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Being Black And Buddhist, Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

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Beacons Of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars For The Modern Age. Edited By Christopher Patrick Miller, Michael Reading, And Jeffery D. Long. Landham, Md: Lexington Books, 2020, Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

While the canon is replete with biographies of individual spiritual exemplars—Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi, Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain, and the Dalai Lama’s Freedom in Exile come to mind—few have examined exemplars across faiths. This collection focuses on Hindu masters from many different perspectives and practices, as well as a variety of Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh masters. The editors set their focus on religious leaders and spiritual guides who have served as sources of inspiration and “dispellers of darkness.” Their introduction discusses the defining characteristics of these “beacons of Dharma,” recognizing that the Sanskrit term …

Sea Changes In The Lives Of Japanese Buddhist Women In Hawai‘I, Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Three cycles of change characterize the evolution of Japanese Buddhist temples in Hawai‘i: the early years, the war years, and the contemporary period. This brief article explores women’s roles and patterns of adaptation to local circumstances over generations during these cycles of change. Special attention is given to the experiences of Japanese immigrant Buddhist women in the Jōdo Shinshū school of Buddhism. The aim is to show how Japanese women who immigrated to Hawai‘i helped shape a uniquely local flavor of Buddhism, made significant contributions to Jōdo Shinshū’s development, and helped ensure the continuity of Buddhist traditions up to the …

Wisdom From The Center Of The Heart: The Life And Work Of Pamela Ayo Yetunde So Far, Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde has emerged as a prominent figure in the Black, Buddhist, and queer communities. As I caught a glimpse of her amidst the excited crowds at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto in 2018, a gathering of 10,000 delegates from 80 countries and nearly 200 religious, spiritual, and Indigenous traditions, her humble free spirit immediately captured my attention. Unpretentious, unaffected by the grandeur of the immense gathering, and unfazed by the power and prestige of the luminary figures assembled there, she flowed through the hallowed halls with confidence and grace. In an …

Japanese Buddhist Women In Hawai‘I: Waves Of Change, Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Beginning in the latter half of the nineteenth century, successive waves of Japanese Buddhist immigrants settled in the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, bringing with them a variety of Japanese Buddhist schools and traditions. Overcoming many hardships, Japanese immigrant women worked with great devotion to help establish numerous temples in the Hawai‘i through Buddhist women’s associations known as Fujinkai. These dedicated women not only maintained ancestral Buddhist practices but also integrated Japanese Buddhist, native Hawaiian, and other cultural elements in ways that were entirely new. Persevering through the war years and through successive waves of cultural adaptation, they transmitted and protected Buddhist …

Challenging Bias Against Women Academics In Religion, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

In today’s world, people access knowledge instantaneously on Internet-connected devices such as laptops, smartphones, and smart televisions. We can ask Siri and Alexa any question imaginable while driving or cooking a meal. The source for this readily accessible information is a changing array of digital, tertiary knowledge-sharing platforms. The day-to-day decisions we make, along with our opinions and views of the world, are shaped by the knowledge we glean from these sources. Bias exists on these digital platforms and matters, especially to underrepresented and oppressed populations, such as women and people of color. This volume attends to bias in knowledge …

Claiming Notability For Women Activists In Religion, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Gender bias in the history of ideas is notorious. In religious terms, it can also be called heretical, blasphemous, and evil. The challenge to represent women’s lives, voices, and accomplishments in the broad and deep reaches of religion is even more difficult than in other fields. While history has its male actors and music its male composers, religions have their male gods who reign supreme even over male practitioners. These gods eclipse and erase goddesses, women scholars and ministers, and women’s ways of shaping spiritual consciousness. Women face formidable obstacles in religion, but women’s struggles are their success.

