"Amidst a wealth of discussions on Buddhist nuns' ordination, this edition and translation of a fascinating text on rituals and regulations in the Tibetan tradition presents a much-needed exploration of all the salient issues. Leaving no stone unturned, it lays the foundation for future research and is essential reading for anyone with an interest in gender and institutions."
--Prof. Dr. Ann Heirman, Head of the Department of Languages and Cultures and the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Ghent University

The Buddhist Nuns' Ordination in the Tibetan Canon, Carola Roloff, Projekt Verlag, Hardcover, 375 pages, $30.00

Carola Roloff is a German Buddhist nun. Her monastic name is Bhiksuni Jampa Tsedroen. An active teacher, translator, author, and speaker, she is instrumental in campaigning for equal rights for Buddhist nuns. Ordaining female nuns, or bhiksunis, in the Tibetan tradition has been met with resistance from many Tibetan monks. Roloff is determined to change this reluctance to allow women into the tradition. As well as campaigning for a change of opinion, she is instrumental in helping to determine how females can best be accommodated, both in the tradition itself and in sanghas (mutually supportive communities). Fortunately for Roloff, this imposing challenge has been supported by the 14th Dalai Lama. As well as lecturing and writing on the subject, Roloff conducts research with other monks and nuns to help strengthen their position. The Vinaya scriptures, for example, show that the Buddha accepted the role of women as nuns in search of enlightenment, and Roloff therefore often quotes this text.

CONTENTS: The Buddhist Nuns' Ordination in the Tibetan Canon
1	Introduction			1
	1.1	Objectives and Initial Questions		1
	1.2	Primary Sources		6
		1.2.1	The Tibetan Translation of the Ksudrakavastu and the Vinaya Terminology Utilized	6
		1.2.2	Principal Texts Considered	7
		1.2.3	Introduction to the Tibetan Text Edition	10
	1.3	Acknowledgements		15
2	The First Bhiksuni Ordination			19
	2.1	The First Bhiksuni Samgha and the Evolution of the Manual for Bhiksuni Ordination		19
		2.1.1	Tibetan Text *Mahaprajapatigautamivastu	20
		2.1.1	English Translation of the Tibetan Text	57
3	Manual for Bhiksuni Ordination			81
	3.1	The Main Parts of the Manual for Bhiksuni Ordination in the Tibetan Mulasarvastivadavinaya		82
		3.1.1	Edition Tibetan Text	88
		3.1.2	English Translation of the Tibetan Text	177
4	Possibilities of Reviving the Mulasarvastivada Bhiksuni Lineage			273
	4.1	Mulasarvastivada Nuns' Ordination by Bhiksus Alone		277
	4.2	Ecumenical Ordination by Mulasarvastivada Bhiksus and Dharmagupataka Bhiksunis		283
		4.2.1	An Argument for the Validity of an Ecumenical Bhiksuni Ordination	289
		4.2.2	Recapitulating the Second Approach (Ecumenical Ordination)	311
		4.2.3	Further Rules and Regulations to be Considered	313
	4.3	Historic Decision Taken by the "12th Religious Conference of the Four Major Schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the Bon Tradition"		324
		4.3.1	Implications of the Decision Taken at the Conference	326
		4.3.2	Shortcomings of the Decision	327
	4.4	Prospects		329
Annex				337
	Appendix 1			337
		Table 1: Text Editions from the Tibetan Canon (Kanjur)		337
		Table 2: Concordance Obstructive Conditions (Antarayika-Dharmas)		339
	Abbreviations			345
	References			349
		Secondary Sources		349
		Online Bibliography in Connection with the Project		365
	The Bhiksunikarmavacana Sanskrit Fragments, ms. c.25(R) of the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford			367