Advertisement
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender Jos? Ignacio Cabez?n, 1992-01-01 This book explores historical, textual, and social questions relating to the position and experience of women and gay people in the Buddhist world from India and Tibet to Sri Lanka, China, and Japan. It focuses on four key areas: Buddhist history, contemporary culture, Buddhist symbols, and homosexuality, and it covers Buddhism's entire history, from its origins to the present day. The result of original and innovative research, the author offers new perspectives on the history of the attitudes toward, and of the self-perception of, women in both ancient and modern Buddhist societies. He explores key social issues such as abortion, he examines the use of rhetoric and symbols in Buddhist texts and cultures, and he discusses the neglected subject of Buddhism and homosexuality. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Sexuality in Classical South Asian Buddhism José Ignacio Cabezón, 2017-10-10 A prolific scholar surveys classical Buddhism’s approach to sex, gender, and sexual orientation in this landmark volume. More than twenty-five years in the making, this detailed sourcebook on Buddhist understandings of sexuality, desire, ethics, and deviance in classical South Asia is filled with both engaging translations and original and provocative analysis. Jose Cabezon, the XIVth Dalai Lama Professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, marshals an incredible array of scriptures, legal and medical texts, and philosophical treatises, explaining the subtleties of this ancient literature in lucid prose. This work will be of immense interest not only to scholars of Buddhism and gender studies but also to lay readers who want to learn more about traditional Buddhist attitudes toward sex. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Buddhism beyond Gender Rita M. Gross, 2018-03-27 A bold and provocative work from the late preeminent feminist scholar, which challenges men and women alike to free themselves from attachment to gender. At the heart of Buddhism is the notion of egolessness—“forgetting the self”—as the path to awakening. In fact, attachment to views of any kind only leads to more suffering for ourselves and others. And what has a greater hold on people’s imaginations or limits them more, asks Rita Gross, than ideas about biological sex and what she calls “the prison of gender roles”? Yet if clinging to gender identity does, indeed, create obstacles for us, why does the prison of gender roles remain so inescapable? Gross uses the lenses of Buddhist philosophy to deconstruct the powerful concept of gender and its impact on our lives. In revealing the inadequacies involved in clinging to gender identity, she illuminates the suffering that results from clinging to any kind of identity at all. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Cosmopolitan Dharma Sharon Smith, Sally Munt, Andrew Yip, 2016-04-08 Within Western Buddhism, practitioners are often assumed to be white and middle-class. Based in ground-breaking empirical research, Cosmopolitan Dharma: Race, Sexuality, and Gender in British Buddhism explores the stories of Buddhists from minority communities, through a rich analysis of their lived experiences. Smith, Munt and Yip explore their various contestations of dominant white and heteronormative cultures in Western Buddhism. Using cosmopolitanism as the theoretical lens, Cosmopolitan Dharma argues convincingly that the Buddhist ethos of human interconnectivity needs to be further developed to truly embrace the ‘Other’ of different kinds (not least Western Buddhism’s own internal ‘Others’). Cosmopolitan Dharma, through Buddhists’ own narratives, explores how cultural politics from the ground up can offer a more inclusive philosophy and lived experience of spirituality. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: The Oxford Handbook of Theology, Sexuality, and Gender Adrian Thatcher, 2014-11-13 The Oxford Handbook of Theology, Sexuality, and Gender presents an unrivalled overview of the theological study of sexuality and gender. Not merely contentious and pervasive topics, sexuality and gender have escalated in importance within theology. Theologians increasingly agree that even the very doctrine of God cannot be contemplated without a prior grappling with each. Featuring 41 newly-commissioned essays, written by the foremost scholars in the discipline, this authoritative collection presents and develops the latest thinking in the area. Divided into eight thematic sections, the Handbook explores key methodological approaches, concepts, and issues, as well as current controversies within various denominations. Selected essays draw on reason as a distinct source of theology, discussing evolutionary biology and behavioural genetics, psychology, anthropological research, philosophical research, and queer theory. It examines the history of in theologies of sexuality and gender, with close analysis of the Bible and the Christian tradition. The final section considers theology in relation to different expressions of sexual identities. This volume is an essential reference for students and scholars, which will also stimulate further research. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Buddhism After Patriarchy Rita M. Gross, 1993-01-01 This book surveys both the part women have played in Buddhism historically and what Buddhism might become in its post-patriarchal future. The author completes the Buddhist historical record by discussing women, usually absent from histories of Buddhism, and she provides the first feminist analysis of the major concepts found in Buddhist religion. Gross demonstrates that the core teachings of Buddhism promote gender equity rather than male dominance, despite the often sexist practices found in Buddhist institutions throughout history. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: The Way of Tenderness Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, 2015-02-17 “What does liberation mean when I have incarnated in a particular body, with a particular shape, color, and sex?” In The Way of Tenderness, Zen priest Zenju Earthlyn Manuel brings Buddhist philosophies of emptiness and appearance to bear on race, sexuality, and gender, using wisdom forged through personal experience and practice to rethink problems of identity and privilege. Manuel brings her own experiences as a bisexual black woman into conversation with Buddhism to square our ultimately empty nature with superficial perspectives of everyday life. Her hard-won insights reveal that dry wisdom alone is not sufficient to heal the wounds of the marginalized; an effective practice must embrace the tenderness found where conventional reality and emptiness intersect. Only warmth and compassion can cure hatred and heal the damage it wreaks within us. This is a book that will teach us all. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism Michael Jerryson, 2016-11-01 As an incredibly diverse religious system, Buddhism is constantly changing. The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism offers a comprehensive collection of work by leading scholars in the field that tracks these changes up to the present day. Taken together, the book provides a blueprint to understanding Buddhism's past and uses it to explore the ways in which Buddhism has transformed in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The volume contains 41 essays, divided into two sections. The essays in the first section examine the historical development of Buddhist traditions throughout the world. These chapters cover familiar settings like India, Japan, and Tibet as well as the less well-known countries of Vietnam, Bhutan, and the regions of Latin America, Africa, and Oceania. Focusing on changes within countries and transnationally, this section also contains chapters that focus explicitly on globalization, such as Buddhist international organizations and diasporic communities. The second section tracks the relationship between Buddhist traditions and particular themes. These chapters review Buddhist interactions with contemporary topics such as violence and peacebuilding, and ecology, as well as Buddhist influences in areas such as medicine and science. Offering coverage that is both expansive and detailed, The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism delves into some of the most debated and contested areas within Buddhist Studies today. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Transcending Kevin Manders, Elizabeth Marston, 2019-10-22 A compelling collection of the many voices and experiences of trans, genderqueer, and nonbinary Buddhists Transcending brings together more than thirty contributors from both the Mahayana and Theravada traditions to present a vision for a truly inclusive trans Buddhist sangha in the twenty-first century. Shining a light on a new generation of Buddhist role models, this book gives voice to those who have long been marginalized within the Buddhist world and society at large. While trans, genderqueer, and nonbinary practitioners have experienced empowerment and healing through their commitment to the Buddha, dharma, and sangha, they also share their experiences of isolation, transphobia, and aggression. In this diverse collection we hear the firsthand accounts, thoughts, and reflections of trans Buddhists from a variety of different lineages in an open invitation for all Buddhists to bring the issue of gender identity into the sangha, into the discourse, and onto the cushion. Only by doing so can we develop insight into our circumstances and grasp our true, essential nature. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: The Power of Denial Bernard Faure, 2003-03-02 Innumerable studies have appeared in recent decades about practically every aspect of women's lives in Western societies. The few such works on Buddhism have been quite limited in scope. In The Power of Denial, Bernard Faure takes an important step toward redressing this situation by boldly asking: does Buddhism offer women liberation or limitation? Continuing the innovative exploration of sexuality in Buddhism he began in The Red Thread, here he moves from his earlier focus on male monastic sexuality to Buddhist conceptions of women and constructions of gender. Faure argues that Buddhism is neither as sexist nor as egalitarian as is usually thought. Above all, he asserts, the study of Buddhism through the gender lens leads us to question what we uncritically call Buddhism, in the singular. Faure challenges the conventional view that the history of women in Buddhism is a linear narrative of progress from oppression to liberation. Examining Buddhist discourse on gender in traditions such as that of Japan, he shows that patriarchy--indeed, misogyny--has long been central to Buddhism. But women were not always silent, passive victims. Faure points to the central role not only of nuns and mothers (and wives) of monks but of female mediums and courtesans, whose colorful relations with Buddhist monks he considers in particular. Ultimately, Faure concludes that while Buddhism is, in practice, relentlessly misogynist, as far as misogynist discourses go it is one of the most flexible and open to contradiction. And, he suggests, unyielding in-depth examination can help revitalize Buddhism's deeper, more ancient egalitarianism and thus subvert its existing gender hierarchy. This groundbreaking book offers a fresh, comprehensive understanding of what Buddhism has to say about gender, and of what this really says about Buddhism, singular or plural. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Queer Dharma Winston Leyland, 1998 Over 35 writers are featured in this pioneering book discussing how they integrate being gay and their spirituality as Buddhists. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Lust for Enlightenment John Stevens, 1990-12-08 Over the centuries, Buddhism has responded to sexuality in a variety of fascinating ways, sometimes suppressing the sexual urge, sometimes sublimating it, sometimes cultivating it, and, on the highest levels, transforming it. This book reveals how Buddhists, beginning with Shakyamuni Buddha himself, relate to the inner fire that drives humankind. Included are chapters on the Buddha’s love life before his enlightenment and his later relationships with women; the tantric approach to sex among Buddhists of ancient India, Tibet, China, and Japan; Zen in the art of love; and a positive discussion of women and Buddhism. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Courtesans and Tantric Consorts Serinity Young, 2004-03-01 The wisest teachings of Buddhism say that, like all oppositions, one must move beyond gender. But as Serinity Young shows in this enlightening work, the rhetoric of Buddhist texts, the symbolism of its iconography, and the performative import of its rituals, tell different, and often contradictory, stories. In Courtesans and Tantric Consorts, Serinity Young takes the reader on a journey through more than 2000 years of biographical writings, iconographic depictions, and ritual practices revealing Buddhism's deep struggles with gender. Juxtaposing empowering images of women with their textual repudiation, beginning with the Buddha himself who abandoned his wife; tantric courtesans who are considered necessary to male enlightenment with fertility rituals designed to ensure male offspring; tales of gender-bending gods and goddesses with all male heavens; Serinity Young draws on a vast range of sources to reveal the colourful, and often troubling, mosaic of beliefs that inform Buddhist views about gender and sexuality. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Passionate Enlightenment Miranda Shaw, 2022-06-07 The now-classic exploration of the role of women and the feminine in Buddhist Tantra The crowning cultural achievement of medieval India, Tantric Buddhism is known in the West primarily for the sexual practices of its adherents, who strive to transform erotic passion into spiritual bliss. Historians of religion have long held that this attempted enlightenment was for men only, and that women in the movement were at best marginal and subordinated and at worst degraded and exploited. In Passionate Enlightenment, Miranda Shaw argues to the contrary and presents extensive evidence of the outspoken and independent female founders of the Tantric movement and their creative role in shaping its distinctive vision of gender relations and sacred sexuality. Including a new preface by the author, this Princeton Classics edition makes an essential work available for new audiences. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Silver Screen Buddha Sharon A. Suh, 2015-01-29 How do contemporary films depict Buddhists and Buddhism? What aspects of the Buddhist tradition are these films keeping from our view? By repeatedly romanticizing the meditating monk, what kinds of Buddhisms and Buddhists are missing in these films and why? Silver Screen Buddha is the first book to explore the intersecting representations of Buddhism, race, and gender in contemporary films. Sharon A. Suh examines the cinematic encounter with Buddhism that has flourished in Asia and in the West in the past century – from images of Shangri-La in Frank Capra's 1937 Lost Horizon to Kim Ki-Duk's 2003 international box office success Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring. The book helps readers see that representations of Buddhism in Asia and in the West are fraught with political, gendered, and racist undertones. Silver Screen Buddha draws significant attention to ordinary lay Buddhism, a form of the tradition given little play in popular film. By uncovering the differences between a fictionalized, commodified, and exoticized Buddhism, Silver Screen Buddha brings to light expressions of the tradition that highlight laity and women, on the one hand, and Asian and Asian Americans, on the other. Suh engages in a re-visioning of Buddhism that expands the popular understanding of the tradition, moving from the dominance of meditating monks to the everyday world of raced, gendered, and embodied lay Buddhists. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: An Introduction to Engaged Buddhism Paul Fuller, 2021-08-12 This textbook introduces and explores the ideas, practices and philosophy of engaged Buddhism. The movement holds that suffering is not just caused by the cravings of the mind, but also by political and social factors; therefore, engaged Buddhists 'engage' with social issues to achieve liberation. Paul Fuller outlines the movement's origins and principles. He then offers a comprehensive analysis of the central themes and issues of engaged Buddhism, offering new insights into the formation of modern Buddhism. The range of issues covered includes politics, gender, environmentalism, identity, blasphemy and violence. These are illustrated by case studies and examples from a range of locations where Buddhism is practised. Discussion points and suggested further reading are provided at the end of each chapter, which will further enrich undergraduates' grasp of the topic. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Buddhist Feminisms and Femininities Karma Lekshe Tsomo, 2019-01-01 Silver Medalist, 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Religion (Eastern/Western) Category This groundbreaking book explores Buddhist thought and culture, from multiple Buddhist perspectives, as sources for feminist reflection and social action. Too often, when writers apply terms such as woman, femininity, and feminism to Buddhist texts and contexts, they begin with models of feminist thinking that foreground questions and concerns arising from Western experience. This oversight has led to many facile assumptions, denials, and oversimplifications that ignore women's diverse social and historical contexts. But now, with the tools of feminist analysis that have developed in recent decades, constructs of the feminine in Buddhist texts, imagery, and philosophy can be examined—with the acknowledgment that there are limitations to applying these theoretical paradigms to other cultures. Contributors to this volume offer a feminist analysis, which integrates gender theory and Buddhist perspectives, to Buddhist texts and women's narratives from Asia. How do Buddhist concepts of self and no-self intersect with concepts of gender identity, especially for women? How are the female body, sexuality, and femininity constructed (and contested) in diverse Buddhist contexts? How might power and gender identity be perceived differently through a Buddhist lens? By exploring feminist approaches and representations of the feminine, including persistent questions about women's identities as householders and renunciants, this book helps us to understand how Buddhist influences on attitudes toward women, and how feminist thinking from other parts of the world, can inform and enlarge contemporary discussions of feminism. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: The Bloomsbury Reader in Religion, Sexuality, and Gender Donald L. Boisvert, Carly Daniel-Hughes, 2016-11-03 How do religion, gender and sexuality interact? How have they impacted, and continue to impact, human culture? The Bloomsbury Reader in Religion, Sexuality and Gender brings together, for the first time, the key texts in the field. Designed as a textbook for use in a classroom setting, it offers thought-provoking selections of some of the most compelling and timely readings available today. The Reader is divided into three parts (bodies; desires; performances). Each considers, from a thematic perspective, the ways in which people have made sense of their religious and sexual experiences, the ways they imagine and talk about gender, sex and the sacred, and the multiple meanings they ascribe to them. Traditions represented include indigenous spiritualities, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Asian traditions and new religious movements. Some readings are more theoretical or historical in nature, thereby providing wide-ranging contexts for reflection and discussion. The reader includes extensive introductions to the book as a whole and to each of the three parts, as well as short paragraphs contextualizing each of the readings. Each section includes discussion questions for classroom use; additional readings and resources, as well as a glossary of key terms, are also provided. The Bloomsbury Reader in Religion, Sexuality and Gender is an ideal resource for courses on religion and sexuality, religion and gender, or religion and contemporary culture more generally. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Gender and the Path to Awakening Martin Seeger, 2018 In this book Seeger lays out the nuances and varying conceptions of female renunciation in modern Thai Buddhism. Centered on long-term textual and ethnographic research on six remarkable female practitioners, Seeger considers trends and changes over the last 140 years in the practices of female renunciants and their devotees. He also investigates understandings of female sainthood in Thai Buddhism, its expressions in material culture, and the importance of orality and memory in Thai Buddhist epistemology. Supported by interviews and careful study of sermons, hagiographies, and hitherto untranslated and rare Thai sources, this book examines the social backgrounds, modes of expression, veneration, and historical contexts of Thai women pursuing the Buddhist ideal. Rich in ethnographic detail and with additional grounding in foundational Indian Buddhist texts, this book offers new insights into the complexities of female renunciation and gender relations in modern Thai Buddhism.--Publisher's description |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: The Buddha Side Alexander Soucy, 2012-07-31 The most common description of the supernatural landscape in Vietnam makes a distinction between Buddhist and non-Buddhist “sides.” The “Buddha side” (ben phat) is the focus of this investigation into the intersection of gender, power, and religious praxis. Employing an anthropological approach to Buddhist practice that takes into account modes of action that are not only socially constructed and contextual, but also negotiated by the actors, The Buddha Side uniquely explores how gender and age affect understandings of what it means to be a Buddhist. In seeking to map out the ways and meanings of Buddhist engagement, Alexander Soucy examines everything from the skeptical statements of young men and devotional performances of young women to the pilgrimages of older women and performances of orthodoxy used by older men to assert their position within the pagoda space. Soucy draws on more than four years’ experience conducting ethnographic research in Hanoi to investigate how religious practice is grounded in the constitution and marking of social identity. From this in-depth view, he describes the critical role of religion in shaping social contexts and inserting selves into them. Religion can thus be described as a form of theatre—one in which social identities (youth, old age, masculinity, femininity, authority) are constructed and displayed via religious practice. A compelling look at the performative aspect of Buddhism in contemporary Vietnam, The Buddha Side will be welcomed by anyone with an interest in Buddhism as it is practiced on the ground. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: The Red Thread Bernard Faure, 1998 Is there a Buddhist discourse on sex? In this innovative study, Bernard Faure reveals Buddhism's paradoxical attitudes toward sexuality. His remarkably broad range covers the entire geography of this religion, and its long evolution from the time of its founder, Xvkyamuni, to the premodern age. The author's anthropological approach uncovers the inherent discrepancies between the normative teachings of Buddhism and what its followers practice. Framing his discussion on some of the most prominent Western thinkers of sexuality--Georges Bataille and Michel Foucault--Faure draws from different reservoirs of writings, such as the orthodox and heterodox doctrines of Buddhism, and its monastic codes. Virtually untapped mythological as well as legal sources are also used. The dialectics inherent in Mahvyvna Buddhism, in particular in the Tantric and Chan/Zen traditions, seemed to allow for greater laxity and even encouraged breaking of taboos. Faure also offers a history of Buddhist monastic life, which has been buffeted by anticlerical attitudes, and by attempts to regulate sexual behavior from both within and beyond the monastery. In two chapters devoted to Buddhist homosexuality, he examines the way in which this sexual behavior was simultaneously condemned and idealized in medieval Japan. This book will appeal especially to those interested in the cultural history of Buddhism and in premodern Japanese culture. But the story of how one of the world's oldest religions has faced one of life's greatest problems makes fascinating reading for all. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Schooling Stephen Thomas Russell, Stacey S. Horn, 2017 Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Schooling brings together contributions from a diverse group of researchers, policy analysts, and education advocates from around the world to synthesize the practice and policy implications of research on sexual orientation, gender identity, and schooling. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: A Dose of Emptiness Mkhas-grub Dge-legs-dpal-bza?-po, Jose Ignacio Cabezon, José Ignacio Cabezón, 1992-01-01 This book is an annotated translation of one of the great Tibetan classics of Mahayana Buddhist thought, mKhas grub rje's sTong thun chen mo. The text is a detailed critical exposition of the theory and practice of emptiness as expounded in the three major schools of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy: the Yogacara, Svatantrika, and Prasangika. Used as a supplement to the scholastic debating manuals in some of the greatest monasteries of Tibet, the sTong thun chen mo is a veritable encyclopedia of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, dealing with such topics as hermeneutics, the theory of non-duality, the linguistic interpretation of emptiness, the typology of ignorance, logic, the nature of time, and the perception of matter across world spheres. This book is an indispensable source for understanding the Tibetan dGe lugs pa school's synthesis of the Middle Way (Madhyamaka) and Epistemological (Pramanika) traditions of Indian Buddhism. In addition, it is an unprecedented source for the philosophical polemics of fifteenth century Tibet. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Male Homosexuality in 21st-Century Thailand Jan W. de Lind van Wijngaarden, 2021-02-15 This book presents the very first analysis of male homosexuality in modern rural Thailand that is based on sociological/anthropological research directly with 25 young same-sex attracted men. It explores changes in the way men view and describe their sexuality over time by interviewing them three times over a period of around 18 months. The men are followed during an important transition in their lives: the end of their high school years and the end (in most cases) of their life as a child with parents or extended family at a rural home. Nearly all decided to move to a city to continue their education or to find work. Some also had stints with sex work in one of Thailand’s well-known centers for prostitution. For nearly all men, this transition brought them into contact with new ideas about gender and sexuality, and many experienced an abrupt increase in their opportunities to have sex, leading to a readjustment of their moral universes. The book presents significant new insights about the Thai sex/gender system, particularly on how it is affected by processes of globalization and the ascent of the Internet and mobile phones as tools for dating and romance. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Women in Japanese Religions Barbara Ambros, 2015-05-29 A comprehensive history of women in Japanese religious traditions Scholars have widely acknowledged the persistent ambivalence with which the Japanese religious traditions treat women. Much existing scholarship depicts Japan’s religious traditions as mere means of oppression. But this view raises a question: How have ambivalent and even misogynistic religious discourses on gender still come to inspire devotion and emulation among women? In Women in Japanese Religions, Barbara R. Ambros examines the roles that women have played in the religions of Japan. An important corrective to more common male-centered narratives of Japanese religious history, this text presents a synthetic long view of Japanese religions from a distinct angle that has typically been discounted in standard survey accounts of Japanese religions. Drawing on a diverse collection of writings by and about women, Ambros argues that ambivalent religious discourses in Japan have not simply subordinated women but also given them religious resources to pursue their own interests and agendas. Comprising nine chapters organized chronologically, the book begins with the archeological evidence of fertility cults and the early shamanic ruler Himiko in prehistoric Japan and ends with an examination of the influence of feminism and demographic changes on religious practices during the “lost decades” of the post-1990 era. By viewing Japanese religious history through the eyes of women, Women in Japanese Religions presents a new narrative that offers strikingly different vistas of Japan’s pluralistic traditions than the received accounts that foreground male religious figures and male-dominated institutions. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, U.S. Law, and Womanist Theology for Transgender Spiritual Care Pamela Ayo Yetunde, 2020-04-30 This book, written with hospital spiritual care providers in mind, investigates how to expand the field and scope of compassion within the hospital context, for the spiritual care and safety of transgender patients. Written by a law-educated pastoral counselor, it advocates for chaplain legal literacy, and explains the consequences of spiritual care providers not knowing more about the law. It explores the current political and legal situation transgender hospital patients find themselves in, and especially how these new policies put transgender people at risk when they are in a hospital setting. Pamela Ayo Yetunde offers Buddhist-Christian activist interreligious dialogue methods to promote deeper understanding of how spiritual practices can cultivate empathy for transgender patients. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Women in Buddhism Diana Y. Paul, Frances Wilson, 1985-01 |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Sexuality, Citizenship and Belonging Francesca Stella, Yvette Taylor, Tracey Reynolds, Antoine Rogers, 2015-10-23 This book brings together a diverse range of critical interventions in sexuality and gender studies, and seeks to encourage new ways of thinking about the connections and tensions between sexual politics, citizenship and belonging. The book is organized around three interlinked thematic areas, focusing on sexual citizenship, nationalism and international borders (Part 1); sexuality and race (Part 2); and sexuality and religion (Part 3). In revisiting notions of sexual citizenship and belonging, contributors engage with topical debates about sexual nationalism, or the construction of western/European nations as exceptional in terms of attitudes to sexual and gender equality vis-à-vis an uncivilized, racialized Other. The collection explores macro-level perspectives by attending to the geopolitical and socio-legal structures within which competing claims to citizenship and belonging are played out; at the same time, micro-level perspectives are utilized to explore the interplay between sexuality and race, nation, ethnicity and religious identities. Geographically, the collection has a prevalently European focus, yet contributions explore a range of trans-national spatial dimensions that exceed the boundaries of Europe and of European nation-states. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Sex, Sin, and Zen Brad Warner, 2010-10-12 With his one-of-a kind blend of autobiography, pop culture, and plainspoken Buddhism, Brad Warner explores an A-to-Z of sexual topics — from masturbation to dating, gender identity to pornography. In addition to approaching sexuality from a Buddhist perspective, he looks at Buddhism — emptiness, compassion, karma — from a sexual vantage. Throughout, he stares down the tough questions: Can prostitution be a right livelihood? Can a good spiritual master also be really, really bad? And ultimately, what's love got to do with any of it? While no puritan when it comes to non-vanilla sexuality, Warner offers a conscious approach to sexual ethics and intimacy — real-world wisdom for our times. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: This Monk Wears Heels Kodo Nishimura, 2022-02-08 You wonÕt become the real you unless you face up to what youÕve avoided most. Once you allow yourself to be who you are, the change will come. Kodo Nishimura, international make-up artist and Buddhist monk, rose to stardom after appearing in the Queer Eye: WeÕre In Japan! special that aired to massive viewership on Netflix. His wide smile, however, hid a painful past. The book starts with KodoÕs childhood in Japan, playing dress up as Little Mermaid, and his lonely adolescence when, although born into a family of priests, all he wanted to do was wear pretty dresses and become a princess. Growing up an outsider in a society that celebrates uniformity, KodoÕs time in New York at the Parsons School of Design and his work as a leading make-up artist finally brought him to embrace his own uniqueness. The book is full of practical tips for positive thinking and insights into the philosophical approach to life Kodo has crafted as a Buddhist monk. Detailing his journey to self- love, the book provides a gentle, loving, and encouraging voice for all those who dare to be different. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction Damien Keown, 2020-06-25 With over 520 million followers, Buddhism is now the world's fourth largest religion. Over the last seventy years or so there has been a growing interest in Buddhism, and it continues to capture the imagination of many in the West, who see it as either an alternative or a supplement to their own religious beliefs. For complex cultural and historical reasons, ethics has not received as much attention in traditional Buddhist thought as it has in the West. In this Very Short Introduction, Damien Keown explores how Buddhism approaches a range of moral issues of our age, including our relationship with our environment, our treatment of animals, and our stance on abortion, on sexuality and gender, on violence and war. This new edition also includes a discussion of the ethical challenges posed by cutting-edge developments in science and biomedical technologies, including neuroscience, artificial intelligence, transhumanism, and gene editing. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Understanding Young Buddhists Sarah-Jane Page, Andrew K. T. Yip, 2017 Understanding Young Buddhists offers a rich analysis of young Buddhists' lived experiences. It explores their journeying into Buddhism, belief and practice, sexuality, and positioning in diverse social contexts. It demonstrates the resourcefulness of young Buddhists in developing ethics for life. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Innovative Buddhist Women Karma Lekshe Tsomo, 2013-09-05 Combines the voices of scholars and practitioners in analysing Buddhist women's history. 26 articles document the lives of women who have set in motion changes within Buddhist societies, with analyses of issues such as gender, ethnicity, authority, and class that affect the lives of women in traditional Buddhist cultures and, increasingly, the west. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: THAKUR VIJAYAM:Spectrum of History, Culture and Archaeological Studies Prof. P. CHENNA REDDY, 2023-01-09 Thakur Vijayam: Spectrum of History, Culture and Archaeological Studies is a Commemoration Volume presented to Prof. Vijay Kumar Thakur was a renowned Historian in India, on his Eighty second birth anniversary (15th July 1941). These articles are in other way serve as garland of flowers to decor Prof. Vijay Kumar Thakur. A great scholar in History, Buddhism, Epigraphy, Archaeology, andCulture. There are more than 35 articles shedding light on History, Culture and Archaeological Studies. This prestigious volume contains a wide spectrum of research articles covering Archaeology, History, Art, Architecture, Epigraphy and Numismatics, Buddhism, Religion and Philosophy Tourism, Modern History and Economic history, Folklore, literature and culture, This volume was edited by Prof. Pedarapu Chenna Reddy who is already well-known for similar volumes in honour of Prof. B. Rama Raju, Dr. P. V. P. Sastry, Prof. R. Soma Reddy, Dr. I. K. Sarma, Dr. V. V. Krishna Sastry, Dr. Robert G. Bednarik, Prof. A. Sundara, Dr. Deme Raja Reddy, Dr. Annapareddy Venkateswara Reddy, Prof. K. V. Raman, Dr. Janumaddi Hanumath Sastry, Prof. K. Rajayyan, Prof. Alan Dundes, Prof. Bhakthavathsala Reddy, Prof. K. K. N. Kurup, Dr. A. K. V. S Reddy, Dr. Y. Gopala Reddy, Prof. M. L. K. Murty, Dr. M. D. Sampath, Prof. Katta Narasimha Reddy, Prof. Hampa Nagarajaiah etc. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Queer Spiritual Spaces Kath Browne, Sally R. Munt, Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip, 2016-05-23 Drawn from extensive, new and rich empirical research across the UK, Canada and USA, Queer Spiritual Spaces investigates the contemporary socio-cultural practices of belief, by those who have historically been, and continue to be, excluded or derided by mainstream religions and alternative spiritualities. As the first monograph to be directly informed by 'queer' subjectivities whilst dealing with divergent spiritualities on an international scale, this book explores the recently emerging innovative spaces and integrative practices of queer spiritualities. Its breadth of coverage and keen critical engagement mean it will serve as a theoretically fertile, comprehensive entry point for any scholar wishing to explore the queer spiritual spaces of the twenty-first century. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Encyclopedia of Women in World Religions Susan de-Gaia, 2018-11-16 This reference offers reliable knowledge about women's diverse faith practices throughout history and prehistory, and across cultures. Across the span of human history, women have participated in world-building and life-sustaining cultural creativity, making enormous contributions to religion and spirituality. In the contemporary period, women have achieved greater equality, with more educational opportunities, female role models in public life, and opportunities for religious expression than ever before. Contemporaneously with this increased visibility, women are actively and energetically engaging with religion for themselves and for their communities. Drawing on the expertise of a range of scholars, this reference chronicles the religious experiences of women across time and cultures. The book includes sections on major religions as well as on spirituality, African religions, prehistoric religions, and other broad topics. Each section begins with an introduction, followed by reference entries on specialized subjects along with excerpts from primary source documents. The entries provide numerous suggestions for further reading, and the book closes with a detailed bibliography. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: REVISITING INDIA’S PAST Prof. P. CHENNA REDDY, 2023-01-09 Revisiting India’s Past is Commemoration Volume presented to Prof. Vijay Kumar Thakur, He was a renowned Historian in India, on his Eighty two birth anniversary (15th July 1941). These articles are in other way serve as garland of flowers to decor Prof. Vijay Kumar Thakur. A great scholar in History, Buddhism, Epigraphy and Culture. There are more than 30 articles shedding light on Indian Historical studies. This prestigious volume contains a wide spectrum of research articles covering History, feudalism, science and technology, Epigraphy and Numismatics, Buddhism, Historiography, Tourism, Modern History and Trade, Economic history, Folklore, literature and culture. This volume containing a good collection of research papers contributed by renowned authors will serve as an important source of information and reference book for research students and teachers as well. Incidentally, this volume also highlights the love and affection of Prof. Vijay Kumar Thakur enjoys in the intellectual world. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Sexuality and the World's Religions David Wayne Machacek, Melissa M. Wilcox, 2003-08-13 Exploring one of the most controversial topics in contemporary theology, this scholarly volume reveals what the world's great faiths—East and West—preach about sexuality, with a special emphasis on American religion. What do the world's most important religious texts have to say about one of humanity's favorite activities? Editors David W. Machacek and Melissa M. Wilcox have brought together top scholars in the field of religious studies to ask and answer these critical questions. Carefully researched, elegantly written, and respectfully presented, Sexuality and the World's Religions explores the intersection of the spiritual and the carnal in Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and African and Native American spiritual traditions. A separate section explores critical religious and sexual topics in American society, including the role of spirituality in gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities; the role of sex in the modern witchcraft community; and the ever thorny problem of religion and sexual liberty. Reconciling sexuality and spirituality in every human soul is one of religion's most important tasks. Students and other readers will find this timely and comprehensive volume of interest in exploring these issues. |
| buddhism sexuality and gender: Eminent Buddhist Women Karma Lekshe Tsomo, 2014-08-25 Explores the exemplary legacy of Buddhist women across the centuries and across the Buddhist world. Eminent Buddhist Women reveals the exemplary legacy of Buddhist women through the centuries. Despite the Buddhas own egalitarian values, Buddhism as a religion has been dominated by men for more than two thousand years. With few exceptions, the achievements of Buddhist women have remained hidden or ignored. The narratives in this book call into question the criteria for eminence in the Buddhist tradition and how these criteria are constructed and controlled. Each chapter pays a long-overdue tribute to one woman or a group of women from across the Buddhist world, including the West. Using a variety of sources, from orally transmitted legends to firsthand ethnographic research, contributors examine the key issues women face in their practice of Buddhist ethics, contemplation, and social action. What emerges are Buddhist principles that transcend gender: loving kindness, compassion, wisdom, spiritual attainment, and liberation. In her chapter What Is a Relevant Role Model? Rita Gross describes the need for more stories about Buddhist women, particularly those whose feats are not so fabled as to seem out of reach for contemporary practitioners. This volume advances that objective, mapping the paths of numerous, often lesser-known women who have dedicated their lives to Buddhism and inspired their communities. Buddhadharma Educational and inspirational, this important collection will appeal to scholars and practitioners alike. Hsiao-Lan Hu, author of This-Worldly Nibb?na: A Buddhist-Feminist Social Ethic for Peacemaking in the Global Community |
Buddhism - Wikipedia
Buddhism applies the theory of dependent arising to explain origination of endless cycles of dukkha and rebirth, through Twelve Nidānas or "twelve links".
