergent Mirror: Talks on Vajrayogini
Practice. Vajradhatu Publications.
From the publisher: “The first volume in Vajradhatu Publications’ ‘Acharya Series,’
Dancer in the Co-emergent Mirror is a wonderful resource on every aspect of
Vajrayogini practice. This long-awaited compilation of talks is based on three recent
seminars by the Dorje Loppön. Beautifully designed and bound, it also includes
15
commentary by many teachers, discussion with students, cross-references, and an
excellent detailed bibliography for further study.”
Dorje, Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje. Trans. by Dechen Yeshe Wangmo. Visualizations
and Guide for the Foundational Practices of the Profound path of the Dakini Heart
Essence. 2002.
___________. Wish-Fulfilling Source of Accomplishment: Instructions on the Two
Phases of the Profound Path of the Dakini Heart Essence. Bero Jeydren Publications,
1997.
___________. Wish-Fulfilling Sourche of Great Exaltation: Activity Ritual of the
Profound Path of the Dakini Heart Essence. Bero Jeydren Publications, 1997.
Dorje, His Holiness Karmapa Thaye. Interview with H.H. Karmapa Thaye Dorje.
25 Dec 2003.
Dowman, Keith. Sky Dancer: The Secret Life and Songs of Lady Yeshe Tsogyel. London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984/New York: Penguin/Arkana, 1989. Excerpts of this
book are available online at http://www.keithdowman.net/books/sd.htm, including
“Woman and the Dakini.”
Drayer, Gloria. Full Moon Yoga video/DVD. URL: www.yogasacredandsimple.com.
Gloria Drayer is a Kripalu-trained teacher and founder of Full Moon Yoga, “gatherings in
which women receive the creative energy of the lunar cycle to deepen their practice and
experience ‘the goddess within.’”
Dresser, Marianne, ed. Buddhist Women on the Edge: Contemporary Perspectives from
the Western Frontier. North Atlantic Books, 1996.
“The essays . . . explore issues of gender, race, class, and sexuality; lineage, authority,
and the accessibility of Buddhist institutions; monastic, lay, and community practice; the
teacher-student relationship; psychological perspectives and the role of the emotions;
crossscultural adaptation and appropriation; and how spiritual practice informs creativity,
personal relationships, and political/social activism.”
Drucker, Malka. White Fire: A Portrait of Women Spiritual Leaders in America.
Woodstock, Vt.: Skylight Paths, 2002.
Includes interviews with meditation teacher Sylvia Boorstein, ashram leader Ma Jaya,
and women from other spiritual traditions.
Dudjom Rinpoche. Khandro Thuk Thik (Dakini Heart Essence). In translation by Lama
Dechen Yeshe Wangmo and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. URL:
http://www.jnanasukha.org/translation.htm.
16
From the Jnanasukha website: “This [mind-treasure] text presents the complete path to
enlightenment, from the foundational practices up to Leaping Over, the realization of the
rainbow body. It includes meditation practices of the outer dakini, Yeshe Tsoygal, the
inner dakini, Kurukulle, the secret dakini, Lion-Face, and the innermost dakini, Throma .
..
“In 1943, following a request Rinpoche received from a wisdom dakini through an
intermediary, he sat down to compose a brief dakini sadhana or meditation practice. To
his surprise, at that moment, the entire cycle of ‘Dakini Heart Essence’ overflowed in his
wisdom mind. When the cycle was finished, it contained 550 pages of instructions and
liturgies for the entire range of Vajrayana practices based on the feminine dakini
principle, including foundationa l practices, yidam practices, activity practices, yogic
exercises, and the ultimate paths of Great Perfection, Cutting Through and Leaping
Over.”
Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo: “The practices of ‘The Dakini Heart Essence’ are drawn
from the mahayoga, anuyoga, and atiyoga classifications of Nyingma inner tantra. What
is even more significant is that these practices have been designed to enlighten the
sentient beings of these dark and degenerate times. They were brought into this world in
1943 through the agency of the wisdom mind of His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche. They
are fresh and potent.
“Another point is that they are based on the feminine principle, the wisdom dakini or
female buddha. The power of the feminine is the power to transform highly toxic material
into the quintessential nectar of enlightenment. The dakini’s knife blade performs the
surgery and the skull cup bestows the ambrosia—simultaneously. It’s an alchemical
process which infuses us—bodily, energetically, and mentally—with an unquestionable
experience of true nature. From there, the dakini practices expand this experience day by
day, as we learn to relate in wisdom to the moment, the circumstances, and the work of
benefiting beings, experiencing ourselves and the world around us. Both.”
Edou, Jé rôme. Machig Labdrön and the Foundations of Chöd. Ithaca, N.Y. : Snow Lion
Publications, 1995.
“A book about the Tibetan Buddhist practice of chöd, founded by the great female mystic
Machig Labdrön. ”
English, Elizabeth. Vajrayogini: Her Visualizations, Rituals and Forms. Boston:
Wisdom Publications, 2002.
Enlightened nun Kisagotami. Article available online:
http://www.geocities.com/zennun12_8/kisagotami.html.
Enough mind. Tricycle, Summer 2002, pp. 50-57.
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An interview with Barbara Rhodes, one of the first women in America to be formally
recognized as a Zen teacher. She was given the authority to teach in 1977 and now serves
as the Vice School Zen Master of the Kwan Um School of Zen. She also has been a
registered nurse since 1969 and currently works with patients at Home and Hospice Care
of Rhode Island. She lives in Providence with her partner, Mary, and has two grown
daughters.
Erndl, Kathleen M. Victory to the Mother: The Hindu Goddess of Northwest India in
Myth, Ritual, and Symbol. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
E-Sangha online forum. Women in Buddhism. URL:
http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/index.php?s=1a8c13d8a70a075bdef76efee2b45ff3&sh
owforum=7.
Falk, Nancy Auer. The case of the vanishing nuns: The fruits of ambivalence in ancient
Indian Buddhism. In Nancy Falk and Rita Gross, eds., Unspoken Worlds: Women’s
Religious Lives in Non-Western Cultures. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1979, pp. 207224
Farrer-Halls, Gill. The feminine face of Buddhism. Theosophical Publishing House,
2002.
From the publisher: “In religious hierarchies around the world, women traditionally take
second place. Buddhism is no exception to the rule—other than increasingly in the West,
where women make up the majority of those who attend Buddhist centers and practice
meditation.
“This books rights the balance by exploring the key, but usually silent, role of women in
Buddhism past and present and in American as well as abroad.
“Spanning three Buddhist traditions (Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan), it features powerful
writings by historical and contemporary Buddhist women. It also interprets Buddhist
scriptures, the lives of saints, and traditional religious art in the light of feminine
archetypes and perspectives.
“Subjects include female Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, women as ‘unofficial’ Buddhist
teachers, male and female symbolism, and how to harmonize masculine and feminine
values in our daily lives. What we find is the essence of female Buddhist wisdom—a
treasure in itself that is a s relevant today as it has always been, although it has rarely
been so visible until now.”
Faure, Bernard. The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender. Princeton
University Press, 2003.
From the publisher: “Innumerable studies have appeared in recent decades about
practically every aspect of women’s lives in Western societies. The few such works on
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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.
“Faure challenges the conventional view that the history of women in Buddhism is a
linear narrative of progress from oppression to liberation. Examining Buddhist discourse
on gender in traditions such as that of Japan, he shows that patriarchy—indeed,
misogyny—has long been central to Buddhism. But women were not always silent,
passive victims. Faure points to the central role not only of nuns and mothers (and wives)
of monks but of female mediums and courtesans, whose colorful relations with Buddhist
monks he considers in particular.
“Ultimately, Faure concludes that while Buddhism is, in practice, relentlessly misogynist,
as far as misogynist discourses go it is one of the most flexible and open to contradiction.
And, he suggests, unyielding in-depth examination can help revitalize Buddhism’ s
deeper, more ancient egalitarianism and thus subvert its existing gender hierarchy. ”
Feldman, Christina. The Quest of the Warrior Woman: Women as Mystics, Healers and
Guides. London & San Francisco: Aquarian, 1994.
___________. Woman Awake: Women Practicing Buddhism. Berkeley, Calif.: Rodmell
Press, 2005.
Female buddhas and bodhisattvas according to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
URL: http://www.sakyadhita.org/deities.html or http://lhamo.tripod.com/9deity.htm.
Female deities (Buddhist). URL: http://www.khandro.net/deities_female.htm.
Female dharma masters of the past. URL: http://www.tilokpur.org/kdtl6.html.
Female masters within the mindrolling tradition. Article available online:
http://www.mindrolling.org/history_nb/h_female.cfm.
“There has been another significant line within the Mind-rolling tradition apart from the
Trichen line of throne holders, and the Khenchen line of vinaya holders. This is the
Jetsunma line, one of the remarkable features of Mind-rolling. It is a line of many great
female masters known as the Jetsunmas, daughters of various Mind-rolling Trichens over
the years. Beginning with Jetsun Mingyur Paldron, the daughter of Chögyal Terdag
Lingpa, to Jetsun Tsering Paldron, the daughter of the present Mind-rolling Trichen,
Mind-rolling has maintained a tradition of female teachers.
19
“Terdag Lingpa stressed the need for women to be educated as practitioners and teachers.
He directed his descendants to maintain the precious tradition that he himself exemplified
by empowering and teaching his own daughter along with his two sons. His inspiration
has continued and many women have been inspired to practice and teach within this
lineage.
“Many great female masters have lived, practiced and taught within the Mind-rolling
lineage. This has been mostly in Samten Tse, which is the name of Mind-rolling's
nunnery. Unfortunately, due to the lack of written records, many dates and important
information are missing. Yet, we hope that through sharing this history, it continues to
inspire and encourage all practitioners. Given here are a few of the particularly luminous
female teachers.”
Female teachers in Buddhism. Resource list available online:
http://lhamo.tripod.com/2tibetan.htm.
Fincke, Alanna. Yoga now: Healthy practices: Iyengar yoga teacher Patricia Walden
talks about how yoga can help women stay well at every stage of their lives. Body &
Soul, Nov/Dec 202, pp. 42-48.
Patricia Walden discusses her new book, written with Linda Sparrowe, The Woman’s
Book of Yoga and Health.
Findly, Ellison Banks, ed. Women’s Buddhism, Buddhism’s Women. Wisdom
Publications.
“Throughout Buddhism’s history, women have been hindered in their efforts to actualize
the fullness of their spiritual lives: they face more obstacles to reaching full ordination,
have fewer opportunities to cultivate advanced practice, and receive diminished
recognition for their spiritual accomplishments. Here, a diverse array of scholars,
activists, and practitioners explores how women have always managed to sustain a vital
place for themselves within the tradition and continue to bring about change in the forms,
practices and institutions of Buddhism. In essays ranging from the scholarly to the
personal, Women’s Buddhism, Buddhism’s Women describes how women have
significantly shaped Buddhism to meet their own needs and the demands of
contemporary life.
Fishman, Barbara Miller. Emotional Healing through Mindfulness Meditation: Stories
of Women and Guided Meditations for Those Seeking Wholeness. Rochester, Vt.: Inner
Traditions, 2002. Guided meditations are included on an accompanying 60- minutes CD.
From the publisher: “As a result of her years of working with women as a
psychotherapist, Barbara Miller Fishman developed the discipline of Mindfulness
Psychotherapy—a combination of mindfulness meditation and psychotherapy that, taken
altogether, describe a path toward wholeness. [In Emotional Healing] she presents the
integratio n of her life’s work through the poignant stories of eight women—all faced with
20
critical decisions and tough life circumstances—and how they used Mindfulness
Psychotherapy to attain greater levels of peace and well-being.
“The author offers a radical shift in a woman’s relationship to life. Readers will discover
the importance of naming a life problem, accepting the ‘is-ness’ of it, developing a
matter-of-fact curiosity, and exploring the mind/body reactions that we call emotional
pain. The path continues as the reader creates an observing self and discovers the deep
compassion that ultimately heals. Once learned, these six awareness practices can be used
to face difficult situations, discover self-acceptance, and release the love needed to reside
fully in ones’ whole self.”
Flinders, Carol Lee. At the Root of This Longing: Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a
Feminist Thirst. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998.
“The author explains how to reconcile the often conflicting and tense emotions and
beliefs of spirituality and feminism.
“She uncovers how she found that a life of meaning and self-knowledge depends on both,
and identifies the four key points where spirituality and feminism collide: embracing
silence vs. finding voice, relinquishing ego vs. establishing self, resisting desire vs.
reclaiming the body, and enclosure vs. freedom.
”She draws widely from the voices of mystics throughout the ages, feminist theory and
history, anthropology, women’s psychology, contemporary fiction and film, and her
personal experience as a meditation instructor to weave a shimmering tapestry of stories
and understanding.”
Florida, R. E. Buddhist approaches to abortion. Asian Philosophy, 1991, 1(1): 39-50.
Forum for Discussion of Feminist Buddhism. Contact Catherine Holmes Clark at
[email protected].
The Forum: Women in Buddhism. Ordinary Mind, Summer 2002, No. 17.
The Four Bodhisattva Vows from the women’s perspective. Article available online:
http://www.geocities.com/zennun12_8/bodhivows.html.
“The nature of Bodhi (Enlightenment) is attained in the same manner by men and by
women. There are not even slight differences in this connection, neither in the method
nor in the quality of attainment. The Buddha discovered that gender is of no importance
for the aim of freedom. A female saint (arahat, i.e., woman or man) or a female being
striving after sainthood is in no way subordinate to a male saint or male follower of the
Buddha. It is not possible to declare a higher or more important equality of the sexes.
“According to the teachings of the Buddha, there exists no practical difference between
the sexes. Man and woman are equal in their dependence upon each other and in their
clinging which must be overcome (Angutara-Nikaya I.1). Man and woman are equal in
21
the rights and duties of their partnership, as the Buddha described it for lay followers in
the famous sermon to Singalako (Digha-Nikaya, no.31). Thus stated, for male or female,
the Four Bodhisattva Vows, their importance, meaning, and execution, are the SAME in
any and all cases.”
Frawley, David. Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddesses. Salt Lake City, Ut.: Passage
Press, 1994.
Friedman, Lenore, ed. Meetings with Remarkable Women: Buddhist Teachers in
America. Rev. ed. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2000.
“Profiles seventeen distinguished female Buddhist teachers, including: Pema Chodron,
Ayya Khema, Sharon Salzberg, Maurine Stuart, Joanna Macy, Yvonne Rand, Jiyu
Kennett, Karuna Dharma, and more. This updated edition includes a new section
describing developments in each woman’s life and work since the book’s first publication
in 1987.”
___________, and Susan Moon, eds. Being Bodies: Buddhist Women on the Paradox of
Enlightenment. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1997.