It is …

Matching Concepts, Transgressing Boundaries: Buddhist Transmission Strategies In The International Buddhist Women's Movement, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

One of the most striking features of the contemporary revitalization, transmission, and transformation of Buddhism is the prominent roles that women are playing, both locally and globally. Since 1987, Buddhist women from around the world have been uniting on a grassroots level and taking more active roles in working not only for the welfare of women, but for the welfare of human society writ large. Today, the Buddhist women’s movement has become a highly dynamic forum representing the interests of somewhere between 300 and 600 million women, depending on who is compiling the statistics. This movement is transgressive by its …

Nurturing The Seeds Of Zen: The Life And Legacy Of Shundo Aoyama Rōshi, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Aoyama Rōshi’s legacy and her place in the Buddhist world are unique. Situated within a notably patriarchal tradition, she has been a leader in the struggle for gender parity in contemporary Japan. Due to her unflagging efforts, nuns in the Sōtō Zen tradition have now achieved unprecedented visibility and independence. According to religious studies scholar Paula Arai, the leading contemporary scholar of Sōtō Zen laywomen and nuns, “the nuns now control their own religious training, enjoy educational and ceremonial rights, and have ... appropriate titles and religious robes” (Arai 1999, 74). Today, at Aichi Senmon Nisōdō, Aoyama Rōshi not only …

Out Of The Shadows: Socially Engaged Buddhist Women, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

In this volume, stories about the experiences of women in remote regions like Mongolia and Zangskar appear alongside essays on philosophy and history. The fact that so many different voices are included and valued is profound testimony to Buddhist women’s diversity in terms of their educational background and approach to social concerns. It is an immense privilege to honor the hard work that these women are doing to benefit society, even against great odds. We are pleased to highlight these achievements, so that readers can learn more about the Buddhist traditions and the vibrant communities of Buddhist women practitioners around …

Imagining Enlightenment: Icons And Ideology In Vajrayāna Buddhist Practice, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Iconography has been used to represent the experience of awakening in the Buddhist traditions for millennia. The Mahāyāna Buddhist traditions are especially renowned for their rich pantheons of buddhas and bodhisattvas who illuminate and inspire practitioners. In addition, the Vajrayāna branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism presents a host of meditational deities (yidam) who serve as catalysts of awakening. These awakened beings are regarded as objects of refuge for practitioners, both female and male, who visualize themselves in detail as embodiments of specific enlightened figures, female or male, with all their enlightened qualities. These meditational deities, which are mentally constructed …

Bridging Worlds: Buddhist Women's Voices Across Generations, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Since 1987, Sakyadhita has worked to remind the Buddhist women of the world of their potential to correct social problems and create a world of peace and happiness for all living beings. We strongly believe in the value of awakening the world's 300 million Buddhist women to work for peace and social justice. Our work has been focused in Asia, especially among the poorest women. Sakyadhita's working principle has been to assist those in greatest need: women and children. We are convinced that educating women in disadvantaged segments of Buddhist society will act as a powerful catalyst for long lasting …

Contemporary Buddhist Women: Contemplation, Cultural Exchange & Social Action: Sakyadhita 15th International Conference On Buddhist Women, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

The theme of the 15th Sakyadhita Conference in Hong Kong, “Contemporary Buddhist Women: Contemplation, Cultural Exchange & Social Action,” highlights our diversity and also the many choices that Buddhist women have today. Among us, there are many different ways that we may focus our energies, such as meditation practice, active social engagement, studies, teaching, parenting, artistic expression, and a range of other options. The beauty of Buddhist women is that we come from different countries and cultures, with different interests and diverse approaches to Buddhism, yet together we represent enormous power for good in the world. We are fortunate to …

Illustrating The Way: The Life And Times Of Bhiksuni Shig Hiu Wan, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Bhikṣuṇī Shig Hiu Wan was a Buddhist master in more than one sense of the word. She was not only a highly accomplished practitioner, teacher, artist, and poet, but she was also a feminist pioneer in higher education. When she arrived in Taiwan in 1966 and began teaching at the Chinese Cultural University, she was the first Buddhist nun to teach at the university level in Taiwan. At that time, it was highly unusual for a nun to take a visible role in the public sphere, so when Shihfu allowed her paintings to be exhibited in Taipei, this was an …

