JUDITH HERTOG 91
Christ ianity,” she says, “because it teaches more equality than
Buddhism.”
Cho attended her first Sakyadhita conference in 2002. “It was
very empowering, and it completely changed my perspective,” she
recalls. A lifelong Buddhist, raised in a Buddhist family, Cho had
been studying Buddhism as an academic subject for years. But at
the conference, she realized that despite this lifelong immersion, she
actually knew very little about Buddhist traditions other than the
one in which she had been raised. And while she was steeped in the
academic study of scriptures and ancient Buddhist texts, she didn’t
know much about the lived experience of Buddhists in societies out-
side Korea. “Hearing about real women’s problems and actual issues
made me want to become an activist,” says Cho.
Cho’s research interest has since turned to the role of Buddhism in
female empowerment in Korea. In a recent article, she looked at how
Buddhism in previous centuries offered Korean women an escape
from strict Confucian gender hierarchies. She has also edited a book
celebrating the achievements of strong Korean Buddhist nuns and
laywomen from past centuries whose stories have long been ignored.
“There have been very brave, strong women who were Buddhist lead-
ers and nuns,” says Cho, “but they just wouldn’t have called them-
selves ‘feminists.’”
According to Cho, women tend to be more active in Korea’s Bud-
dhist temples than men. She remembers her own mother taking her
for picnics at the temple grounds during weekends and says that
these days the overwhelming majority of the audience members at
most Buddhist teachings are women. But it’s still men who hold
leadership positions.
Western Buddhist feminists, in Cho’s opinion, have been a wel-
come influence in Asia; as outsiders, these Western women have been
able to challenge biases that women from traditional Buddhist soci-
eties couldn’t tackle alone. But Cho also notes that some East Asian
nuns are not comfortable hearing Western women’s views about
gender equality.opposite | Karma Lekshe Tsomophotos Olivier Adam