“The relationship between body and mind has always been a topic of speculation, and
spirited discussion. The authors of the pieces contained in this anthology address be
problem from the unique dual perspective of being women and being students of
Buddhism. ‘We spend our lives in bodies, and if we realize anything: we care to call
enlightenment, it’s in our bodies; in this book we wanted to address a tendency we’ve
both observed for spiritual seekers to leave be body behind. From our study of the
dharma we are clear that the body is not the ultimate truth, and that attachment to it
causes suffering. But still, we don’t simply leap into the realm of the Absolute. The
Absolute is here, we say, in each embodied women—when we breathe, when we sweat,
when we bleed, when we feel desire’”—from the Editors’ Introduction
Friends of Yeshey Feminist Buddhist Email List Sangha. URL:
http://www.loudzen.com/skydancer/esangha/vision.html
From the Sutras: Life stories of the historical bhikshunis. Article available online:
http://www.geocities.com/zennun12_8/nunhistories.html.
Galland, China. Longing for Darkness: Tara and the Black Madonna. New York:
Viking, 1990.
Garzilli, Enrica. Stridhana: To have and to have not. Journal of South Asia Women
Studies, 26 Jan 1996, 2(1). Summary available online:
http://www.asiatica.org/jsaws/vol2_no1/paper1.php. (On dowry in India and the modern
law opposing dowry death.)
22
Gatwood, Lynn E. Devi and the Spouse Goddess: Women, Sexuality and Marriage in
India. New Delhi, India: Manohar, 1985.
Gehlek Rimpoche. Healing and self- healing through White Tara. Article available
online: http://www.jewelheart.nl/_algemeen/transcripten/txt_whitetara.html.
___________ with Brenda Rosen. The Tara Box: Rituals for Protection and Healing
from the Female Buddha. New World Library, 2004.
From the publisher: “Containing a 96-page book, a white Tara resin figure, and a
keepsake box, The Tara Box opens to create a mini-altar and portable shrine for the . . .
carved Tara statuette. The altar can be used in conjunction with the book’s rituals and
meditation practices, which are aimed at compassionate healing, long life, and protection
from life’s travails. The book—which slides snugly behind the altar for easy reference—
explains who Tara is and how to reach out to her.”
Ghanananda, Swami, and Sir John Stewart-Wallace. Women Saints: East and West.
Vedanta Press.
A collection of the lives and teachings of over 30 women saints from Hinduism,
Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism, Sufism, and Judaism.
Ghosh, Mallar. Development of Buddhist Iconography in Eastern India: A Study of
Tara, Prajñas of Five Tathagatas and Bhrikuti. New Delhi, India: Munshiram
Manoharlal, 1980.
Gitananda, Dr. Swami. Great ladies in Western Yoga. Yoga Life, Oct 1981, 12(10):1522.
Discusses Lili Kowolska (pen name: Lillian Donat) of the London School of Yoga,
Margit Segesman of the Gita School of Yoga in Melbourne, Rukhmani Devi, Indira Devi,
Swami Shivananda Radha, Ruth Erickson, and many others from around the world.
“Women have done more to spread Yoga throughout the world than their male
counterparts. They have literally gone to the ends of the earth in the interest of yoga . . .”
Goldberg, Natalie. Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in America. New York: Bantam
Books, 1993.
Gopalananda, Swami. Can You Listen to a Woman? A Man’s Journey to the Heart.
Kootenay Bay, B.C., Canada:Timeless Books.
From the publisher: “. . . a touching account of the intimate, intense experiences of a
spiritual discipleship. Following one man’s personal transformation under his guru, a
woman who has the power to draw him back to his own heart . . .”
Grant, Beata. Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns. Snow Lion.
23
Poems and talks of 20 nuns living in China from 1600-1850.
Green, Suzin. Women’s Yoga Chant CD. Boulder, Colo.: Gaiam.
Griffyn, Sally. Ashtanga Yoga for Women: Invigorating Mind, Body, and Spirit with
Power Yoga. Berkeley, Calif.: Ulysses Press, 2003.
Grimshaw, Anna. Servants of the Buddha: Winter in a Himalayan Convent. London:
Open Letters, 1992.
A woman from Lancashire visits a Ladakhi Buddhist convent.
Gross, Rita M. The feminine principle in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism: Reflectio ns of a
Buddhist feminist. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1984, 16(2).
___________. Buddhism and feminism: Toward their mutual transformation. The
Eastern Buddhist, Autumn 1986, 19(2):62-74.
___________. I will never forget to visualize that Vajrayoginî is my body and mind.
Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Spring 1987, 3(1):77-89.
___________. Yeshe Tsogyel: Enlightened consort, great teacher, female role model. In
Janice Willis, ed., Feminine Ground: Essays on Women and Tibet. Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow
Lion, 1990, pp. 11-32.
___________. Buddhism after Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, and
Reconstruction of Buddhism. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1993.
From the publisher: “This book surveys both the part women ha ve played in Buddhism
historically and what Buddhism might become in its post-patriarchal future. The author
completes the Buddhist historical record by discussing women, usually absent from
histories of Buddhism, and she provides the first feminist analysis of the major concepts
found in Buddhist religion. Gross demonstrates that the core teachings of Buddhism
promote gender equity rather than male dominance, despite the often sexist practices
found in Buddhist institutions throughout history.”
“Gross has written the magnum opus of feminist critique and re- visioning of Buddhism.
This has great theoretical and practical significance for feminist theology in its global
inter- faith dialogue. The particular merit of this book is its bridging of high quality
scholarship and accessibility to the non-expert.”—Rosemary Radford Ruether, Garrett
Theological Seminary and Northwestern University
“The book will fill a real, indeed urgent, need and be of great service to many Buddhists
and students, scholars and friend s of Buddhism. Here are some of its many strengths: It
clearly harvests years of impassioned study and experience, offers refreshingly bold,
24
original and well-reasoned arguments, and deals with important questions that only a
woman who is both a scholar and practitioner would adequately recognize. It
appropriately combines both textual work and historical/anthropological perspectives,
along with a clearly delineated feminist theoretical stance. It offers a valuable overview
of the roles of women and discerning comparisons between them. The feminist analysis
of key Buddhist concepts is excellent, especially issues of gender in relation to
selflessness, emotions, non-duality. These burning issues for many Western women
meeting Buddhism receive here very thoughtful, thorough, original treatment. The
‘prophetic voice that Gross openly brings to the Buddhist tradition is welcome, moving
and appropriate.”—Joanna R. Macy
___________. Feminism and Religion: An Introduction. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.
Contents: Defining feminism, religion, and the study of religion; Feminism’s impact on
religion and religious studies: A brief history; Where have all the women been? The
challenge of feminist study of religion; No girls allowed? Are the world’s religions
inevitably sexist?; Has it always been that way? Rereading the past; What next? Postpatriarchal religion
From Publisher’s Weekly: “. . . Gross (professor of philosophy and religion at the
University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire) traces the historical role of women in religion,
including the impact of feminist scholarship on the study of religion and theology. Gross
does not limit her explorations to the roles of women in Judaism and Christianity but
ranges over the roles of women in Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. She also exa mines
feminist spirituality, which has developed the contours of an organized religion. The
author points out that all religions, including Christianity and Judaism, have not always
been patriarchal, and she notes some groundbreaking work done by American Christian
feminists in the 1800s that had been mostly forgotten by the 1950s.”
___________. Soaring and Settling: Buddhist Perspectives on Contemporary Social and
Religious Issues. Continuum, 1998.
From a review by Library Journal: “When three very different elements come together in
one life, it can make for very interesting reading, and so it is with feminist Buddhist
theologian Gross’s new work . . . Her opening autobiographical section explains how she
became a feminist, a Buddhist, and a scholar. Uniting heart and head through
involvement with a particular religious tradition renders her scholarship in religious
history both controversial and intriguing. Gross discusses social issues ranging from
environmental ethics to children’s rights and religious issues from immanence and
transcendence in women’s religious experience to the feminine principle in Tibetan
Vajrayana Buddhism. Her courageous willingness to reveal how these issues affect her
personally makes for powerful reading.
___________. Buddhism. In Arvind Sharma and Katherine K. Young, Her Voice, Her
Faith: Women Speak on World Religions. Cambridge, Mass.: Westview Press, 2003.
25
___________. Guru, God, and gender. Shambhala Sun Online. Article available online:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/revolving_themes/woman/gross.htm.
___________, and Rosemary Radford Ruether. Religious Feminism and the Future of
the Planet: A Buddhist-Christian Conversation. Continuum, 2001.
Gupta, Sudhir Ranjan. Sen. Mother Cult. Calcutta: Firma KLM, 1977.
Gupta, Sanjukta. Women in the Saiva/Sakta ethos. In Julia Leslie, ed., Roles and
Rituals for Hindu Women. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1991,
pp. 193-209.
___________, trans. Laksmi Tantra: A Pancaratra Text. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972.
Gutschow, Kim. Being a Buddhist Nun: The Struggle for Enlightenment in the
Himalayas. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2004.
The author “recounts her time living with the nuns of the Zangskar region of Kashmir
several months a year over a period of 15 years. Not merely a memoir, Gutschow, an
anthropologist and Williams College professor, also investigates the role of nuns within
the Buddhist hierarchy that run counter to the American perception. ”
From the publisher: “Kim Gutschow spent more than three years in Zangskar and Ladakh
living with nuns, collecting their stories, observing their ways, studying their lives. Her
book offers the first ethnography of Tibetan Buddhist society from the perspective of its
nuns. Gutschow depicts a gender hierarchy where nuns serve and monks direct, where
monks bless the fields and kitchens while nuns toil in them. A richly textured picture of
the little-known culture of a Buddhist nunnery, the book offers moving narratives of nuns
struggling with the Buddhist discip line of detachment. Its analysis of the way in which
gender and sexuality construct ritual and social power provides valuable insight into the
relationship between women and religion in South Asia today.”
Gyatso, Geshe Kelsang. Guide to Dakini Land: The Highest Yoga Tantra Practice of
Buddha Vajrayogini. London: Tharpa, 1991, 1996 (2d ed.).
From the publisher: “. . . the first complete explanation in English to the Tantric practice
of Vajrayogini, the female Buddha of wisdom. The book provides detailed instructions on
the eleven yogas of generation stage, and an explanation of the essential completion stage
practices of Vajrayogini that lead to full enlightenment. Also included are special
methods for transforming all our daily activities into the spiritua l path, advice on how to
do Tantric retreat, all the sadhanas of Vajrayogini, and a wealth of additional material
that will be indispensable to anyone wishing to rely upon Buddha Vajrayogini.”
Gyatso, Janet. Apparitions of the Self. Princeton University Press, 1999.
26
Janet Gyatso’s translation and study of a pair of secret autobiographies by the Tibetan
Buddhist visionary Jigme Lingpa concludes with “a study of the subversive female figure
of the Dakini in Jigme Lingpa’s writings, and the implications of her gender, her
sexuality, and her unsettling discourse for the autobiographical subject in Tibet.”
___________, and Hanna Havnevik, eds. Women in Tibet: Past and Present. Columbia
University Press, 2005.
From the publisher: “This volume explores the struggles and accomplishments of women
from both past and present-day Tibet: queens from the imperial period, yoginis and
religious teachers of medieval times, Buddhist nuns, oracles, political workers, medical
doctors, and performing artists. Most of the essays focus on the lives of individual
women, whether from textual sources or from anthropological data, and show that
Tibetan women have apparently enjoyed more freedom than women in many other Asian
countries.”
Harding, Elizabeth. Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshinewswar. Vedanta Press.
Harding, Sarah. The Life and Revelations of Pema Lingpa. Snow Lion.
From the publisher: “These fascinating discussions between 11th century court ladies and
the great master Padmasambhava, available for the first time in English, weave intriguing
issues of gender into Buddhist teachings. The women’s doubts and hesitations are
masterfully resolved in these impassioned exchanges.”
Harper, Katherine Anne. The Jina Malli: Jainism and the spirituality of women.
Revised version, 2005. An earlier version appeared in Jinamanjari: International Journal
of Contemporary Jaina Reflections, Apr 1996, 13(1):42-63.
___________. Seven Hindu Goddesses of Spiritual Transformation: The Iconography of
the Saptamatrikas. The Edward Mellen Press.
Havnevik, Hanna. Tibetan Buddhist Nuns: History, Cultural Norms and Social Reality.
Oslo: Norwegian University Press, 1989.
The definitive work on the subject.
___________. The role of nuns in contemporary Tibet. In Barnett, ed., Resistance and
Reform in Tibet. London: Hurst and Co., 1994.
___________. The Life of Jetsun Lochen Rinpoche (1865-1951) as Told in Her
Autobiography. Acta Humaniora, 1999.
Hawley, John S., and Donna M. Wulff, eds. The Divine Consort: Radha and the
Goddesses of India. Beacon Press: Boston, 1982.
27
___________. Devi: Goddesses of India. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
From the publisher: “An exploration of 12 different Hindu goddesses including Ganga,
Sati, and Kali, that shows the divine feminine as fascinating, contradictory, and
powerful.”
Hecker, Helmuth. Buddhist Women at the Time of the Buddha. Translated from the
German by Sister Khema. Kandy: Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, 1982.
Available online: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bps/wheels/wheel292.html.
___________. Man and woman in the teachings of the Buddha. Article available online:
http://www.geocities.com/zennun12_8/woman_man.html.
Hermann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Dakinis: Zur Stellung und Symbolik des Weiblichen im
Tantrischen Buddhismus. Indica et Tibetica, vol. 20. Bonn, Germany: Indica et Tibetica
Verlag, 1992. [In German.]
Hiller, Terry. Letter to the editor in response to Nischala Joy Devi and Esther Myer’s
article “The Feminine Critique” on the irrelevance of the Bhagavad-Gita for modern
women). Yoga Journal, Nov 2003, p. 16.
Hixon, Lex. Mother of the Buddhas: Meditation on the Prajnaparamita Sutra. Wheaton,
Ill.: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993.
Hopkinson, Deborah, Michele Hill, and Eileen Kiera, eds. Not Mixing Up Buddhism:
Essays on Women and Buddhist Practice. Fredonia, N.Y. : White Pine Press, 1986.
Horner, Isaline B. Women under Primitive Buddhism: Laywomen and Almswomen.
London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1930/Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975.
___________. Women in Early Buddhist Literature. The Wheel Publication, No. 30.
Colombo, 1961.
Hridayananda Saraswati, Rishi. Women and yoga: Moving into the Age of
Information. Yoga (Sivananda Math), May 1999, 10(3):13-17.
Hubbard, Jamie. Conventional women, ultimate woman: Gender, non-duality, and the
Goddess. Gassho, Jul/Aug 1994, 1(5). Article available online:
http://www.etext.org/Religious.Texts/DharmaNet/Journals/Gassho/gass0105.nws.
Interview with Mrs. Tweedie audiotape. Inverness, Calif.: The Golden Sufi Center.
From the publisher: “Irinia Tweedie describes the events leading to her meeting with her
spiritual teacher and outlines the essence of the Naqshbandi Sufi path.”
28
Irigaray, Luce. Between East and West: From Singularity to Community. Translated by
Stephen Pluhácek. Columbia University Press, 2001.