Prayers Of Resistance: Kalymyk Women's Covert Buddhist Practice, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Throughout decades of Soviet repression of religion and into modern times, groups of Buddhist women known as babushki matsik, or ‘‘group of old women precept holders’’ have covertly engaged in Buddhist practices in Kalmykia, following the Tibetan tantric tradition. Located to the northwest of the Caspian Sea, the Kalmyk Republic of the Russian Federation is the only region of Europe with a predominantly Buddhist population. For centuries, the region has been the site of repeated migrations, shifting political and military alliances, and Russian Orthodox conversion efforts. The devastating period of forced relocation and exile in Siberia between 1943 and 1957 …

Compassion & Social Justice: 14th Sakyadhita International Conference On Buddhist Women, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

The 14 Sakyadhita International Conference on Buddhist Women in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is an extraordinary crosscultural opportunity. Focusing on the theme “Compassion and Social Justice,” the conference introduces activists of the social justice movements in Indonesia and other Asian countries to Buddhist feminist wisdom, social analysis, lives, and experiences. At the same time, it introduces Buddhist communities to Indonesian activists and local social justice movements. The conference provides a space for attendees, volunteers, interpreters, and seminar and workshop presenters of different backgrounds to interact and break down perceived barriers. It creates a foundation for future collaborations among Buddhist feminists and social …

Mujeres, Espiritualidad Y Cambio Social, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd, Teresa Forcades Vila

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Mujeres, espiritualidad y cambio social es el tema de este diálogo entre Karma Lekshe Tsomo y Teresa Forcades Vila, mujeres luchadoras del día a día, que no dudan cuando hablan de cambios y revoluciones necesarias. Conocen las problemáticas de primera mano y, con la premisa de la práctica y el conocimiento, piensan nuevas formas para la libertad individual y colectiva. Cuando están convencidas de lo que creen, lo dicen; cuando están en proceso de pensamiento pero todavía dudan sobre sus teorías, también lo dicen. Y sobre todo saben que en este diálogo, siendo de religiones diferentes, las respuestas no siempre …

Buddhist Women And Religious Leadership, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Throughout Buddhist history, women practitioners have been models of leadership in virtuous conduct, meditation, discipline, teaching, spiritual experience, and other religious achievements. The roles women have played were not necessarily in line with contemporary expectations of religious leadership, however. Most did not hold official office, give public teachings, lead religious ceremonies, or publish extensively. Most were not prominent in temple building, institutional administration, or educational leadership. Almost none of them held positions in religious institutions and only a few were recognized for their achievements. In fact, women’s most visible religious activities often centered around supporting the religious practice of other …

Mother Teresa And The Bodhisattva Ideal: A Buddhist View, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

The notion of the bodhisattva, the selfless individual who is dedicated to alleviating the sufferings of others, is traditionally articulated within a Mahāyāna Buddhist framework. The question posed here is whether and to what extent this religious ideal can be conceived or, or instantiated by, individuals whose religiosity is framed by a different set of be- liefs and values, taking the Roman Catholic Sister of Charity, Mother Teresa, as an example. The broader question of commensurability arises when the criteria for qualifying as a bodhisattva, set within a specifically Mahāyāna context, are superimposed upon a figure who is solidly grounded …

Lao Buddhist Women: Quietly Negotiating Religious Authority, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Throughout years of war and political upheaval, Buddhist women in Laos have devotedly upheld traditional values and maintained the practice of offering alms and other necessities to monks as an act of merit. In a religious landscape overwhelmingly dominated by bhikkhus (fully ordained monks), a small number have renounced household life and become maekhaos, celibate women who live as nuns and pursue contemplative practices on the periphery of the religious mainstream. Patriarchal ecclesiastical structures and the absence of a lineage of full ordination for women have combined to render the religious roles of Buddhist nuns and laywomen virtually invisible throughout …

Gender Equity And Human Rights, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

The religious traditions that help shape society’s attitudes toward women and also women’s attitudes toward themselves often send mixed messages. The world’s major religions—Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—assert that women and men have equal potential, whether for liberation or in the sight of a higher being, but social realities reveal a stark contradiction between rhetoric and reality. Women continue to lack equal representation in social, political, and religious institutions. For many, the failure of the world’s religions to live up to their professed ideals not only exposes their lack of social responsiveness to the needs of human society but …

