Voice of Freedom in Bhutan: Reclaiming Lost Feminist Voices in Vajrayana Buddhism
Sonam Wangmo (Tenzin Dadon)
Feminist Buddhist scholarship has often criticized the androcentric tendencies in Buddhist traditions, practices, scriptures, and symbolism, which they assert has contributed to the subordination of women in the religious realm. Buddhist feminists call for a "reconstruction of Buddhism" whereby gendered roles in Buddhist practice are re-evaluated to promote gender equality. However, inadvertently, the very remedial measures that are meant to liberate women in Buddhism have themselves contributed to the erosion of women's subjectivity. The historical Buddha can be regarded as a feminist par excellence, because he established a system that deconstructs and transcends gendered roles through monastic institutions for both men and women. The Buddha paved the way for equality in Dharma practice for women by establishing the bhikkhuni sangha, which requires women to shed their female identity for an androgynous one. Women lose their female identity upon donning the robes and so many women fear that, in order to truly practice Buddhism, they must forego their female identity. While one may argue that gender is ultimately irrelevant in Buddhism through the concepts of egolessness (anatman), emptiness (shunyata), and Budddha nature (tathagatagarbha), on the conventional level, gender identity still plays a very important part in both spiritual and mundane life, especially for lay Buddhists.
Buddhist feminists have long pointed out that there is a denial and even repression of female presence in the symbol systems and practices of Buddhism. In the context of Tibetan Buddhism, which is the focus of this paper, there are deeply embedded exercises of control, and secret practices that have displaced women's subjectivity, especially in the monastic realm and secret tantric practices. Postmodern Buddhist feminists seek to reclaim women's subjectivity by exposing hidden pathologies that, in turn, can help move Buddhist institutional practices beyond masculinisation, whereby the rite of the Great Bliss Queen (Klein 1995) or the dakini Yeshey Tsogyal unveils a feminine Dharma that enables practitioners to manifest the qualities of the female emanation.
This paper explores what constitutes feminine Dharma in Vajrayana Buddhism as practiced in Bhutan. Tracing elements of the feminine aspects of Vajrayana Buddhist practice in Bhutan entails an analysis of living Buddhism in religious art, symbolism, performances such as masked dances, and other local Buddhist traditions practiced in contemporary Bhutan. No analysis of the female aspects of religion is complete without the participation of women themselves. Therefore, an essential contribution to this paper will be made by Bhutanese nuns who will share with us their perception of the personal, social, and religious meanings of being female and the corresponding elements of Vajrayana Buddhist practice that shape their subjectivity. The paper is part of ongoing research on gendered roles in religious practice in Bhutan whereby female identity, emerging through the contingencies of social and psychological processes, is analyzed in relation to the feminine Dharma in Bhutan.
"We Love Our Nuns!" Reflections on Lay-Monastic Relations in Sri Lanka
Susanne Mrozik
During my two years of ethnographic research on the bhikkhuni revival in Sri Lanka, lay men and women have often told me: "We love our nuns!" In this paper I will examine lay-monastic relations in contemporary Sri Lanka. I am especially interested in exploring the presence and importance of strong affective ties between laity and nuns. Although neither the Sri Lankan government nor the bhikkhu sangha have formally approved the reestablishment of the bhikkhuni order, bhikkhunis (about 1,000 in number) enjoy significant – and frequently enthusiastic – lay support. I will argue that one key reason for this support is the nature of affective ties between Sri Lankan laity and nuns. Focusing on the concept of "love" (adaraya), I will ask what Sri Lankan lay men and women mean by "love" in the context of lay-monastic relations, and some of the reasons they give for loving their nuns so much.
Workshop: The Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara
Prema Desara
This workshop on the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara will meet every afternoon for a 2-hour session to learn the dance. The first session will be taught as an introduction that anyone can attend. After that, continued attendance at the sessions will require a commitment to attend each subsequent session and to participate in the final offering performance. Workshop participants will then perform the dance at end of the conference (45 minutes). The performance will be open to all participants.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that Arya Tara was the first feminist. Her declaration to remain in the body of a woman throughout all time when she entered the enlightened state has been a beacon to all women, acknowledging that gender is not a factor in accomplishing the enlightened mind. It is said that when Tara entered the enlightened state, the universe praised her and that this is the source of the 21 Praises to Tara, a prayer that is taught to every Tibetan Buddhist child. The 21 Praises to Tara is one of the most precious practices for both monastics and laypeople in areas where Tibetan Buddhism is practiced.
Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara is based on a simple sadhana (practice). The dance has been taught all over the world, including to two groups of Tibetan nuns. During the Sakyadhita conference, some of my senior students and I will teach the dance and then participants will offer the dance to the community at the end of the conference.
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The 13th Sakyadhita International Conference on Buddhist Women
Will be held January 5-12, 2013, in Vaishali (Bihar) India. Return to this page for updates and details!
Conference Theme: "Buddhism at the Grassroots"
Previews of 13th Sakyadhita Conference
Buddhism and Ageing: In Praise of Old Age
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
Denial of old age and death is common in today's world. Women, in particular, are encouraged by the media to look eternally young and attractive. As women age and no longer need to enact the roles that society demands – as an object of attraction, wife, mother, and wage earner, their value often diminishes. Traditional societies equate old age with wisdom. The elderly are respected and honored for their experience and their advice is sought. In traditional Buddhist societies, after children leave home and their parents retire, people generally take precepts and use their time for devotional practices such as chanting, circumambulation, pilgrimage, visiting temples, and so on. All this is to prepare for death and for their future lives. In contemporary Western societies, however, older people are routinely isolated, either in their own homes or in care homes, and do not intermingle with the world around them.
There is a growing contemporary movement, especially among women, to cultivate new skills such as alternative healing practices, yoga, meditation, or arts and crafts during the latter part of their lives. They appreciate having time to explore new avenues of spiritual and artistic fulfilment. Senior Buddhists, in particular, value the opportunity to deepen their practice and also engage in more social outreach. They can be an example to the rest of the world of how to grow old meaningfully and with dignity. Buddhists in both Asia and the West need to consider how we can offer spiritual support to seniors, perhaps by creating Buddhist retirement communities and helping raise funds to support them.
Working with Obstacles: Is Female Rebirth an Obstacle?
Rita M. Gross
Many Buddhist teachings, especially Mahayana teachings about patience found in Shantideva's classic Bodhicharyavatara (The Way of the Bodhisattva) and the Atisha's teachings on Mind Training (Lojong) and others, recommend appreciating obstacles as very helpful on the path of Buddhist practice. Without obstacles, it is claimed, we could never really develop profound understanding or compassion, and, thus, could not wake up.
At the same time, a female rebirth is frequently considered to be an obstacle to enlightenment in most, if not all, schools of Buddhism. It is often considered not only to be an obstacle, but also an intractable obstacle, making enlightenment in this life impossible. Buddhist feminist thought has, by now, deconstructed the doctrine that female rebirth is an intractable obstacle, explored what is really at stake in this strange doctrine, and explained some of the historical origins of this doctrine. Yet, even though Buddhist feminists reject the claim that female rebirth is negative or unsatisfactory at the ultimate level – because that claim would contradict so many fundamental Buddhist teachings – there remains the stubborn fact that at the relative level that, in many contexts, Buddhist women face obstacles that men usually do not face.
As someone who has practiced Buddhism for more than thirty years, I have come to a point in my own understanding where I do, in fact, appreciate how much the many obstacles I have faced over the years have taught me. Some years ago, I asked my teacher, Khandro Rinpoche, about more skillful ways to work with students facing obstacles in their own lives, practice, and path, rather than simply telling them, "These obstacles will be helpful to you in the long run." I told her that when such advice had been given to me, it always sounded superficial, even mean. She asked me to write about this.
In this paper, I wish to tackle the issue of the usefulness of obstacles, particularly the "obstacle" of female rebirth, in a way that I have not done before. I have written extensively to defuse the claim that female rebirth is an obstacle and to explore, from a feminist perspective, how that claim can be used positively by feminists. But I have never explored whether or not the experience of having a female rebirth, with all that implied for a woman of my generation (born in 1943), could have been an obstacle from which I significantly benefitted. A female rebirth for a woman of my age was definitely an obstacle, but was it an obstacle for which I should be grateful? Did I accomplish more because of that female rebirth than I might have accomplished otherwise?
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