From the publisher: “With this book we see a philosopher well steeped in the Western
tradition thinking through ancient Eastern disciplines, meditating on what it means to
learn to breathe, and urging us all at the dawn of a new century to rediscover indigenous
Asian cultures. Yogic tradition, according to Irigaray, can provide an invaluable means
for restoring the vital link between the present and eternity—and for re-envisioning the
patriarchal traditions of the West.
“Western, logocentric rationality tends to abstract the teachings of yoga from its everyday
practice—most importantly, from the cultivation of breath. Lacking actual, personal
experience with yoga or other Eastern spiritual practices, the Western philosophers who
have tried to address Hindu and Buddhist teachings—particularly Schopenhauer—have
frequently gone astray. Not so, Luce Irigaray. Incorporating her personal experience with
yoga into her provocative philosophical thinking on sexual difference, Irigaray proposes a
new way of understanding individuation and community in the contemporary world. She
looks toward the indigenous, pre-Aryan cultures of India—which, she argues, have
maintained an essentially creative ethic of sexual difference predicated on a respect for
life, nature, and the feminine.
“Irigaray’s focus on breath in this book is a natural outgrowth of the attention that she has
given in previous books to the elements—air, water, and fire. By returning to
fundamental human experiences—breathing and the fact of sexual difference—she finds
a way out of the endless sociologizing abstractions of much contemporary thought to
rethink questions of race, ethnicity, and globalization.”
From a review by Leslie Armouor, University of Ottawa, in Library Journal: “What
happens when a distinguished French feminist philosopher and psychoanalyst takes yoga
lessons? Irigaray gets some shocks and some good ideas, too. She chafes at the male
sexist attitude of some yo ga teachers and concludes that ‘patriarchal censorships and
repressions’ encroached upon a once healthier aboriginal tradition in India. Irigaray also
believes that the differences between men and women can play an important role in the
emergence of the love that is our best hope, something quite possible within an Eastern
tradition that understands its resources (Western misunderstandings, including
Schopenhauer’s, take a beating here). She comes to believe that breathing is a way of
focusing the body and that the idea of shared breath is more fundamental than the idea of
exchangeable words. Most readers will not be persuaded that, for instance, there is a
difference between male and female breathing, but this is a fresh look at the need for East
and West to get together, and Irigaray’s notion of a community without gender wars is
important.” Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Ittivutaka. Trans. by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.. Available online:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/khuddaka/iti/index.html. An alternative translation
by John Ireland (excerpts only) is available at:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/khuddaka/iti/iti-a.html.
29
John Ireland: “The Itivuttaka is a collection of 112 short discourses of the Buddha
belonging to the Pali Canon. According to the commentarial tradition, the suttas of the
Itivuttaka were collected by the woman lay disciple Khujjuttara from sermons given by
the Buddha while he was staying at Kosambi. Khujjuttara, a servant in the court of King
Udena, was declared by the Buddha his most learned woman lay follower. She had
become a stream enterer after meeting the Buddha and afterwards converted the women
of the palace to the Dhamma. She used to go regularly to listen to the Buddha preach and
then later reported what she heard to the other women. The compilation of these sayings
became known as the Itivuttaka.”
Iyengar, Geeta S. Yoga: A Gem for Women. New Delhi, India: Allied Publishers,
1983/Spokane, Wash.: Timeless Books, 1990.
Contents: First steps in yoga; Four paths to liberation; The path of yoga; Are women
eligible for yoga?; The nature of health; Is yoga ideal for women?; Three milestones in a
woman’s life; Know your body; Yoga sadhana—method of practice and prerequisites;
Hints and suggestions for the practice of asanas; Classification, table, and course of
study; Yogasana—technique and effects; On the threshold of peace: Mudra and
Savasana; Hints and suggestions for the practice of pranayama, Pranayama—techniques
and effects; Dhyana (meditation)
___________. Geeta Iyengar answers questions on yoga & women. Yoga Rahasya, 1997,
4(1):10-15.
___________. Yoga for women. Yoga Rahasya, 1997, 4(1):4-9.
Contents: Illustrious women practitioners of yoga in ancient India, Yogic practices—a
source of strength for the “weaker sex,” Problems commonly faced by women, The
benefits of yogic practices, Special instructions for women yoga practitioners, Common
misconceptions about women who practice yoga, Guruji B. K. S. Iyengar’s role in
introducing yoga to women
Jain, P. C. Conception and evolution of the Mother Goddess in India. Exotic India
Article of the Month, Jun 2004. Article available online:
http://www.exoticindia.com/article/mother.
Contents: The Devi as Mother, Mother Goddess in the Indus Valley, Mother Goddess in
the Vedas and Other Early Texts, Devi in Puranic Literature, Devi in Metaphysical
Perception, Other Dimensions of Devi Related Mythology, Devi’ s Symbolism, The
Manifest Forms of the Divine Female, Matrikas and Mahavidyas, Devi in Popular
Tradition
Jaini, Padmanabh S. Gender & Salvation (Jain Debates on the Spiritual Liberation of
Women). M.R.M.L.
30
Jayakar, Pupul. The Earth Mother: Legends, Ritual Arts, and Goddesses of India. San
Francisco: Harper and Row, 1990.
Jayanti, Sister. The contribution of women to Hindu spirituality. Presentation at the
Hindu Spirituality Conference, 21 Dec 2002, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Jiyu-Kennett, Rev. Roshi P. T. N. H. The Wild White Goose: The Diary of a Female
Zen Priest. Shasta Abbey Press, 2002.
From a review in issue no. 18 of Ascent magazine
(http://www.ascentmagazine.com/issues/18-reviews.html): “This new, attractive edition
of The Wild White Goose spans a period of Jiyu-Kennett Roshi’s life from her first two
and a half years as a junior Zen trainee, through her time in Japan over the following six
years, until she becomes a Zen priest and teacher. She decided to write about her
experience to show spiritual aspirants ‘how training must be done in the “mud” of daily
life in order to grow straight and strong the stem of the lotus flower of his or her own
spirituality. ’”
Jnanavira, Dharmacari. A mirror for women? Reflections of the feminine in Japanese
Buddhism. Western Buddhist Review, Vol. 4. Article available online:
http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol4/mirror_for_women.html.
Johnsen, Linda. Women saints of India. Yoga Journal, Jul/Aug 1988, pp. 52-55, 109.
___________. Daughters of the Goddess: The Women Saints of India. St. Paul, Minn.:
Yes International Publishers, 1994.
___________. The Living Goddess: Reclaiming the Tradition of the Mother of the
Universe. St. Paul, Minn.: Yes International Publishers.
From a review by Elizabeth Harding, Kali: “. . . the author takes us to the temples,
jungles, and cities of India to reveal a continuous lineage of Goddess spirituality
unbroken for all of human history . . .”
Jootla, Susan Elbaum. Inspiration from enlightened nuns. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist
Publication Society. Article available online:
http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/Archive/J/Jootla/enlightNunsJootla.html.
Kabilsingh, Chatsumarn. The Bhikkhuni Patimokkha of The Six Schools. Sri Satguru
Publications.
“In Vinaya Pitaka, Patimokkha has been accepted as one of the oldest texts of the
Buddhist canon. Patimokkha (Skt. Pratimoksa) is a list of rules or courses of training to
be observed by the bhikkhus and bhikkunis. The study of Bhikkhuni Patimokkha which is
part of the Vinaya is necessary as it proves to be one of the ways to understand the
historical growth of the Sangha(community). Each school has its own set of Pattimokkha
31
rules, the ma in body is that set of original rules which every school shares. As each
school developed in various geographical settings, more rules [were] formulated in
addition to the original rules handed down from the Buddha’s time. The present book
contains translations of the Patimokha of six schools, namely: Theravada, Mahasangika,
Mahissaka, Sarvastivada, Dhamagupta, and Mulasarvastivada.”
___________. A Comparative Study of Bhikkhuni Patimokkha. Chaukhambha Oriental
Research Studies, vol. 28. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Orientalia, 1984.
On the vows and rules of fully ordained nuns (bhikkhuni [Pali] or bhikshuni [Sanskrit]).
___________. Thai Women in Buddhism. Berkeley, Calif.: Parallax Press, 1991.
Kajiyama, Yuichi. Women in Buddhism. Eastern Buddhist, Autumn 1982, 15(2):53-70.
Kalff, Martin M. Selected chapters from the Abhidhanottara-tantra: The union of
female and male deities. Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1979.
___________. Dakinis in the Cakrasamvara tradition. In Martin Brauen and Per Kvaerne,
eds., Tibetan Studies Presented at the Seminar of Young Tibetologists, Zürich, June 26July1, 1977. Zurich: Völkerkundemuseum der Univeresität Zürich, 1978.
Kali, Devadatta. In Praise of the Goddess: The Devimahatmya and Its Meaning.
Vedanta Press.
Kalyanavaca, ed. The Moon and Flowers: A Woman’s Path to Enlightenment
Birmingham: Windhorse Publications, 1997.
“Brings together essays written by nineteen women who have been ordained within the
Buddhist tradition.”
Karma Drubgyu Thargay Ling Mahayan Buddhist Nunnery, Tilokpur, India. URL:
http://www.tilokpur.org/kdtl4.html.
Karthar Rinpoche, Khenpo. Dharma in Women. Transcript. Available for purchase
from Namse Bangdzo.
Katz, Nathan. Anima and mKha’-’gro- ma: A critical comparative study of Jung and
Tibetan Buddhism. Tibet Journal, Autumn 1977, 2(3):13-43.
Khalsa, Gururattan K. The Destiny of Women is the Destiny of the World. Sunbury, Pa.:
Yoga Technology. URL:
http://www.yogatech.com/go/htmlos.cgi/008655.1.1169622695630514357.
Khalsa, Shakta Kaur. Yoga for Women: Health and Radiant Beauty for Every Stage of
Life. DK Publishing, 2002.
32
From the publisher: “Featuring exercises that target women’s health issues and alleviate
the symptoms of menopause, Yoga For Women shows how this ancient practice provides
the solution to staying flexible, healthy, and youthful at any age. Packed with more than
500 full-color photographs, healing remedies, tips, and inspiring true stories, this is a
practical manual that nurtures and empowers women at every stage of their lives.”
Contents: The basics; Warming up to yoga; Especially for women; Rejuvenating yoga;
To relax & rejoice; Healing power; Energy for life; Lightening up; Leveling out; Monthly
cycle; Easing into menopause; Breast care; Self-empowerment; Releasing fear & anger;
Relationships; Preparing for birth; New mother & baby; Ageless beauty; Living in the
moment
Khandro Rinpoche. This Precious Life: Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on the Path to
Enlightenment. Snow Lion.
From the publisher: “Khandro Rinpoche’s perspective as a woman—and renowned
Kagyu Nyingma teacher—brings a unique, feminine understanding to practical
presentation of the Four Reminders: the preciousness of human birth, truth of
impermanence, reality of suffering, and inescapability of karma.”
Khema, Sister Ayya. Being Nobody, Going Nowhere. London: Wisdom Publications,
1987.
“An introduction to Buddhist practice by a German-born bhikshuni (fully ordained nun)
of the Theravada tradition.”
___________. The significance of ordination as a Buddhist nun. Gassho, Jul/Aug 1994,
1(5). Article available online:
http://www.etext.org/Religious.Texts/DharmaNet/Journals/Gassho/gass0105.nws.
King, Sallie B., trans. Passionate Journey: The Spiritual Autobiography of Satomi
Myodo. Boston: Shambhala, 1978.
King, Ursula, ed. Women in the World’s Religions, Past and Present. New York:
Paragon House, 1987.
Contains several essays on Buddhism.
Kinsley, David. Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu
Religious Tradition. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,
1986/Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987.
Discusses Vedic goddesses; Laksmi; Parvati; Sarasvati; Sita; Radha; Durga; Kali; The
Mahadevi; The Matrikas; Tara, Chinnamasta, and the Mahavidyas; Goddesses and sacred
geography; Village goddesses
33
___________. Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahavidyas. Berkeley,
Calif: University of California Press, 1997.
The ten Mahavidyas: Kali, Tara, Tripura-sundari, Bhuvanesvari, Chinnemasta, Bhairavi,
Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi, and Kamala
From the publisher: “The Hindu pantheon is rich in images of the divine feminine deities
representing a wide range of symbolic, social, and meditative meanings. David Kinsley’s
new book documents a highly unusual group of ten Hindu tantric goddesses, the
Mahavidyas, many of whom are strongly associated with sexuality and violence. What is
one to make of a goddess who cuts her own head off, or one who prefers sex with a
corpse? The Mahavidyas embody habits, attributes, or identities usua lly considered
repulsive or socially subversive and can be viewed as ‘anti- models’ for women. Yet it is
within the context of tantric worship that devotees seek to identify themselves with these
forbidding goddesses. The Mahavidyas seem to function as ‘awakener’ symbols which
help to project one’s consciousness beyond the socially acceptable or predictable.
Drawing on a broad range of Sanskrit and vernacular texts as well as extensive research
in India, including written and oral interpretations of contemporary Hindu practitioners,
Kinsley describes the unusual qualities of each of the Mahavidyas and traces the parallels
between their underlying themes. Especially valuable are the many rare and fascinating
images he presents, each important to grasping the significance of the goddesses.”
Klein, Anne C. Non-dualism and the great bliss queen: A study in Tibetan Buddhist
ontology and symbolism. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 1985, 1(1):73-98.
___________. Primordial purity and everyday life: Exalted female symbols and the
women of Tibet. In Clarissa W. Atkinson, Constance Buchanan, and Margaret Miles,
eds., Immaculate and Powerful: The Female in Sacred Image and Social Reality. Boston:
Beacon Press, 1985, pp. 111-138.
___________. Finding a self: Buddhist and feminist perspectives. In C. Atkinson, C.
Buchanan, and M. Miles, eds., Shaping New Vision: Gender and Values in American
Culture. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press, 1987, pp. 191-218.
___________. Meeting the Great Bliss Queen: Buddhists, Feminists, and the Art of the
Self. Boston: Beacon Press, 1994.
___________. Presence with a difference: Buddhists and feminists on subjectivity.
Gassho, Jul/Aug 1994, 1(5). Article available online:
http://www.etext.org/Religious.Texts/DharmaNet/Journals/Gassho/gass0105.nws.
Klimburg, Maximilian. Male-female polarity symbolism in Kafir art and religion: New
aspects in the study of the Kafirs of the Hindu-Kush. East-West, Sep-Dec 1976, 26(34):479-488.
34
Klostermaier, Klaus. Sri tattva (the goddess principle). Journal of Vaisnava Studies,
1995-1996, 4:21-36.
Kooten, Victor Van. Letter to the editor in response to Nischala Joy Devi and Esther
Myer’s article “The Feminine Critique” on the irrelevance of the Bhagavad-Gita for
modern women). Yoga Journal, Nov 2003, p. 18.
Ku, Cheng-mei. The Mahisasaka view of women. In David J. Kalupahana, ed., Buddhist
Thought and Ritual. New York: Paragon House, 1991, pp. 103-124.