Women As Leaders In Buddhism, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

For Buddhists, the epitome of enlightened leadership is the Buddha himself. The Buddha, the “awakened one,” led by teaching a path to awakening that is open to all. The path to awakening – a process of purifying the mind of afflictions, such as greed, hatred, and ignorance – can be followed by women and men alike. Traditionally, however, the fact that the Buddha, the model of human perfection, was male seemed to imply to future generations that men were more somehow more capable of awakening than women. This impression was bolstered by the eight special rules attributed to the Buddha …

Creating Religious Identity, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

The author, a Buddhist monastic and scholar, explores the varieties of religious identity, their sources, and their effects on society. She discusses the fluidity of religious identities in the modern world and, in particular, the various challenges to women in confronting the stubborn persistence of gender-based exclusionary practices in religious traditions.

Socially Engaged Buddhist Nuns: Activism In Taiwan And North America, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

The last decades of the twentieth century have been a time of new visibility and social activism for Buddhists in Taiwan and around the world. This paper compares the social engagement of nuns in the Chinese Buddhist tradition in Taiwan and North America. I would like to argue that whereas nuns in Taiwan have developed a variety of approaches to social involvement, their counterparts in the Chinese diaspora in North America have had to face a set of challenges specific to overseas Chinese communities in addition to Chinese Buddhist tradition. The article concludes with reflections on the prospects for nuns' …

Being Buddhist, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

When I first encountered the Buddhist teachings, they vastly expanded my evolving ideas about life and helped me to recognize the limitations of my own perceptions. As a child, I suspected that perception was an individual process and that misunderstandings between people were based on different perspectives. Human beings' backgrounds and experiences seemed so diverse; it came as no surprise that they saw the world differently. Buddhist views on perception not only confirmed my suspicions, but also explained in depth the processes involved in human cognition and the ways in which our personal biases and preferences colour our images of …

Buddhist Women In A Global Multicultural Community, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

This book is the result of years of collaboration among hundreds of women from many different cultural backgrounds, speaking from their own first-hand experience of living, working, practicing, and communicating across cultures. The essays included here touch on many aspects of Buddhist culture and Buddhist women’s pioneering efforts to expand their cultural horizons through travel, education, meditation, and social activism. The essays document the achievements of women and the contributions they have made, not only to their own families, temples, and communities, but also to multicultural dialogue internationally.

North American Buddhist Women In The International Context, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Understanding North American Buddhist Women from a global perspective is a daunting task because of the enormous diversity of both North American and Asian Buddhist women. The fist question is, What does it mean to be a Buddhist? For some, to be a Buddhist means formally going for refuge in the Buddha, dharma, sangha. In other cases, a person is born Buddhist and lives her whole life as a Buddhist, without any special ceremony. Differences like theses make it impossible to generalize about Buddhist women's experiences.

Women Changing Buddhism: American Perspectives, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd, Sharon A. Suh Phd, Bell Hooks Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

This chapter is a conversation with bell hooks, Sharon Suh, and Karma Lekshe Tsomo; moderated by Susanne Mrozik. This panel conversation explores the diverse contributions that diverse kinds of women are making to Buddhism in the U.S. today.

Renunciation In Contemporary Buddhist Monasticism, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Celibate monastic practice has been a mainstay of Buddhist societies from the time of the Buddha until the present day. Buddha Sakyamuni specifically rejected the practice of extreme asceticism, but lauded renunciation of the household life. This tradition has continued for two and a half millennia, unchanged in many respects. Robed, shaven-headed, celibate renunciants are found in every Buddhist society even today. The measure of renunciation in contemporary Buddhist monastic practice varies, however, depending on how renunciation is defined. Renunciants are generally thought to live in solitude, apart from society. But it is well known that, except for exceptional individuals …

Dying, Death, And Afterlife From A Buddhist Perspective, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Since earliest times, death has fascinated, terrified, and confounded human beings. Virtually every religious tradition offers some explanation of three key concerns: the beginnings of the world, the meaning and purpose of human existence, and the end of life. The Buddhist traditions have given special attention to the meaning of life and the end of life as central topics for reflection.