Scholars and practitioners from a variety of Buddhist cultures, philosophical traditions, and academic disciplines analyze important dimensions of the new cross-cultural Buddhist women's movement: the status and experiences of women in Buddhist societies, feminist interpretation of Buddhist tenets, and the relationship of women to Buddhist institutions. Buddhist Women Across Cultures documents both women's struggle for religious equality in Asian Buddhist cultures as well as the process of creating Buddhist feminist identity across national and ethnic boundaries as Buddhism gains attention in the West. The book contributes significantly to an understanding of women and religion in both Western and non-Western cultures.

Contributors include Paula Arai, Cait Collins, Lorna Devaraja, Beata Grant, Rita Gross, Theja Gunawardhana, Elizabeth Harris, Anne Klein, Sarah Pinto, Dharmacharini Sanghadevi, Sara Shneiderman, H'ju Sunim (Ho-Ryeaon Jeon), Senarat Wijayasundara, and Janice D. Willis.

Buddhist Women Across Cultures, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Editor, State University of New York Press, Hardcover, 326 Pages, $29.95

Karma Lekshe Tsomo is Instructor of Buddhism at Chaminade University and Degree Fellow at the East-West Center. She has written several books including Sisters in Solitude: Two Traditions of Buddhist Monastic Ethics for Women, also published by SUNY Press, and most recently, Living and Dying in Buddhist Cultures (with David W. Chappell)

Preface

Mahaprajapati's Legacy: The Buddhist Women's Movement: An Introduction Karma Lekshe Tsomo
Part I: Buddhist Women in Asian Traditions
South Asian Traditions
1. The Female in Buddhism Elizabeth J. Harris
2. Buddhist Women in India and Precolonial Sri Lanka Lorna Dewaraja
3. Restoring the Order of Nuns to the Theravadin Tradition Senarat Wijayasundara
East Asian Traditions 4. The Red Cord Untied: Buddhist Nuns in Eighteenth-Century China Beata Grant 5. Japanese Buddhist Nuns: Innovators for the Sake of Tradition Paula K. R. Arai
6. Can Women Achieve Enlightenment? A Critique of Sexual Transformation for Enlightenment Hae-ju Sunim (Ho-Ryeon Jeon)
The Tibetan Tradition

7. Tibetan Buddhist Women Practitioners, Past and Present: A Garland to Delight Those Wishing Inspiration Janice D. Willis 8. Pregnancy and Childbirth in Tibetan Culture Sarah Pinto
9. Change in Consciousness: Women's Religious Identity in Himalayan Buddhist Cultures Karma Lekshe Tsomo
Part II: Contemporary Buddhist Women

Forging Identity
10. Conception and the Entry of Consciousness: When Does a Life Begin? Cait Collins
11. East, West, Women, and Self Anne C. Klein 12. Appropriate Treasure? Reflections on Women, Buddhism, and Cross-Cultural Exchange, Sara Shneiderman
Shaping New Traditions: Unity and Diversity
13. Comparing Buddhist and Christian Women's Experiences Karma Lekshe Tsomo 14. Aung San Suu Kyi: A Woman of Conscience in Burma Theja Gunawardhana 15. A Model for Laywomen in Buddhism: The Western Buddhist Order, Dharmacharini Sanghadevi
16. Feminism, Lay Buddhism, and the Future of Buddhism, Rita M. Gross
Epilogue, Karma Lekshe Tsomo
Bibliography
List of Contributors
Index