Kumar, Nitin. Green Tara and White Tara: Feminist ideals in Buddhist art. Exotic India
article of the month, Nov 2000. Article available online:
http://www.exoticindiaart.com/tara.htm.
___________. Lakshmi and Saraswati: Tales in mythology and art. Exotic India article of
the month, Dec 2000. Article available online:
http://www.exoticindia.com/article/lakshmiandsaraswati.
___________. Durga: Narrative art of an “independent” warrior goddess. Exotic India
article of the month, Apr 2001. Article available online:
http://www.exoticindia.com/article/durga.
___________. Parvati the love goddess: Tales of marriage and devotion in art and
mythology. Exotic India article of the month, Jul 2001. Article available online:
http://www.exoticindia.com/article/parvati.
___________. Every woman a goddess: The ideals of Indian art. Exotic India article of
the month, Jan 2002. Article available online:
http://www.exoticindia.com/article/goddess.
___________. Wisdom goddesses: Mahavidyas and the assertion of femininity in Indian
thought. Exotic India article of the month, May 2002. Article available online:
http://www.exoticindia.com/article/mahavidyas.
___________. Dance of the Yogini: Images of [wrath] in Tantric Buddhism. Exotic India
article of the month, Sep 2002. Article available online:
http://www.exoticindia.com/article/dakini.
___________. A Kali in every woman: Motherhood and the dark goddess archetype.
Exotic India article of the month, Oct 2002. Article available online:
http://www.exoticindia.com/article/motherkali.
___________. Shakti: Power and femininity in Indian art. Exotic India article of the
month, Mar 2003. Article available online: http://www.exoticindia.com/article/shakti.
35
___________. Ganga the river goddess: Tales in art and mythology. Exotic India article
of the month, Aug 2003. Article available online:
http://www.exoticindia.com/article/ganga.
___________. Conception and evolution of the Mother Goddess in India. Exotic India
article of the month, Jun 2004. Article available online:
http://www.exoticindia.com/article/mother.
___________. Awakening the inner woman: Bhakti and the doctrine of love. Exotic India
article of the month, Dec 2004. Article available online:
http://www.exoticindia.com/article/bhakti.
“It was the early sixteenth century. A distinguished scholar named Jiva Gosain was head
of the Vaishnavas in Vrindavana. At the same time Mirabai, the great woman saint of
medieval India, [also] resided in the holy city. Once, the pious lady sent forth a message
to Jiva Gosain that she wanted to meet him and have his darshan. He declined, saying that
he would not allow any woman in his presence. Mira retorted: ‘O virtuous one, every one
in Vrindavana is a woman. Only Krishna is Purusha (Male). Today only have I come to
know that there is another Purusha besides Krishna in Vrindavana.’ Jiva Gosain, jolted
into accepting the profundity of her statement, immediately rushed to Mira’s side and
paid her due respects.
“The intense passion of Mirabai, which sought to model itself on the fervent ardor of the
gopis of Vrindavana, suggests that the lord can be worshipped very effectively if the
[male] devotee imagines himself to be a woman. ”
Kumar, Pushpendra. The Principle of Sakti. New Delhi, India: Eastern Book Linkers,
1986.
___________. Sakti Cult in Ancient India. Varanasi, India: Bhartiya Publishing House,
1974.
Kunsang, Erik Pema. Dakini Teachings: Padmasambhava’s Oral Instructions to Lady
Tsogyal. Boston: Shambhala, 1990.
___________. Advice from the Lotus-Born: A Collection of Padmasambhava’s Advice to
the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal and Other Close Disciples. Rangjung Yeshe Publications,
1994.
___________. Dakini Teachings: A Collection of Padmasambhava’s Advice to the
Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal. Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1999.
Kwiat, Cecilie. Women in Western Buddhism: An interview with Cecilie Kwiat. Article
available online: http://members.tripod.com/~Lhamo/Kwiat.htm.
36
Lalitananda, Swami. Glimpses of a Mystical Affair. Kootenay Bay, B.C.,
Canada:Timeless Books.
From the publisher: “. . . a lyrical expression of the enchanting relationship between a
mystic and her loving student. Swami La litananda, Swami Sivananda Radha’s assistant
and devotee, offers the reader an intimate glimpse of this remarkable woman.”
Lalye, P.G. Studies in Devi Bhagavata. Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1973.
Landesman, Susan S. The Great Secret of Tara: Worship of Goddess Tara in SeventhCentury India According to the Tara-Mula-Kalpa. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2005.
Notes from a presentation, “Goddess Tara and the Great Secret”: “Seeing reality from an
ultimate viewpoint, the enlightened mind transcends notions of gender. However, from a
conventional perspective, Goddess Tara is one of Buddhism’ s earliest female role models
to promote women’s potentiality for enlightenment. Tara’s legendary past as the Princess
Moon of Wisdom (Jnanacandra) documents her conversation with an orthodox-minded
monk who exhorted her to pray for rebirth as a man. In this legend, the princess utters a
vow that highlights a woman commitment to achieving the foremost goals of the
Buddhist path: [Many in a man’s body desire enlightenment while not even a single
[person] strives for the benefit of sentient beings in a woman’s body. Therefore, I shall
work for the benefit of sentient beings in a woman’s form as long as samsara has not
been emptied. (Jayapandita’s Collected Works (vol.1, 221b-3 to 5))]. As the Princess
upheld her vow in her daily efforts to liberate countless beings, her success led to the
prophecy that as long as she manifested unexcelled, perfect enlightenment, she would be
referred to as the Goddess Tara. In spite of the Tara cult’s obscure beginnings in India, it
grew strong by the seventh century. Thereafter, it spread to Tibet where Tara was
proclaimed the ‘Mother’ of the Tibetan people. The major source for the Tara cult’s
formative period in India is the ritual compendium with the abbreviated title Tara- mulakalpa [TMK], (Eng. Tara’s Basic Ritual Text). The Sanskrit text, believed to have been
composed sometime in the seventh century, was translated into Tibetan in the thirteenth
century by Buston and classified as a kriya tantra. Thereafter, the Sanskrit text was lost.
The TMK’s Tibetan translation is found in the various editions of the Tibetan canon’s
scriptural collection, the Kanjur (bKa yur). It is the largest canonical source on the
goddess. Although the TMK’s lineage of teachings appears to have been broken because
of its lack of commentaries among other factors, such does not diminish the importance
of this text for scholarship. Most importantly, the TMK demonstrates the beginning
stages in the development of feminist role models in 7th century tantric Buddhist rituals,
art, and thought. Although the TMK features Tara earliest iconographic forms and
functions within the rites of the mandala, painting on cloth (pata), and burnt offerings
(homa), it is interesting to note the prominent role that Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara plays
in the text. Such suggests the crucial role of modeling a formative goddess cult after preexisting male counterparts. It appears that it took many centuries until Tara was evoked
on an independent basis, as she was during the life of the eleventh century master Atisha,
for whom Tara served as a tutelary deity and guide in his transmission of major Buddhist
teachings to Tibet. Despite Avalokiteshvara major role in the TMK, this text bears ample
37
evidence to elucidate the importance and variety of forms and functions that Tara
fulfilled for her devotees during the formative period of her cult in India.”
Lang, Karen. Shaven heads and loose hair: Buddhist attitudes toward hair and sexuality.
In Howard Eilberg-Schwartz and Wendy Doniger, eds., Off with Her Head!: The Denial
of Women’s Identity in Myth, Religion, and Culture. Berkeley, Calif.: University of
California Press, 1995.
Law, Bimala Churn. Women in Buddhist Literature. Varanasi: Indological Book House,
1981.
___________. Buddhist women. Article available online:
http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/lawbud.htm.
Leach, Monte. Helping the daughters of Buddha : Interview with Dr. Chatsumarn
Kabilsingh. Share International, Dec 1994. Article available online:
http://www.shareintl.org/archives/social-justice/sj_mlhelping.htm.
“An interview with Thai activist and author Dr. Chatsumarn Kabilsingh about her work
in expanding women’s awareness of their potential, particularly in the context of
Buddhism’s dogmas.”
Leslie, Julia, ed. Roles and Rituals for Hindu Women. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleight
Dickinson University Press, 1991.
___________. Dowry, “dowry deaths,” and violence against women. Journal of South
Asia Women Studies, 22 Dec 1996, 2(4). Summary available online:
http://www.asiatica.org/jsaws/vol2_no4/paper2.php.
Lief, Judith L. The womb of wisdom. Shambhala Sun Online. Article available online:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/revolving_themes/woman/lief.htm.
A talk given to Naropa students (Naropa’s slogan is “womb of wisdom”).
Lottermoser, Friedgard. Buddhist nuns in Burma. Article available online:
http://www.purifymind.com/NunBurma.htm or
http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/Archive/L/Lottermoser/burmeseNunsLottermoser.h
tml.
Luding, H.E. Jetsun Chimey. Women in Buddhism. Ordinary Mind, Summer 2001, No.
15.
Mackenzie, Vicki. Cave in the Snow: Tenzin Palmo’s Quest for Enlightenment.
Bloomsbury. See also the video of the same name inspired by this book:
http://www.firelight.com.au/cave.html.
38
“How a Westerner, the daughter of a fishmonger from London’s East End, has become a
Buddhist legend and a champion of the right of women to attain spiritual enlightenment.
[...] Tenzin Palmo tells her story to Vicki Mackenzie with candor, humor, and clarity. She
speaks of the challenges she faced, the hardships she endured, her spiritual aspirations,
and the insights she experienced in the cave. She also reveals the inner conflict between
her love for a man and her calling. Cave in the Snow is a gripping story of courage and
phenomenal persistence. Throughout, Tenzin Palmo proves that she is truly a heroine of
our time, a torchbearer in the last frontier of women’s liberation—that of equal spiritual
rights.”
Magee, Mike. The Magic of Kali. Available online at Mike Magee’s site:
http://www.shivashakti.com/texts.htm.
“Sample chapters on the worship of Dakshina Kalika. The whole work contains the
yantras, mantras and rituals of the most famous tantric deity, has the complete text of the
Todala Tantra and uses translations from different tantras to demonstrate the importance
of the tradition.
___________. Shri Tara Devi. Article available online:
http://www.shivashakti.com/tara.htm.
___________. Yogini Hridaya. Article available online:
http://www.shivashakti.com/hridabst.htm.
___________. Yogini Tantra. Article available online:
http://www.shivashakti.com/yogini.htm.
Maharaj, Lokanath, trans. The Yoni Tantra. London, 1984. Available online at Mike
Magee’s site: http://www.shivashakti.com/texts.htm.
“This work eulogises the yoni of the goddess. According to the Kaula tantriks, the most
sacred spot in India is Kamarupa, where the genitals of the Devi fell after her body was
sliced into 51 parts by the discus of Vishnu. This is the first translation into English of
this important work.”
Maitreyi. Feminism and Buddhism. In The Moon and Flowers, 1997. Article available
online: http://www.aranya.fwbo.org/articles/maitreyi.html.
Makley, Charlene. The body of a nun: Nunhood and gender in contemporary Amdo. In
Janet Gyatso and Hanna Havnevik, eds. Women in Tibet: Past and Present. Columbia
University Press, 2005.
Marglin, Frédérique Apffel. Wives of the God-King: The Rituals of the Devadasis of
Puri. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985.
39
Marzo, Mary. Goddess yoga. Yoga.com Newsletter, Nov 2003. URL:
http://www.yoga.com.
McDermott, Rachel Fell, and Jeffrey J. Kripal. Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at
the Center, in the West. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 2003.
From the publisher: “Encountering Kali explores one of the most remarkable divinities
the world has seen—the Hindu goddess Kali. She is simultaneously understood as a
blood-thirsty warrior, a goddess of ritual possession, a Tantric sexual partner, and an allloving, compassionate Mother. Popular and scholarly interest in her has been on the rise
in the West in recent years. Responding to this phenomenon, this volume focuses on the
complexities involved in interpreting Kali in both her indigenous South Asian settings
and her more recent Western incarnations. Using scriptural history, temple architecture,
political violence, feminist and psychoanalytic criticism, autobiographical reflection, and
the goddess’s recent guises on the Internet, the contributors pose questions relevant to our
understanding of Kali, as they illuminate the problems and promises inherent in every act
of cross-cultural interpretation.”
McLeod, Melvin. Women’s liberation: Sharon Salzberg, Barbara Rhodes, Judith
Simmer-Brown and Pat O’Hara on what it means to be a wo man dharma teacher and how
they’d like to see Buddhism in America evolve. Shambhala Sun. Article available online:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/Archives/Features/2000/July00/womenteachers.ht m.
Mesko, Sabrina. Power Mudras: Yoga Hand Postures for Women. New York:
Ballantine Books, 2002.
Miller, Beatrice D. Views of women’s roles in Buddhist Tibet. In A. K. Narain, Ed.,
Studies in History of Buddhism. Delhi: B. R. Publishing, 1980, pp. 155-166.
Milton, Julia. Women in Western Buddhism: An interview with Cecilie Kwiat. Article
available online: http://members.tripod.com/%7ELhamo/Kwiat.htm.
Minamoto, Junko. Buddhism and the historical construction of
sexuality in Japan. U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal: English Supplement, 1993, vol. 6.
Mohanty, Seema. The Book of Kali. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2004.
Mookerjee, Ajit. Kali: The Feminine Force. Destiny Books, 1988/ London: Thames &
Hudson 1988.
Morales, Frank. The concept of Shakti: Hinduism as a liberating force for women.
Article available online: http://www.dharmacentral.com/articles/shakti.htm.
Mo-Shan Liao-Jan: First woman dharma heir in Chinese Zen Buddhism. Article
available online: http://www.angelfire.com/realm/bodhisattva/mo_shan.html.
40
Mugai Nyodai—Japan’s first female Zen master. Article available online:
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/zennun/chiyono.html.
Muktananda, Swami, under the guidance of Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Nawa
Yogini Tantra. Munger, Bihar, India: Bihar School of Yoga, 1977, 1998.
Contents: Women and spirituality; A woman’s body; The yoga body; The menstrual
cycle; Menarche and menopause; Growing into womanhood; Primal energy; Marriage;
Other options; The goddess within; Backache; Depression; Headache; Leucorrhoea;
Menstrual irregularities; Overweight; Pregnancy; Prolapse; Urinary system disorders;
Varicose veins; A guide for sadhana; For beginners; Intermediate sadhana; Classical
sadhana
Mullin, Glenn H. Female Buddhas: Women of Enlightenment in Tibetan Mystical Art.
Clear Light Pub., 2002.
From a review in Publisher’s Weekly: “Whereas the art of most Buddhist countries
features a preponderance of male images, the art of Tibet has traditionally emp hasized
what the authors call ‘the strong role of the feminine.’ This book, one of the first Western
titles ever to analyze this unique artistic tradition, is the companion volume to a touring
art exhibit about female buddhas. Mullin, a Tibetologist and Buddhist scholar, writes that
feminine imagery in Tibetan frescoes and tangka paintings reinforces the notion of the
personification of wisdom and meditative consciousness. In Part I, Mullin explores the
historical importance and symbolic significance of female buddhas, while the
accompanying full-color photographs and illustrations demonstrate their role in daily
devotion and meditation. Part II is devoted to the art and its interpretation, with dozens of
reproductions of Tibetan masterpieces, drawn from the collection of the Rubin Art
Museum that is slated to open in 2004 in New York.” Copyright 2003 Reed Business
Information, Inc.
