42 BUDDHADHARMA: THE PRACTITIONER’S QUARTERLY

W

omen in Buddhism have a complicated history. It is

a history of great heroines such as Mahaprajapati

Gotami, who led the first women’s march in

recorded history to campaign for women’s ordin-

ation. It is the history of a profound philosophy that posits the

innate equality of all people based on teachings such as empti-

ness of self, the five skandhas, and buddhanature. Yet it is also a

history that bears the weight of misogynistic literature describ-

ing women as demonic, hypersexual temptresses whose female

birth makes them ineligible for enlightenment. A mere fraction

of the Buddhist histories that have been written down include

stories of women, who even then remain largely unnamed. Still,

voices both for and against gender equality in Buddhism have

been present throughout its history.

No one bears the weight of this history more directly than

those Buddhist women who serve as teachers, lineage holders,

abbots, tulkus, and leaders of Buddhist congregations. We

may feel the responsibility to express and interpret tradition

faithfully even as we are thrust (whether we choose it or not)

into constructing an experimental new world in which women

have more authority, education, and leadership in Buddhism

than ever before. Much progress has been made—though not as

much as necessary.

I believe we stand at the threshold between eras. In the new

era, it is possible to envision gender equality—but that possibil-

ity relies, in large part, on the female leaders who live and teach

today and upon those who support them. We all have a part to

play in this new era—male, female, nonbinary, transgender. We

all must collaborate in articulating—through our practices and

through our lives—Buddhism expressed as its highest potential,

as a system that affirms the dignity of all beings.

introduction by

Pema Khandro Rinpoche