Buddhism | Definition, Beliefs, Origin, Systems, & Practice
Jun 7, 2025 · Buddhism, religion and philosophy that developed from the teachings of the Buddha (Sanskrit: “Awakened One”), a teacher who lived in northern India between the mid-6th and …
Introduction to Basic Beliefs and Tenets of Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who was born in the fifth century B.C. in what is now Nepal and northern India. He came to be called "the Buddha," …
Buddhism - Definition, Founder & Origins - HISTORY
Oct 12, 2017 · Buddhism is a faith that was founded by Siddhartha Gautama—also known as “the Buddha”—more than 2,500 years ago in India.
What Is Buddhism? — Study Buddhism
Buddhism is a set of methods that helps us to develop our full human potential by understanding the true nature of reality. Founded 2,500 years ago in India by Siddhartha Gautama – better …
Buddhism - World History Encyclopedia
Sep 25, 2020 · Buddhism is a non-theistic religion (no belief in a creator god), also considered a philosophy and a moral discipline, originating in the region of modern-day India in the 6th and …
Buddhism - National Geographic Society
Sep 20, 2024 · Buddhism is one of the world’s largest religions and originated 2,500 years ago in India. Buddhists believe in reincarnation of the soul, and that, by following the teachings of …
Buddhism - Origins, Spread, Teachings | Britannica
Jun 7, 2025 · In the centuries following the Buddha’s death, the story of his life was remembered and embellished, his teachings were preserved and developed, and the community that he …
Buddhism - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Buddhism is a religion that originated in India, mainly in the North Indian Plain, based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, later known as Gautama Buddha. A Buddha is one who is …
What is Buddhism? | Learn More About Buddhism | Buddhism For Beginners
Buddhism is variously understood as a religion, a philosophy, or a set of beliefs and practices based on the teachings of the Buddha, or “Awakened One”—the title given to the Indian …
Buddhism - Wikipedia
Buddhism applies the theory of dependent arising to explain origination of endless cycles of dukkha and rebirth, through Twelve Nidānas or "twelve links".
Buddhism | Definition, Beliefs, Origin, Systems, & Practice
Jun 7, 2025 · Buddhism, religion and philosophy that developed from the teachings of the Buddha (Sanskrit: “Awakened One”), a teacher who lived in northern India between the mid-6th and …
Introduction to Basic Beliefs and Tenets of Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who was born in the fifth century B.C. in what is now Nepal and northern India. He came to be called "the Buddha," …
Buddhism - Definition, Founder & Origins - HISTORY
Oct 12, 2017 · Buddhism is a faith that was founded by Siddhartha Gautama—also known as “the Buddha”—more than 2,500 years ago in India.
What Is Buddhism? — Study Buddhism
Buddhism is a set of methods that helps us to develop our full human potential by understanding the true nature of reality. Founded 2,500 years ago in India by Siddhartha Gautama – better …
Buddhism - World History Encyclopedia
Sep 25, 2020 · Buddhism is a non-theistic religion (no belief in a creator god), also considered a philosophy and a moral discipline, originating in the region of modern-day India in the 6th and …
Buddhism - National Geographic Society
Sep 20, 2024 · Buddhism is one of the world’s largest religions and originated 2,500 years ago in India. Buddhists believe in reincarnation of the soul, and that, by following the teachings of …
Buddhism - Origins, Spread, Teachings | Britannica
Jun 7, 2025 · In the centuries following the Buddha’s death, the story of his life was remembered and embellished, his teachings were preserved and developed, and the community that he …
Buddhism - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Buddhism is a religion that originated in India, mainly in the North Indian Plain, based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, later known as Gautama Buddha. A Buddha is one who is …
What is Buddhism? | Learn More About Buddhism | Buddhism For Beginners
Buddhism is variously understood as a religion, a philosophy, or a set of beliefs and practices based on the teachings of the Buddha, or “Awakened One”—the title given to the Indian …