Murcott, Susan. The First Buddhist Women: Translations and Commentaries on the
Therigatha. Berkeley, Calif.: Parallax Press, 1991.
Nakai, Rev. Patti. Women in Buddhism. Article available online:
http://www.livingdharma.org/Living.Dharma.Articles/WomenInBuddhism1.html.
Nakao, Sensei Wendy Egyoku. Women acquiring the essence. 10 Jul 1998. Article
available online:
http://www.zencenter.org/news/DharmaTalks/WomenAcquiringTheEssence.htm.
Napoli, Maria, Karen Gerden, and Shelly DeSouza -Rowland. Treatment of
prostitution using integrative therapy techniques: A case study. Journal of Contemporary
Psychotherapy, June 2001, 31(2):72-87.
Abstract: This case study examines a pattern we believe to be common among female
prostitutes: a woman (“Bonnie”) who, like most prostitutes, is a survivor of childhood
41
sexual abuse. Bonnie’s prostitution is part of the unconscious ‘repetition compulsion’
common in trauma victims; by prostituting herself, Bonnie re-creates the scenario of
sexual abuse that occurred during her childhood, while maintaining an illusion of control
over the situation. We maintain that an effective approach to treatment for Bonnie is
integrative therapy, a type of psychological counseling designed to address the major
aftereffects of sexual abuse: dissociation from the body and sexuality in general; a
profound sense of powerlessness; critically low valuation of the self; and mistrust and
fear of intimacy. Bonnie’s story shows the dynamics of both prostitute behavior and
integrative therapy, providing an example we believe to be applicably far beyond this
case study.
Narayanan, Vasudha. Hinduism. In Arvind Sharma and Katherine K. Young, Her
Voice, Her Faith: Women Speak on World Religions. Cambridge, Mass.: Westview Press,
2003.
Naura, Hella. Women to the fore. Yoga and Total Health, Aug 2001, 47(1):17-18.
Neilson, Lesley Marian. Tenzin Palmo is watering the nuns: An interview with the
Venerable Tenzin Palmo. Ascent, Article available online:
http://www.ascentmagazine.com/issues/04-art1.html.
Neumaier-Dargyay, E. K. The Sovereign All-Creating Mind—The Motherly Buddha: A
Translation of the Kun byed rgypal po’I mdo. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New
York Press, 1992.
Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche. The mother essence lineage. Article available online:
http://www.etext.org/Religious.Texts/DharmaNet/Journals/Gassho/gass0105.nws.
Contents: Yeshe Tsogyel; Jomo Menmo; Pema ‘o-Zer; Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema;
The Mother Essence Lineage Today; Khandro/Pawo Mirroring, or Cutting Through
Spiritual Chauvinism,
Ngawang Denzin Dorje. kLong chen snying gi thig le’i mkha’ ’gro bde chen rgyal mo’i
grub gzhung gi ’grel pa rgyud don snang ba a.k.a. Ra Tig (Commentary on the Practice
for Emulating the Sky Woman, the Great Bliss Queen, from the “Very Essence of the
Great Expanse” tradition of Long-chen-rab-jam). New Delhi: Sonam Topgay Kazi, 1972.
Nichiren Feminist Disciples discussion group. URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NichirenFeministDisciples.
Nikhilananda, Swami, trans. Sri Sarada Devi: The Holy Mother: Her Teachings and
Conversations. Vedanta Press.
Niranjanananda Saraswati, Swami. Women in the yogic tradition. Yoga (Sivananda
Math), May 1999, 10(3):18-19.
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Norbu, Chogyal Namkhai. The Practice of Long Life of the Immortal Dakini:
Mandarava. Arcidoss GR Italy: Associazione Culturale Comunita Dzogchen, 1999.
Norbu Rinpoche , Thinley. Magic Dance: The Display of the Self-Nature of the Five
Wisdom Dakinis. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1998.
From the publisher: “Through teachings, stories, and his distinctive use of language,
[Thinley Norbu Rinpoche] relates how the energies of the five elements [i.e., the five
wisdom dakinis] manifest within our everyday world, in individual behavior and group
traditions, relationships and solitude, medicine and art. He illustrates how the magic
dance of the elements can be transformed through meditation . . .”
Norman, K. R., trans. The Elders: Verses II: Therigatha. London: Pali Text Society and
Luzac & Company, 1971.
Nurbakhsh, Javad. Sufi Women. New York: Khaniqahip-Nimatullahi Publications,
1983.
Nyingpo, Namkai. Mother of Knowledge: The Enlightenment of Ye-shes mTsho-rgyal.
Trans. by Ta rthang Tulku. Berkeley, Calif.: Dharma Publishing, 1983.
O’Brien, Paddy. Yoga for Women: A Gentler Strength. London: Thorsons, 1991, 1994.
Contents: Clothes and equipment; How much to do, when to do it; Choosing a class;
What are the origins of yoga?; The benefits; How to use this book; Practice guidelines;
Programme design; Basic session (standing poses, back bends, sitting poses, awareness of
breathing, meditation, yantra and mandala); Adolescence; Menstrual cycle; Pregnancy;
The post-natal months; The menopause; Alone or separated; In a loving partnership;
Overstress; Under-stressed; Feeling fragile; Very fit; Eating, size and weight; Chakra,
color and sound; Yama and niyama—on not going to extremes; Yoga nidra; Visualization
Odin, Jaishree Kak. To the Other Shore: Lalla’s Life and Poetry. Vitasta Publishers,
1999.
Contents: Preface; Introduction; Historical background; Lalla’s life; Shaiva literature and
the female subject; Lalla’s thought: Beyond Shiva/Shakti duality; The ocean and the
waves; The dancer and the dance; Lalla’s verses; Bibliography
O'Halloran, Maura. Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind. New York: Riverhead Books, 1994.
Story of a young Irishwoman who became a recognized Zen master in Japan.
Paape, Val. Patriarchy, power & posture. Contemporary Women’s Issues Database, Jun
1992, 6:36.
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Pachen, Ani, and Adelaide Donnelley. Sorrow Mountain: The Remarkable Story of a
Tibetan Warrior Nun. New York: Doubleday/Ted Smart, 2000.
“Sorrow Mountain is the story of Ani Pachen, a warrior princess in the Kham region of
Tibet, who, after her father’s death, led her people against the Chinese invasion, was
captured and imprisoned for twenty-one years, escaped to India, became a nun, and
traveled widely to tell her story.”
Padou, André, trans. Le Coeur de la Yoginî: Yoginîhrdaya avec le Commentaire Dîpikâ
d’Amrtânanda. (Collège de France, Publications de l’Institut de Vivilisation Indienne,
Série in-8o , Fasc. 63. Paris: Collège de France, Édition-Diffusion de Boccard, 1994.
Pao-Ch'ang, Shih. Lives of the Nuns: Biographies of Chinese Buddhist Nuns from the
Fourth to Sixth Centuries. Trans. by Kathryn Ann Tsai. Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press, 1994.
Paul, Diana Y. Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in Mahayana Tradition.
Berkeley, Calif.: Asian Humanities Press, 1979/University of California Press, 1985.
Includes some discussion of the role of the bhikshuni sangha.
Payne, Ernest A. The Saktas: An Introductory and Comparative Study. London: Oxford
University Press, 1933.
Peters, Larry G. The Tibetan healing rituals of Dorje Yudronma : A fierce manifestation
of the feminine cosmic force. Shaman’s Drum, 1997, no. 45, pp. 36-47.
Phelan, Nancy, and Michael Volin. Yoga for Women: 4 Great Natural Sources of
Prolonged Youth. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.
Contents: Introduction to yoga; The female body; Delaying old age; Yoga and sex; Diet;
Physical and mental hygiene; Rest and relaxation; Relaxation and limbering- up;
Breathing exercises; Asanas (bodily positions) (sitting poses, inverted poses, stretching
cycle, raised positions, abdominal contractions, balancing poses, miscellaneous poses);
Body-molding and body-building techniques; Face, neck and eye exercises; Yoga and
natural childbirth; Practicing at home; Table of asanas, giving beautifying or therapeutic
properties; List of asanas giving Sanskrit names
Pintchman, Tracy. The Rise of the Goddess in the Hindu Tradition. Albany, N.Y.: State
University of New York Press,1994.
Pitzer-Reyl, Renate. Die Frau im frühen Buddhismus. Marburger Studien Zur Afrikaund Asienkunde, series B, Asien, vol. 7. Berlin: Verlag Von Dietrich Reimer, 1984.
Pookayaporn, Junya. Wisdom and compassion in action: Theravada Buddhist nuns as
facilitators of healing. Ph.D. dissertation. California Institute of Integral Studies, 2002.
44
Dissertation Abstracts International, Aug 2002, B 63/02, p. 1045. First 24 pages
available online: http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/preview/3042873. UMI #3042873.
Abstract: One of the major contemporary criticisms of Theravada Buddhism is its
tradition of clinging to an inherently patriarchal structure. Due to this fact, Buddhist nuns
have not had an opportunity to evolve in their own role along with the tradition, and their
contributions to society have generally gone unacknowledged. This study explores two
Theravada Buddhist nuns who demonstrate their abilities to facilitate the healing process
of their respected laity. Using a qualitative research method called Multiple-Embedded
Case Studies, two case studies are explored from Bangkok, Thailand and San Francisco,
U.S.A. In-depth interviews are conducted to reveal the essential aspects of this healing
process. There are four essential aspects of the healing process. The first aspect refers to
the Buddhist teachings, especially dharma and vipassana meditation, which provide a
foundation and a method from which healing can occur. The second aspect describes the
attributes of effective healers, and includes the characteristics of wisdom, compassion,
and the nuns’ abilities to inspire confidence in the laity whom they work with. The third
aspect regards the active role that the laity must play in their own healing process. This
includes the willingness to undergo a process of self-analysis in order to develop a
deepened sense of self-awareness. The fourth aspect relates to the dynamic relationships
between the nuns and their respective laity. While the laity obviously receive healing
benefits from the nuns, the nuns gain broader insight into the human condition by
interacting with many diverse individuals in the ir respective communities. The
implications of the findings suggest that Buddhist nuns make significant contributions to
the healing of individuals within their communities, and act as a bridge between ancient
tradition and modern life.
Powers, John, and Deane Curtin. Mothering in Buddhist and feminist ethics.
Philosophy East and West, 1994, 44(1):1-18.
Pragyamurti Saraswati, Swami. One woman’s way in a patriarchal system. Yoga
(Sivananda Math), May 1999, 10(3):34-36.
Prasad, Chandrabhan. Buddha, the feminist. The Pioneer, 7 Sep 2005. Article available
online:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?main_variable=Columnist&file_name=pras
ad%2Fprasad128.txt&writer=prasad.
“. . . Once when Lord Buddha was in Shravasti for a short stay, Kosal’s king Prasanjit
called on him. While they were in deep conversation, a messenger arrived from Kosal
with an urgent message—that Queen Mallika Devi had delivered a girl child. The king
was visibly upset.
“Reading the King’ s body language, Buddha gave him dhamopdesh: ‘Many women are
superior to men. Geniuses as well. They give birth to male children, many of whom
become kings.’
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“In other words, Buddha was reminding the King that he himself was born out of a
woman. In Buddha’s philosophy men and women depend on each other and that must
reflect in mutual recognition and respect.
“Buddha, on this occasion, was siding with women. A fact that I was unaware of even
though I am an avid reader. It was brought to me when I read Anand Shrikrishna’s latest
book Gautam Buddha and His Updesh. As a leader-scholar of Buddhism, Shrikrisna is
reviving the way Babasaheb Ambedkar had perceived the great philosophy of Buddhism.
“Any philosophy, be it religious, or political, stands to serve its adherents, not vice versa.
In the case of religion, the moment the adherents put themselves at the service of their
faith, they land up doing it disservice. They tend to imbibe ritualism rather than the
rationale. In the case of modern day Dalits embracing Buddhism, the tendency is to
deviate from the path shown by Buddha and Ambedkar.
“Ritualism is being preferred over the intellectual aspect of Buddhism. By deploying his
scholarly insight, Shrikrishna has brought out Buddhism as a service to humanity. The
way his book explores Buddha's approach on the gender question, it makes the Lord the
first feminist of history.
“Buddha established an independent bhikkhuni sangha or, Sangha of Buddhist nuns. The
Buddhist scholar-nuns wrote Therugatha, deconstructing the Vedic notions of
emancipation, re-birth and salvation.
“A host of women in the Buddhist circle explored their genius and rose to greater heights
in realm of philosophy, religion, social work, and humanism than their male counterparts.
Names such as Sumangal Mata, Gautami, Amrapali, Princess Khema and Vasanti make
Buddhism the most gender-correct religion.
“One must always remember, as Anand Shrikrishna reminds us, that Buddha held this
opinion on women 2,500 years ago when under the Vedic system women were
considered vehicles of all that was evil in the world. The present day Buddhists,
therefore, should be diehard feminists. Emancipating themselves from patriarchy would
be first step in that direction.”
Purna, Dharmachari. Tara: Her origins and development. Western Buddhist Review,
Vol. 2. Article available online:
http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol2/tara_origins_a_development.html.
Pushpendra, Kumar. Shakti Cult in Ancient India. Banaras, India.
Radha, Swami Sivananda. Radha: Diary of a Woman’s Search. Kootenay Bay, B.C.,
Canada:Timeless Books.
Autobiography of Swami Sivananda Radha, one of the most influential Western swamis.
46
___________. Radha’s Story video. Narrated by Swami Lalitananda. Kootenay Bay,
B.C., Canada:Timeless Books. (Contains footage and stills of her life.)
___________. The Devi of Speech: The Goddess in Kundalini Yoga. Kootenay Bay, B.C.,
Canada:Timeless Books, 2004.
Ray, Gerry, and Jeffrey Macko. Women in Buddhism. Article available online:
http://departments.colgate.edu/greatreligions/pages/buddhanet/theravada/women.txt.
Ray, Reginald. Accomplished women in Tantric Buddhism of medieval India and Tibet.
In Nancy Falk and Rita Gross, eds., Unspoken Worlds: Women’s Religious Lives in NonWestern Cultures. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1979, pp. 227-242.
Resources on women’s ordination (Buddhist). URL:
http://members.tripod.com/~Lhamo/4ordin.htm.
Reyna, Ruth. The ideal of womanhood in the Indian Classics. Hinduism, 1981, no. 94,
pp. 9-11.
Reynolds, John Myrdhin (Vajranatha). Wisdom dakinis: Passionate and wrathful.
Article available online: http://www.vajranatha.com/teaching/Dakinis.htm.
Rhie, Marylin M., and Robert A. F. Thurman. Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred
Art of Tibet. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1991.
