Women in Buddhism

Women in Buddhism: Shambhala Sun offers one of the best selections of articles by women Buddhist teachers and authors available on the web. Sylvia Boorstein, Blanche Hartman, Pema Chödrön, and Sharon Salzberg are but a few of the notable women teaching Buddhism in the West. Shambhala Sun is pleased to offer a selection of articles from our archives by these and other women teachers and authors. (Pictured on our July 2000 cover are [l-r] Darlene Cohen, Lama Palden Drolma, Yvonne Rand, Sylvia Boorstein, and Blanche Hartman)

How American Women Are Changing Buddhism
American Women are taking Buddhism away from its patriarchal past, participating confidently as practitioners, teachers, and leaders. The job is not finished, says Rita M. Gross, one of Buddhism's leading feminist thinkers, but the role of American Buddhist women is unprecedented and may change Buddhism forever.

Just to Be Alive Is Enough
There is no greater gift than to be grateful for our lives, says Zen teacher Blanche Hartman, and gratitude leads naturally to generosity, because we want to share this gift with others.

To Love Abundantly
How Sharon Salzberg found loving-kindness in the darkest of times.

Conversations with Aung San Suu Kyi
Over the course of nine months—from October, 1995 to June, 1996—Alan Clements had an exceptional series of conversations with a unique woman and, currently, the world’s most famous political dissident. Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi is, in the words of Vaclav Havel, one of the outstanding examples of the power of the powerless.

What to Do When the Going Gets Rough
Pema Chödrön on four ways to hold our minds steady and hearts open when facing difficult people or circumstances.

Suffering's Not the Only Story
In the midst of great personal pain and confusion, says Sylvia Boorstein, we can be alive to the momentary gaps where our minds change course. In these gaps, all kinds of experience—compassion, insight, even humor—can arise.

Married to the Guru
The student-teacher relationship is always an intimate and intense one, and who could be closer to the guru than the student who is also his wife? Diana Mukpo was married to the late Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a figure of controversy whose genius surpassed convention, and undoubtedly one of the great Buddhist teachers of the twentieth century. She talks about her challenging, inspiring, and entirely surprising life married to the guru.

The Wise Woman Who Talked Back to God
The ancient Buddhist tale of the Seven Wise Sisters has Zen teacher Bonnie Myotai Treace thinking about the koan of gender.


More Related Articles:

• Woman to Woman, by Sandy Boucher
• Becoming the Ally of All Beings, by Sharon Salzberg
• Khandro Rinpoche's Tough Love, by Trish Deitch Rohrer
• How to be a Help, by Judith Lief
• She Who Hears the Cries of the World, by Christina Feldman
• Annie Mirror Heart, by Maura O'Halloran
• We Cannot Stop the Hail, But We Can Be Awake, by Bonnie Myotai Treace
• The Dharma of Barbie, by Karen Miller
• Dragon Thunder: My Life With Chögyam Trungpa, by Diana J. Mukpo
• I Married a Monk, by Sumi Loundon


Links:

• Sylvia Boorstein
• Sharon Salzberg
• Pema Chödrön
• Blanche Hartman
• Rita Gross
• Judy Lief
• Bonnie Myotai Treace


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