22 BUDDHADHARMA: THE PRACTITIONER'S QUARTERLY
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SAROLTA GYÖKÉRSo This Is What It’s Like to Be Free:
Poems from the Therigatha
introduction by Meg Gawler
The Therigatha (“Verses of the Elder Nuns”), a collection of poems
attributed to early female disciples of the Buddha, is the first known
anthology of women’s literature. It is also thought to be the only
canonical text of any major religion attributed to women and focus-
ing on women’s religious experiences. The collection is both a cel-
ebration of women’s personal experiences of complete freedom, or
nibbana, and a testimonial of what we now know as the third noble
truth, the truth of the possibility of liberation—the end of suffering.
As such, these verses have inspired Buddhist practitioners for over
two millennia.
Whereas elsewhere in the Pali canon women are sometimes dis-
missed as incapable, the women portrayed in the Therigatha are
depicted as dedicated practitioners, meeting adversity with cour-
age and defeating temptations with lucid insight. If there’s any
doubt about a woman’s ability to reach the highest Buddhist goal,
the T herigatha offers convincing proof to the contrary.
One remarkable quality of this anthology is the diversity of these
elder nuns (theris) and the challenges they overcame. The Theri-
gatha shows us that liberation is feasible for all women, from all
walks of life: from the princess to the prostitute, for the old or the
young, for those gifted in meditation or not, and for those who are