“A . . . large-format book of sacred art (statues and paintings) from Tibet (from the art
exhibit of the same name). Includes depictions of numerous female Buddhas,
bodhisattvas and protectors.”
Rhys-Davids, C.A.F. and Norman, K.R., trans. Pitakas/Khuddaka: Poems of Early
Buddhist Nuns (Therigata). Headington, Oxford: Pali Texts Society, 1989.
Richman, Paula. Women, Branch Stories, and Religious Rhetoric in a Tamil Buddhist
Text. Foreign and Comparative Studies, South Asian Series, no. 12. Syracuse, N.Y.:
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 1988.
Richmond, Sandy. Full Moon Yoga workshop. Full Spectrum Yoga, Newport Beach,
California. Email: [email protected].
Course description: “It is a well known fact that women’s bodies are ruled by the ebb and
flow of the lunar phases. To honor this energy and increase our knowledge we will work
with the positive energy surrounding the full moon. ”
Riggs, Nicole, trans. Like an Illusion: Lives of the Shangpa Kagyu Masters. Eugene,
Ore.: Dharma Cloud Press (Red Eye Books), 2000.
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The translator’s introduction examines the importance of women in the Shangpa lineage,
and the text includes the biographies of dakinis Niguma and Sukhasiddhi. Also included
is an appendix entitled “Songs of the Dakinis.”
Rinchen, Ani. Becoming a Buddhist nun. Article available online:
http://www.buddhanet.net/ordination03.htm.
Rinpoche, Kalu. Women, Siddhi, and Dharma. In Kalu Rinpoche, trans. by Janet
Gyatso, The Dharma That Illuminates All Beings Like the Light of the Sun and the Moon.
Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1986, pp. 91-108.
Rogers, Julie. WomanMind: A-Yu Khandro—the story of a saint. Article available
online: http://www.quietmountain.com/dharmacenters/yeshemelong/pg4.htm.
Rowling, Dee. In the company of women. Yoga Journal, Mar/Apr 2001. Article available
online: http://www.yogajournal.com/travel/275_1.cfm.
“These yoga retreats cater exclusively to women’ s unique physical and emotional needs.”
Rubin, Sherry. Yoga’s gifts for women. YogaLife, Jul/Aug 2000, p. 23.
Sakya, Jamyang, with Nyima Gejie. Tara Mantras CD. Dharmapala Records, 2000.
50:14 minutes.
From the publisher: “Tara Mantras contains the essential chants to the deity of Tara, in
her Green and White emanations, chanted by H. E. Dagmo Jamyang Sakya with Lama
Nyima Gejie. They were digitally recorded in Santa Monica, California, by David V.
Gregoli for Dharmapala Records. The CD can be used as an aid to the Tara practice or to
create a meditative mood.
“Dagmo Jamyang Sakya, considered by many to be an emanation of Tara, is one of the
few women Tibetan Buddhist lamas, very rare and precious. She is the wife of H. H.
Jigdal Dagchen Sakya, who is a lineage holder of Sakya, one of the four sects of Tibetan
Buddhism.”
All profits from this CD go to The Mother Tara Sakya Center or “Tara-Ling.” This is a
non-sectarian, non-profit Tibetan Buddhist Center whose mission is to preserve and teach
Tibetan culture and philosophy to all who are interested, through the message of Tara.
Contents: The Praises to the 21 Forms of Tara, Green Tara Mantra I, Green Tara Mantra
II, 100 Syllable Mantra, White Tara Mantra
Sakyadhita: The International Organization of Buddhist Women. URL:
http://www.sakyadhita.org.
Sakyadhita means “Daughters of the Buddha.” The objectives of Sakyadhita, as
expressed at its founding meeting in 1987 in Bodhgaya, India, are:
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1. To promote world peace through the practice of the Buddha’s teachings
2. To create a network of communications for Buddhist women throughout the
world
3. To promote harmony and understanding among the various Buddhist traditions
4. To encourage and help educate women as teachers of Buddhadharma
5. To provide improved facilities for women to study and practice the teachings
6. To help establish the Bhikshuni Sangha (community of fully-ordained nuns)
where it does not currently exist
Every two years Sakyadhita holds an international conference to bring laywomen and
nuns from different countries and traditions together to share their experiences on issues
of mutual interest.
Sankaranarayanan, S. Glory of the Divine Mother (Devi Mahatmyam). Prabha
Publishers, 2001.
From the publisher: “Mahama means a great soul; mahatmyam is its quality. The great
soul of the Mother, one without a second, by its own glory becomes many souls, many
little mothers. Matrakas and these emanations of the Mother, after finishing their
appointed task, converge back into the great soul of the Mother. The story of all these
emanations and their deeds, the glory of the great soul of the Mother, are delineated in the
text, which also incorporates the sublime utterance (mahakavya) of the Devi, embodying
the upanishadic truth of one without a second . . “
Sarkar, Shrii Prabhat Ranjan. The Awakening of Women. Anandanagar, India: Ananda
Marga Publications, 1995. (Originally published at Náriir Maryádá.)
Contents: Matriarchy in the Ksattriya Age; Women: The wageless slaves of the Vipras;
From matriarchy to patriarchy; Shiva upholds the dignity of women; The status of
women in earlier ages; Casteism and the decline of women’s status; Women of Bengal;
Women’s rights in Rarh; The slave trade in women in Bengal; Social justice for women;
Dowry and marriage; Sati and widowhood; Purdah; Prostitution; Discrimination in
language; The emancipation of women; The social order and superiority and inferiority
complexes; The continuous effort to promote universal well-being; Women’s rights;
Equal rights for men and women; Human history and collective psychology; Fight
against all dogmas; Two wings; Economic self-reliance; Building a healthy society; Can
women attain salvation? An equal birthright; The place of women in the spiritual world;
Bhaerava and Bhaeravii; The development of goddess worship; Tantric goddesses;
Samskara and gender differences; Aspects of bio-psychology; Sentimentality: A special
quality in women; Sadguru and microvita; Equality in the psycho-spiritual sphere;
Sentimentality and the psycho-spiritual realm; Radha’s devotion; Physical well-being;
Advice for pregnant women (from Shabda Cayaniká Part 20); Science and population
control; The dance of the expansion of mind; Tandava and Kaosikii; Parvatti, consort of
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Shiva; Satyabhama and Rukminii; The erudite scholar of Kaoshitakii; The righteous
Gandhari; Five virtuous ladies; Karkatii Raksasii; Bhavasundari, the tigress queen; As
you think so you become; Panchu Dayas; Teby’s hair bun; Hello Reba, goodbye
Bhundibala!; Prabhat Samgiita
Sarma, Deepak. Some brief thoughts on the goddess Sri Laksmi in Madhva Vedanta.
Namarupa, Winter 2004, pp. 62-67.
Satyadharma Saraswati, Swami. Devi bhakti. Yoga (Sivananda Math), Mar 2005, pp.
45-47.
Satyananda Saraswati, Swami. Mother India. In Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Bhakti
Yoga Sagar. Vol. 3. Munger, Bihar: Sivananda Math, 1997, pp. 35-44.
“. . . in the coming age the women of India must become Mother India, and it is our duty
to see that this happens . . .”
___________. Role of women in modern society [in India]. In Swami Satyananda
Saraswati, Bhakti Yoga Sagar. Vol. 3. Munger, Bihar: Sivananda Math, 1997, pp. 20-30.
___________. Kali Puja. Sunstar Publishing, 1998.
From the publisher: “The complete worship of the Divine Mother who Takes away
Darkness, includes her advanced puja, her thousand names, the mantras and mudras for
traditional offerings, as well as the systems of worship for begetting spiritual children.
Also available to accompany the text is a beautiful CD or cassette of Shree Maa’s
recitation of the thousand names. It includes the original Sanskrit mantras, Roman
phonetic transliteration and English translation.”
Saundarya Lahari. Several editions.
“A hymn of praise of the Divine Mother known as Tripurasundari, Lalita, Soadasi, etc.,
in Her Creative aspect. Besides being a highly poetical composition, it is also a Mantra
Sastra, the source of many Mantras used in the adoration of the Divine Mother for the
attainment of various blessings of life. Saundaryalahari, the great hymn of Sri Sankara,
dealing with the cult of Mother worship, is the most popular Sanskrit hymn of its kind. In
South India, especially, it is studied not only by practitioners of Sri-Vidya, but learn[ed]
by heart and recited in a devotional spirit every day by persons who know no Sanskrit at
all. The Divine Mother is worshipped and meditated upon in many aspects. In this Text
She is adored in Her Creative aspect under the name Tripura, which means the Mother
who embodies the three Bindus or creative stresses. Saundarya- lahari (or the Inundation
of Divine Splendor) is a highly poetical but at the same time a tough technical work of
Sri Sankaracarya, who was both the Bhasyakara (commentator) on the texts of Vedanta
philosophy, as also the Sanmata-sthapaka (the founder of the systems of worship of the
six Deities of the Hindu pantheon). It also deals with the technicalities of Sri Cakra and
50
its worship according to the Samaya tradition. The very recitation of this hymn is
considered by many to be an adoration of the Divine.”
Savvas, Carol D. A Study of the Profound Path of gCod: The Mahayana Buddhist
Meditation Tradition of Tibet’s Great Woman Saint Machig Labdrn. Ph.D. dissertation:
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1990.
“A detailed study of the origin and practice of chöd with translations of many essential
texts and commentaries.”
Schaeffer, Kurtis. Himalayan Hermitess: The Life of a Tibetan Buddhist Nun. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Schmidt, Amy. Knee Deep in Grace: The Extraordinary Life and Teaching of Dipa Ma.
Present Perfect Books, 2002. Republished as Dipa Ma: The Life and Legacy of a
Buddhist Master. BlueBridge, 2005.
A modern Buddhist saint who profoundly influenced the teaching of meditation in the
West and a single mother who pursued spiritual practice within the context of family life.
According to Buddhist teacher Shenpen Hookham, she also “taught Indian housewives
how to meditate while breast- feeding and so on. She was a remarkable woman!”
___________. Dipa Ma: A modern Buddhist saint who profoundly influenced the
teaching of meditation in the West and a single mother who pursued spiritual practice
within the context of family life.
"Dipa Ma: The Life and Legacy of a Buddhist Master" (Publisher: BlueBridge;
ISBN: 0974240559) will be available at any bookseller in Spring 2005.
Schmitt, Jaime Stover. Every Woman’s Yoga: How to Incorporate Strength, Flexibility,
and Balance into Your Life. Prima Publishing, 2002.
From the publisher: “Yoga truly is for every woman. Its therapeutic and healing powers
are vast and inclusive, its benefits ranging from body conditioning and toning to stress
and pain relief, from childbirth preparation to easing through the menopause transition.
Every Woman’s Yoga is a basic yoga manual that focuses on specific yoga practices that
are most suitable for women. Whether you are already into yoga, just getting started, or . .
. exploring . . . yoga therapy, this informative guide will help you nurture your mind,
body, and soul and will enable you to . . . be your physical and mental best.
Inside, you’ll discover how yoga can: help signs of aging and decrease stress; assist
through pregnancy, menstrual issues, and infertility; build strength and promote
flexibility; support recovery from breast cancer treatment; ease incontinence, digestion,
and elimination; help with fatigue and depression; build confidence, promote inner
beauty, and manage weight; and many other conditions . . .”
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Schoterman, J. A., ed. The Yoni Tantra. Delhi: Manohar, 1980. Sanskrit with
transliteration. Excellent English introduction.
Schuster, Nancy. Changing the female body: Wise women and the Bodhisattva career in
some Maharatna-kutasutras. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist
Studies, 1981, 4(1):33-46.
Seibel, Machelle, and Hari Kaur Khalsa. A Woman’s Book of Yoga: Embracing Our
Natural Life Cycles. Avery, 2003.
From a review by Phil Catalfo in Yoga Journal, Mar/Apr 2003, p. 170: “ . . . a Kundalinioriented women’s health guide, featuring exercises (including . . . yoga, chant, and
meditation), diet and nutrition tips, and philosophy—the latter informed mainly by the
writings and teachings of Kundalini Yoga creator Yogi Bhajan.”
Seneviratne, Maureen. Some Women of the Mahavamsa and Culavamsa. Colombo:
H.W. Cave & Co., 1969.
Shankardevananda Saraswati, Dr. Swami. The importance of shakti. Yoga (Sivananda
Math), May 1999, 10(3):20-23.
Shanta, N. The Unknown Pilgrims: The History, Life & Spirituality of Jain Women
Ascetics. I. B. C. Originally published in French. A detailed table of contents is available
at: http://www.hindibooks.8m.com/WomenInJainism.htm.
Examines “one of the most ancient (traditions of) ascetic philosophy, that (was) followed
by some 6000 Jain women ascetics.”
Shaw, Miranda. Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism. Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994.
“This award-winning book is still controversial among mainstream scholars. Shaw argues
that women played a central role in the emergence of Tantric Buddhism and that Tantric
sacred sexuality empowered women.”
Examines “the little-known role of female teachers and lineage holders in the Vajrayana
tradition. Some discussion of ordained women, e.g., Bhikshuni Lakshmi (Palmo), who
founded the purification practice known as Nyung-ne.”
Contents: Seeking the traces of sky-dancers; Tantric Buddhism in India: Religious and
historical introduction; Women in Tantric theory: Powerful and auspicious; Women in
Tantric circles: Adepts and experts [includes women as gurus]; Women in Tantric
history: Founders and pioneers; Women in Tantric relationships: Intimacy as a path to
enlightenment; Spontaneous jewel- like yogini on passion and enlightenment;
Conclusions
52
Sherma, Rita Das Gupta. Sacred immanence: Reflections of eco- feminism in Hindu
Tantra. In Lance Nelson, ed., Purifying the Earthly Body of God: Religion and Ecology in
Hindu India. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1998, pp. 88-132.
Shih, Heng-Ching. Chinese bhikshunis in the Ch’an tradition. Article available online:
http://www.geocities.com/zennun12_8/chanwomen.html.
“Sutras that accept women as advanced Bodhisattvas and imminent Buddhas: The
Vimalakirti Sutra and the Srimala Sutra belong to this category. In these two sutras the
position of the female reaches its highest peak. The doctrinal basis for this culmination
lies in the Mahayana doctrines of Sunyata (emptiness), ‘Tathagatagarbha,’ non-duality,
etc. Instead of attempting to identify maleness with Bodhisattvahood and Buddhahood,
the sutras in this category claim that notions of duality—either male or female, subject or
object, etc.—are merely mental attachments contradicting the teaching of emptiness. The
characteristics of ‘maleness’ and ‘femaleness’ are simply illusory and irrelevant. On this
basis, the female bodhisattva refuses to undergo sexual change. When asked by Sariputra
to transform herself, the Goddess in the Vimalakirti Sutra said, ‘I have been here for
twelve years and have looked for the inna te characteristics of femaleness but have not
been able to find them. How can I change them?’ Then the Goddess changed Sariputra
into a female. This is to reinforce her assertion that every one and every thing transcends
gender distinctions when one views the world as empty. This viewpoint is concretely
illustrated by Sariputra’s transformation. See as well the Lotus Sutra, in Buddhism
considered revolutionary in its approach to the equality of the sexes and equality amongst
all people generally.”
