Is a Female Buddha Possible in Non-Esoteric Buddhism? Buddhism today can broadly be divided into two forms: Tantric (esoteric) and non-Tantric (non-esoteric) Buddhism. Tantric Buddhism's answer to the above question is unequivocally positive: it never questioned the possibility of a female Buddha. In non-Tantric Buddhism, this question has long been a subject of debate, and thus far, it is assumed that a female Buddha is impossible. In my view, this latter conclusion is problematic and is not well supported in the traditional canonical literature. Therefore, the focus of this thesis is to further investigate the relationship between non-Tantric Buddhism's perspective on gender and soteriology. I will argue that the premises employed to rule out the possibility of a female Buddha in non-Tantric Buddhism are flawed, and that such a view cannot be attributed to the Buddha himself.

Gender and the Soteriology Debate in Buddhism: Is a Female Buddha Possible in Non-Esoteric Buddhism, Dr. Karma Sonam Palmo, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Hardcover, 230 pages, $22.00

Dr. Karma Sonam Palmo holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tasmania (School of Humanities: Asian Philosophy & Gender Studies), Australia. She works as a Research Assistant in the Dictionary Department of Research Section. She is currently working on a Tri-Lingual Abhidharma Thematic Dictionary (Tibetan-Sanskrit-English). Besides working on her main dictionary project, she teaches English in the Dept. of Classical and Modern Languages, Faculty of Shabda Vidya. She has taught courses on Buddhist Philosophy (Abhidharma); Gender and Buddhism; and Women in Buddhism as a Visiting Faculty in Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Sikkim, India and Smith College, MA, USA. Her research interests are Abhidharma and Yogacara Buddhist Philosophies; Women in Buddhism; Buddhism and Gender; and Buddhist Narrative & Hagiographic Literature.