Shih, Juo-hsueh. Buddhist nuns from a modern perspective. Article available online:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~tsomo/NewsLetters/3-2.htm#ModernNuns.
Shin, Nan (pseud.). Diary of a Zen Nun: Every Day Living. New York: E. P. Dutton,
1988.
Sidon, Rob. Ammachi: A saintly view on hugs, traditions, and selflessness in a modern
world. Common Ground, Fall 2002, no. 113, pp. 6-8, 132.
This interview with Ammachi addresses women’s issues.
Sidor, Ellen S. A Gathering of Spirit: Women Teaching in American Buddhism.
Cumberland, R.I.: Primary Point Press, 1987.
Silva, Swarna de. The place of women in Buddhism. Article available online:
http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/Archive/D/DeSilva/WomenInBuddhism/womenIn
BuddhismSwarnaDeSilva.html or http://www.uq.net.au/slsoc/bsq/bsqtr07.htm.
A talk given to the Midlands Buddhist Society (U.K.) on Sanghamittâ Day 1988.
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Simmer-Brown, Judith. Dakini’s Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan
Buddhism. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2001.
“This book length discussion of dakinis, the “sky-dancer” semi- wrathful spirit woman,
shows how the dakini, within the context of tantric practice, is both the practitioner’s
ultimate guide and innermost spiritual subjectivity. This text should supersede all
previous explorations of the dakini principle. Demonstrates how the dakini symbolizes
levels of personal realization: the sacredness of the body, both female and male; the
profound meeting point of body and mind in meditation; the visionary realm of ritual
practice; and the empty, spacious qua lities of mind itself. This unique study will appeal to
spiritual seekers interested in goddess worship, women’s spirituality, and the tantric
tradition.”
___________. Feminine principle in the Vajrayana. Adapted from Dakini’s Warm
Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Shambhala Publications,
2001. Shambhala Sun Online. Article available online:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/revolving_themes/woman/brown.htm.
Simon, Bernie. A Biography of Yeshe Tsogyal. Article available online:
http://www.toad.net/~bsimon/tsogyal1.html.
Sindberg, Susan Amy. Tara and the “Tara-Mula-Kalpa”: The Tara cult’s formative
period in India. Ph.D. dissertation. Columbia University, 1995.
Sinha, Jadunath. Shakta Monism: The Cult of Shakti. Calcutta: Sinha Publishing House,
1966.
The Sisters of Ladakh video. Directed by Richard Lobo. 2003. 52 minutes.
“An intimate and candid view of the lives of young Tibetan Buddhist nuns. This is a notoften-seen contemporary perspective filmed on location in the Ladakh region of India.”
Sivananda, Swami. Durga puja or navaratri. Article available online:
http://lakshmi.4mg.com/navaratri.html.
“This festival is observed twice a year, once in the month of Chaitra and then in
Aswayuja. It lasts for nine days in hono r of the nine manifestations of Durga. During
Navaratri (the word literally means ‘nine nights’) devotees of Durga observe a fast . . .
and prayers are offered for the protection of health and property.
“The beginning of summer and the beginning of winter are two very important junctions
of climatic and solar influence. These two periods are taken as sacred opportunities for
the worship of the Divine Mother. They are indicated respectively by the Rama-Navaratri
in Chaitra (April-May) and the Durga Navaratri in Aswayuja (September-October). The
bodies and minds of people undergo a considerable change on account of the changes in
Nature. Sri Rama is worshipped during Ramnavmi, and Mother Durga during Navaratri.
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“The Durga Puja is celebrated in various parts of India in different styles. But the one
basic aim of this celebration is to propitiate Shakti, the Goddess in Her aspect as Power,
to bestow upon man all wealth, auspiciousness, prosperity, knowledge (both sacred and
secular), and all other potent powers. Whatever be the particular or special request that
everyone may put before the Goddess, whatever boon may be asked of Her, the one thing
behind all these is propitiation, worship and linking oneself with Her. There is no other
aim. This is being effected conscious ly or unconsciously. Everyone is blessed with Her
loving mercy and is protected by Her . . .”
___________. Navaratri: The nine- night worship of the devi. Namarupa, Winter 2004,
pp. 60-61. Reprinted from All About Hinduism.
Sopori, B. N. Lal Ded and Her Vakhs: A Peep into Higher Humanity. The Greatest Lady
of Last Millennium. A Textbook on Sadhna, Agelessness, Immortality and Spiritual
Grace. Ploura, Jammu Province, India: B. N. Sopori, 1999. Book available online:
http://ikashmir.org/BNSopori/index.html.
From the foreword: “Lalleshwari’s Vaks are an expression of high thought and spiritual
truth, precise, apt and sweet. Some of these sayings, or vaakhs (or vaaks) as they are
called, have been collected and published before [by] others, including Dr. Grierson, Dr.
Barnett, Sir Richard Temple, Pt. Anand Kaoul Bamzai and Prof Jia Lal Koul. The vakhs
embody the synthesis of cultures for which Kashmir has always been noted. The
greatness of Lalla, as she is popularly known, lies in sharing the essence of her
experiences in the course of her Sadhna or meditation through the language of the
common [person].”
Sparrowe, Linda, and Patricia Walden. The Woman’s Book of Yoga & Health: A
Lifelong Guide to Wellness. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2002. See also the cit ation
in this bibliography for the article by Alanna Fincke.
Contents: Foreword by Judith Hanson Lasater; Introduction; How to use this book; The
woman’s essential sequence; The woman’s energizing sequence; The woman’s
restorative sequence; Befriending yo ur body; Honoring your menstrual cycle; Supporting
your immune system; Preparing for labor, birth, postpartum; Caring for your back;
Relieving headaches; Working with depression; Easing into menopause; Improving
digestion; Minimizing postmenopausal symptoms; Relieving osteoporosis; Strengthening
your heart
___________. Yoga Radiance: Feeling Younger, Living Longer, and Getting the Most
out of Life. Boston, Shambhala: Forthcoming.
“A guide for women over 50 to help them use yoga to improve their vitality and stay
healthy and active.”
55
Sponberg, Alan. Attitudes toward women and the feminine in early Buddhism. In José
Ignacio Cabezón, ed., Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender. Albany, N.Y.: State University
of New York Press, 1992, pp. 3-36.
Srimala. Breaking Free: Glimpses of a Buddhist Life. Birmingham: Windhorse
Publications, 1997.
“The . . . honest, moving, and often very funny story of a woman’ s journey to spiritual
freedom. ”
Steinberg, Lois. Women’s intensive notes. Available for purchase online:
http://www.yoga-cu.com/manuals.html.
Sixty-one women from seventeen countries participated in the International Women’s
Intensive Course instructed by Dr. Geeta S. Iyengar with Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar at
the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, India.
Stratton-Hawley, John, and Donna Marie Wulff, eds. The Divine Consort: Radha and
the Goddesses of India. Berkeley, Calif.: Berkeley Religious Studies Serious, 1982.
Subhuti (Alex Kennedy). Women, Men and Angels. Birmingham: Windhorse
Publications, 1996.
“An exposition of the provocative views of Sangharakshita, the founder of the Western
Buddhist Order/FWBO, on women and men in the spiritual life.”
Sundar Raj, M. Sakti-Power. Madras, India: International Society for the Investigation
of Ancient Civilization, 1983.
Svoboda, Robert E. Sarasvati, Laksmi & Durga according to the Aghori Vimalananda.
Namarupa, winter 2004, pp. 2-3.
Taranatha, Jo Nang, trans. by David Templeman. The Origin of the Tara Tantr by
Jonang Taranatha. New Delhi, India: Library of Tibetan Works & Archives 1981/Paljor
Publications. 2001.
Taylor, Louise. A Woman’s Book of Yoga: A Journal for Health and Self-Discovery.
Boston: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1993.
Contents: Origins of yoga, The paths of yoga, How yoga can benefit you, Getting started,
Helpful knowledge for hatha yoga practice, Your journal, [Each of the following New
Understandings/Insight sections is accompanied by asanas and how to incorporate them
into a daily program]: New understandings: The importance of stretching and flexibility,
Warm-ups, Insight: Discovering new words and ideas, New understandings: Yogic
breathing, Insight: Coordinating your mind and body in harmony, New understandings:
Regaining your vitality through relaxation, Insight: The benefits of relaxing with music,
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New understandings: Yin, yang, and the flow of prana, Insight: How you become your
thoughts, New understandings: The blessedness of good sleep, Insight: Seven days to
new ways of thinking, New understandings: Yoga, sports, and you, Insight: The magic of
palming, New understandings: How to use yoga throughout your day, Insight: The
peaceful prayer pose meditation, New understandings: The ancient Sanskrit language,
Insight: Looking at your new dimensions, New understandings: Awakening your power,
Insight: Looking further at meditation techniques, New understandings: Mantra yoga,
Insight: Tratak (gazing), New understandings: A beautiful you through better eating,
Insight: Balancing food, balancing you, New understandings: Yogic power centers: The
chakras, Insight: Slow motion, New understandings: Your energy field: Your aura,
Insight: Imagining yourself, New understandings: Putting it all together, Insight: Further
your self-discovery
Thakur, Himendra B. Practical steps towards saving the lives of 25,000 potential
victims of dowry and bride burning in India. Journal of South Asia Women Studies, 15
May 1996, 2(2). Summary available online:
http://www.asiatica.org/jsaws/vol2_no2/paper3.php.
Tharchin, Sermey Geshe Lobsang. Sublime Path to Kechara Paradise: Vajrayogini’s
Eleven Yogas of Generation Stage Practice As Revealed by Glorious Naropa. Mahayana
Sutra & Tantra Press.
Tharchin Rinpoche, Lama. Oral Teachings on the Sadhana of Yeshe Tsogyal.
Honolulu, 1992.
Therigatha: Verses of the Elder Nuns . Selected suttas from the Terigatha. Available
online: http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/Archive/Suttas/T/Therigatha/index.html.
Tibetan nuns of Kathmandu. Women’s Freedom and Spiritual Liberation: 2000
European Tour. Information available online:
http://members.tripod.com/~Lhamo/Nuns/index_e.htm.
Tigunait, Pandit Rajmani. Sakti: The Power in Tantra. Honesdale, Pa: The Himalayan
International Institute, 1998.
Tiwari, Laxmi. The Splendor of Worship: Women’s Fasts, Rituals, Stories and Art.
Delhi: Manohar, 1991.
Tomasko, Felicia M. Is yoga different for men? What teachers have to say about men
and women and their practice. LA Yoga, Jun 2005, pp. 30-32.
Torrens, Jessica. The path of the yoginî: A quest for spiritual and social freedom. New
Renaissance. Article ava ilable online: http://www.ru.org/92torrens.html.
57
Tripathi, Ram Narayan. Hindu marriage system, Hindu scriptures, and dowry and
bride-burning in India. Journal of South Asia Women Studies, 22 Dec 1996, 2(4).
Summary available online: http://www.asiatica.org/jsaws/vol2_no4/paper3.php/
Trungpa, Chögyam. Songs of Milarepa: Sahle Aui audiotape. Kame Chöling, Vt.:
Kalapa Recordings, 1970.
Sahle Aui was an awakened female disciple of Milarepa.
___________. Songs of Milarepa: Women in the Dharma audiotape. Kame Chöling, Vt.:
Kalapa Recordings, 1970.
___________. Glimpses of Space: The Feminine Principle & EVAM. Vajradhatu
Publications, 1999.
This work contains material from two seminars on the tantric understanding of the
feminine and masculine principles, exploring what they are and how they work together
in vajrayana Buddhist practice as the non-dual experience of wisdom and skillful means.
The first section, ‘The Feminine Principle,’ concerns various aspects of the feminine,
including space as the mother principle and the feminine manifested in the dakini
principle. The second section, ‘Evam,’ discusses the union of the feminine and masculine
principles.”
Tsai, Kathryn A., trans. The Lives of Nuns: Biographies of Chinese Buddhist Nuns from
the Fourth to Sixth Centuries. Honolulu: The University of Hawaii Press, 1994.
“Lives of the Nuns, a translation of Pi- ch’iu- ni chuan, was compiled by Shih Pao- ch’ang
in or about A.D. 516 and covers exactly the period when Buddhist monasticism for
women was first being established in China. The sixty- five biographies are now regarded
as the best source of information about women’ s participation in Buddhist monastic
practice in pre-modern China.”
Tsomo, Karma Lekshe, ed. Sakyadhita: Daughters of the Buddha. Itahca, N.Y.: Snow
Lion, 1988.
“Lekshe is a bhikshuni (fully ordained nun) in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and is
Secretary of Sakyadhita International. She founded the Jamyang Chöling Institute for
Buddhist Women in India and is currently in the Philosophy Department at the University
of Hawai’i. This book is a collection of essays and presentations by women who attended
the first international conference of Buddhist women, with significant content relating to
the ordination of nuns.”
___________. Tibetan nuns and nunneries. In Janice Willis, ed., Feminine Ground:
Essays on Women and Tibet. Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion, 1989, pp. 118-134.
58
___________, ed. Buddhism Through American Women’s Eyes. Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow
Lion, 1995.
“A selection of essays by practitioners from the Theravada, Japanese Zen, Shingon,
Chinese Pure Land, and Tibetan traditions, who share their thoughts on Buddhist
philosophy, its practical application in everyday life, and the challenges of practicing
Buddhism in the Western world.”
___________. Sisters in Solitude: Two Traditions of Buddhist Monastic Ethics for
Women. A Comparative Analysis of the Chinese Dharmagupta and the Tibetan
Mulasarvastivada Bhiksuni Pratimoksa Sutras. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New
York Press, 1996.
“This landmark book is the first translation into English of two versions of the Bhikshuni
Pratimoksha Sutra, the precepts and rules of conduct for fully ordained Buddhist nuns.”
___________. Buddhist Women across Cultures: Realizations. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY
Press, 1999.
___________. Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming against the Stream. Surry,
England: Curzon Press, 2000.
“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. The articles include
analyses of issues such as gender, ethnicity, authority, and class that affect the lives of
women in traditional Buddhist cultures and, increasingly, the west. The book is unique in
analyzing Buddhist women’s historical experience in different Buddhist cultures and
placing it side by side with western perspectives.”
Tulku, Tarthang, trans. Mother of Knowledge: The Enlightenment of Ye-shes mTshorgyal, by Nam- mkha’I snying-po, edited by Jane Wilhelms. Berkeley, Calif.: Dharma,
1983.
“Another translation (see also Dowman, above) of the sacred biography of the Tibetan
yogini Yeshe Tsogyel. ”
Tweedie, Irina. Chasm of Fire: A Woman’s Experience of Liberation through the
Teachings of a Sufi Master. Tisbury, Wiltshire, England: Element Books, 1984.
(Republished as Daughter of Fire by Blue Dolphin Publishing, Nevada City, Calif.,
1986.) (See also the citation above for Interview with Mrs. Tweedie.)
VajraBelles Discussion List. To subscribe to the list, go to
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/VajraBelles.
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An e-mail discussion list for female practitioners of Vajrayana, originated by Yudron
Wangmo (Sidney Skinner). The list is geared to actual committed practitioners, rather
than women who have curiosity about Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism.
Van Den Barselaar, George. The Divine Mother in Kasmir Saivism. Namarupa, Winter
2004, pp. 68-71.
Van Lysebeth, André. Tantra, le culte de la Féminité. Paris: Flammarion, 1988.
Vaze, Suneeta, N. K. Porwal, and Asha Damodaran. Yoga for women: Effect on
weight, waist, hips and chest flexibility. In H. R. Nagendra, R. Ragarathna, and S. Telles,
Yoga Research & Applications: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on
Frontiers in Yoga Research and Applications. Bangalore, Vivekananda Kendra Yoga
Research Foundation, 2000, pp. 279-284. Also available online:
http://www.yogapoint.com/info/research3.htm.
Verma, Krishna. Sri Ramakris hna’s attitude toward women. Prabuddha Bharata, Apr
2002, 107(4):45-51.
Vijnanananda, Swami. The Srimad Devi Bhagavatam. Allahabad, India: Sudhindra
Nath, 1921.
Vivekananda, Swami. Women of India.
“This small book is a collection of Vivekananda’s thoughts not only on the women of
India, but women in general. He believed that God should be worshiped as mother, and
that the welfare of the world [will not] improve until the condition of women improves.”
Wangmo, Lama Dechen Yeshe. The female Buddha speaks. Article available online:
http://www.jnanasukha.org/Femalebuddhaspeaks.pdf.
On the function of Yeshe Tsogyal as yi-dam (“mind-bond”).
Warrier, A. G. Krishna, ed. The Sakta Upanishads. Madras, India.
Watkins, Joanne C. Spirited Women: Gender, Religion, & Cultural Identity in the Nepal
Himalaya. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Columbia University Press, 1996.
Weeraratne, D. Amarasiri. Revival of the Bhikkhuni Order in Sri Lanka. Article
available online: http://www.buddhanet.net/nunorder.htm.
Weinberger-Thomas, Catherine. Ashes of Immortality: Widow-Burning in India.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press/London: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Weuve, Jennifer, Jae Hee Kang, JoAnn E. Manson, Monique M. B. Breteler, James
H. Ware, and Francine Grodstein. Physical activity, including walking, and cognitive
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function in older women. Journal of the American Medical Association, 22/29 Sept 2004,
292(12):1454-1461. Author email: [email protected].
Abstract: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/292/12/1454?ct
Abstract: Context: Physical activity may help maintain cognitive function in older adults.
Objective: To examine the relation of long-term regular physical activity, including
walking, to cognitive function. Design: Women reported participation in leisure-time
physical activities on biennial mailed questionnaires beginning in 1986. We assessed
long-term activity by averaging energy expenditures from questionnaires in 1986 through
participants’ baseline cognitive assessments (1995 to 2001). We used linear regression to
estimate adjusted mean differences in baseline cognitive performance and cognitive
decline over 2 years, across levels of physical activity and walking. Setting and
Participants Nurses’ Health Study, including 18 766 US women aged 70 to 81 years.
Main Outcome Measure Validated telephone assessments of cognition administered
twice approximately 2 years apart (1995 to 2001 and 1997 to 2003), including tests of
general cognition, verbal memory, category fluency, and attention. Results: Higher levels
of activity were associated with better cognitive performance. On a global score
combining results of all 6 tests, women in the second through fifth quintiles of energy
expenditure scored an average of 0.06, 0.06, 0.09, and 0.10 standard units higher than
women in the lowest quintile (P for trend <.001). Compared with women in the lowest
physical activity quintile, we found a 20% lower risk of cognitive impairment for women
in the highest quintile of activity. Among women performing the equivalent of walking at
an easy pace for at least 1.5 h/wk, mean global scores were 0.06 to 0.07 units higher
compared with walking less than 40 min/wk (P.003). We also observed less cognitive
decline among women who were more active, especially those in the 2 highest quintiles
of energy expenditure. Women in the fourth and fifth quintiles had mean changes in
global scores that were 0.04 (95% confidence interval, 0.02-0.10) and 0.06 (95%
confidence interval, 0.02-0.11) standard units better than those in the lowest quintile.
Conclusion: Long-term regular physical activity, including walking, is associated with
significantly better cognitive function and less cognitive decline in older women.
We Will Meet Again in the Land of the Dakini video. Produced by Mystic Fire Video.
“. . . about the life of the late Mongolian lama and Chöd yogini Doljin Kandro Suren. She
practiced and taught the Dharma in Communist Mongolia when it was still illegal to do
so.”
Wheeler, Kate. Toward a new spiritual ethic. Article available online:
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/bodhidharma/wheeler.html#N1.
“The discussion turned to teachers who have sex with many women students, claiming to
Enlighten them . . .”
Willis, Janice. Nuns and benefactresses: The Role of women in the developme nt of
Buddhism. In Yvonne Haddad and Ellison Findlay, eds., Women, Religion and Social
Change. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1985, pp. 59-85.
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___________. Dakini: Some comments on its nature and meaning. In Janice Willis, ed.,
Feminine Ground: Essays on Women and Tibet. Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1989, pp. 57-75.
___________. Tibetan ani-s: The Nun’s life in Tibet. In Janice Willis, ed., Feminine
Ground: Essays on Women and Tibet. Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1989, pp. 96-117.
___________, ed. Feminine Ground: Essays on Women and Tibet. Ithaca: Snow Lion,
1989, 1995.
“A wide-ranging collection of papers which includes an excellent essay by Karma Lekshe
Tsomo on Tibetan Buddhist nuns.”
Willson, Martin. In Praise of Tara: Songs to the Saviouress: Source Texts from India
and Tibet on Buddhism's Great Goddess. London: Wisdom, 1986, 1996 (2d ed).
Wilson, Liz. Charming Cadavers: Horrific Figurations of the Feminine in Indian
Buddhist Hagiographic Literature. University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Women Active in Buddhism website. URL: http://lhamo.tripod.com.
Women and Buddhism. Special issue of Spring Wind: Buddhist Cultural Form, 1986,
6(1-3). (Journal published by Zen Buddhist Temple, 86 Vaughan Rd., Toronto, Ontario
M6C 2M1 CANADA.)
Women dharma teachers. Shambhala Sun, 2001.
Women in Buddhism. URL: http://www.buddhanet.net/mag_nuns.htm.
Women in Buddhism: Past, present, and future. URL:
http://campross.crosswinds.net/women.html.
Provides an extensive list of links to additional sites.
Women in spiritual life. Theme of Ascent, Summer 2003.
Women priests much in demand. The Times of India, 7 Jul 2002. Article available
online: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com//articleshow.asp?art_id=15203306.
“Jnana Prabodhini (JP), a city-based organization which has been working to promote
women priests since 1990, has a reason to smile as more and more people have started
accepting women priests to perform rituals for them.
“So did the JP face any opposition, especially because women were inducted into the
activity? ‘No,’ says Yashwant Lele, who heads one such project.
62
“‘Traditional priests cannot meet the demand of the growing population. The younger
generation is keeping away from this profession although there is enough money. So in a
way, we are helping to keep the tradition alive,’ he said.
“‘As far as induction of women is concerned, we believe that women should have equal
opportunity in this profession as well,’ Lele explains. The JP also believes that nobody
should be denied the right to perform any ritual because he/she is not a Brahmin.
“‘We see that Brahmin priests sometimes do not perform rituals in non-Brahmin homes.
We feel this is wrong, hence we keep our classes open for people from all castes. Our
priests accept invitations from all classes of people,’ Lele states . . .
“Besides training women in priesthood, Pune has also revived the long- lost tradition of
performing the sacred thread ceremony of girls to officially recognize the importance of
women in society. ”
Women’s liberation: Four women talk about why they sought liberation through
Buddhist teachings, what it means to be a woman dharma teacher, and how they’d
like to see Buddhism in America change. Shambhala Sun, Jul 2000, pp. 27-31, 73-76.
Includes Sharon Salzberg, Judith Simmer-Brown, Barbara Rhodes, and Pat O’Hara.
Article available online:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/revolving_themes/woman/woman_lib.htm.
Women, Spirituality, and Yoga Conference. By Network East-West. URL:
http://www.women-sy.de.
This annual conference was launched in 1999 by Network East-West, an international
group of professional women and Satyananda Yoga teachers.
“The aim of the [2002] conference [held in Krakow, Poland was to create a dialogue
between women from Central, Eastern, and Western Europe in their joint vision of
utilizing the feminine qualities and competencies constructively for the benefit of family,
society, and environment.
“Topics . . . covered social, cultural, and spiritual issues and range[d] from alternative
approaches to women’s health, educ ation, to non-violence, therapeut ic approaches to
specific women’s issues (e.g., depression, eating disorders), coping with trauma and
consequences of war, to conflict management, women in leadership positions, ecology
from a feminine perspective, etc. There have been workshops, panels, lectures, yoga and
relaxation classes, music and excursions.
“The wholistic concept of the conference—which combines practice (yoga, relaxation
techniques) with theory (lectures), active participation (team building, live chat-room),
and creative expression—has created an atmosphere of openness and lightness that
allowed for an honest exploration of issues concerning oneself and other cultures, other
traditions. Spirituality, regardless of religious background, is the underlying force
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sustaining all skillful action, supporting growth of self-confidence and stabilizing family
and society.
“The conference [was organized] by Netzwerk Ost-West e.V., a non-profit organization
with the aim of international understanding and peace.”
For more information about Network East-West and forthcoming conferences, see
http://www.women-sy.de.
Women teachers in Buddhism. Jan 2003. URL:
http://www.sakyadhita.org/teachers.html.
Women teachers in the Theravada tradition. Information available online:
http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/womenTeachers.html.
Women Zen masters in Dogen’s Raihai Tokuzui. Article available online:
http://womensearlyart.net/immortals/dogenwomen.html.
Woodroffe, Sir John George. Sakti and Sakta: Essays and Addresses. 8th ed. Madras:
Ganesh, l975.
Workouts for women: Yoga. China Daily, 4 Mar 2005.
“Medically speaking, yoga is good for everyone. Women can benefit from yoga even
more than with other fitness exercises,” said Huiping Mo, a veteran yogi who teaches
Bikram yoga, also known as hot yoga, at the Beijing Shanti Yoga Centre . . .
“According to Mo, yoga is particularly good for women . . .”
World Buddhists affirm equality of women. Article available online:
http://www.buddhanet.net/nuns_ord.htm.
Yogakanti Saraswati, Swami. A wave of beauty. Yoga (Sivananda Math), Mar 2005,
pp. 41-44.
A commentary on some verses from the Saundarya Lahari.
Yogendra, Sitadevi. Yoga Physical Education (For Women). Bombay, India: The Yoga
Institute, 1947.
Yoginihridaya (The Heart of the Yogini). Available online at Mike Magree’s site:
http://www.shivashakti.com/texts.htm.
“A classic text of Shri Vidya, available here in a Sanskrit transliteration. Much has
already been translated—[watch] for a commentary and translation soon.”
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Yoginitantra. Bombay: Kalyana Publishing House, 1984. [In Sanskrit.] See also the
article on this text by Mike Magee at http://www.shivashakti.com/yogini.htm.
“Important work which includes much geographical information on the tradition, as well
as a collection of rites and practices related mostly to left- hand aspects of the Goddess.
Svapnavati, the goddess of lucid dream, is much discussed.”
Young, Serinity. Courtesans and Tantric Consorts: Sexualities in Buddhist Narrative,
Iconongraphy, and Ritual. Snow Lion.
From the publisher: “An examination of 2,000 years of texts, iconography, and ritual
practices that reveals the mosaic of beliefs that inform Buddhist views on gender and
sexuality.”
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Norman, K.R., trans. The Elders: Verses II: Therigatha. London: Pali Text Society and Luzac &
Company, 1971.
O'Halloran, Maura. Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind. Riverhead Books (Tricycle), 1994. Lovely
story of a young Irishwoman who became a recognised Zen master in Japan.
Pao-Ch'ang, Shih. Lives of the nuns: biographies of Chinese Buddhist nuns from the fourth to
sixth centuries. Trans. by Kathryn Ann Tsai. Honolulu: Univ. of Hawaii Press, 1994. ISBN
0824815416 (188pp).
Paul, Diana Y. Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in Mahayana Buddhism. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1985; formerly Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1979. Includes
some discussion of the role of the bhikshuni sangha.
Rhys-Davids, C.A.F. and Norman, K.R., translators. Pitakas/Khuddaka: Poems of Early
Buddhist Nuns (Therigata). Headington, Oxford: Pali Texts Society, 1989. ISBN 0860132897
(233pp).
Shaw, Miranda . Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism. Princeton (NJ):
Princeton University Press, 1994. ISBN 0-691-03380-3 (291pp). A riveting look at the little-known
role of female teachers and lineage-holders in the Vajrayana tradition. Some discussion of
ordained women, e.g. Bhikshuni Lakshmi (Palmo), who founded the purification practice known
as Nyung-ne.
Shin, Nan (pseud.). Diary of a Zen Nun: Every Day Living. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1988.
Sidor, Ellen S. A Gathering of Spirit: Women Teaching in American Buddhism. Cumberland
(R.I.): Primary Point Press, 1987.
Tsomo, Karma Lekshe, ed. Sakyadhita: Daughters of the Buddha. Ithaca (NY): Snow Lion
Publications, 1989. Lekshe is a bhikshuni (fully ordained nun) in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition
and is Secretary of Sakyadhita International. She founded the Jamyang Chöling Institute for
Buddhist Women in India and is currently in the Philosophy Department at the University of
Hawai'i. This book is a collection of essays and presentations by women who attended the first
international conference of Buddhist women, with significant content relating to the ordination of
nuns.
Zen, Women, and Buddhism website:
http://www.geocities.com/zennun12_8/index.html#N1. Links to many articles.
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Of Related Interest
Austen, Allie Iglehart. The Heart of the Goddess. Winghow Press, 1990.
“Colorful, full-page pictures of goddesses from all over the world, ancient to present.”
Flinders, Carol Lee. Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics. New
York: Harper Collins, 1993.
On Christian mystics.
Lonsdorf, Nancy, Veronica Butler, and Melanie Brown. A Woman’s Best Medicine:
Health Happiness and Long Life through Maharishi Ayur-Veda. URL:
http://www.drlonsdorf.com/books/awbm%20page.html.
Miles, Rosalind. The Women’s History of the World. New York: Harper & Row, 1988.
Stone, Merlin. When God was a Woman. New York: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1976.
Wolff, Margaret. In Sweet Company: Conversations with Extraordinary Women About
Living a Spiritual Life. Margaret Wolff Unlimited, 2002.
Conversations with fourteen contemporary Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Jewish, and
Native American women.
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