Mantras are not just the prescribed sound formulas or sentences found in Eastern religions, but they can also be thought of as the words or phrases that we continually repeat to ourselves. The word mantra comes from Sanskrit and its… Read More ›
Buddhism
Sacred Activism through Lucid Dreams: A Dream of Enthronement by Alaya A. Dannu
I am a Vajrayana Buddhist. I follow the Buddha Dharma via the Vajra path. My journey to the Dharma was through lucid dreams. I have not once had a human teacher, in this lifetime, to teach or guide me to/on… Read More ›
Beyond Human Rights by Esther Nelson
For way too long, the only meaning I found in my life happened when peering through one specific, religious prism. Then I discovered what’s called the academic study of religion. Observing the many ways people find meaning through their own… Read More ›
In the footprints of Machig Lapdron by Mary Sharratt
Machig Lapdron, female Tantric Buddhist mystic and lineage founder I’ve just returned from an illuminating trip to Bhutan, high in the Himalayas. Bhutan is a Buddhist kingdom and the world’s youngest democracy. On our last full day in this… Read More ›
“When You Know for Yourselves” by Oxana Poberejnaia
A female friend recently posted an article by a woman writer about motherhood. The article was entitled “Children are NOT life’s flowers” (referring to a famous Russian saying which means that children are what makes life beautiful). A number of… Read More ›
Who is the Perpetrator? by Oxana Poberejnaia
A poem by Thích Nhất Hạnh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist, “Call Me By My True Names,” lists various situations from natural world and the world of humans, most of them to do with violence and death. He… Read More ›
Householders’ Superstitions and the Higher Truth by Oxana Poberejnaia
I watched this short video on facebook about Sisa, an Egyptian woman who spent forty years a man in order provide for her family. There is a longer version on YouTube. Sisa, a widow, decided to work to feed her… Read More ›
The Authentic Self? No-Self by Lache S.
When I was in high school, I remember being preoccupied with being my “authentic” self. I am quite sure I had little idea of what that meant because I think it was akin to knowing the content of my ego,… Read More ›
Babies and Bathwater by Oxana Poberejnaia
Since patriarchy is atrocious, and capitalism is currently driving the earth to a very real catastrophe, we can get passionate about these issues. We can get angry. We can get self-righteous. However, as one of the most famous verses of… Read More ›
The Pull of Mara by Oxana Poberejnaia
Recently I need to take a deep breath every time I glance at the news headlines. There are terror attacks and military conflicts. People kill each other and cause each other immense suffering. The worst thing is that so many… Read More ›
Internal Strife – External Conflict by Oxana Poberejnaia
As Po said in “Kung Fu Panda”: “I’m gonna get myself some Inner Peace… Inner piece of what?” This basically lays out a path of spiritual work for most of us. We aim for peace, yet somehow we feel that… Read More ›
Ending Suffering for the Sake of Others by Oxana Poberejnaia
I have recently noticed an interesting thing: just like the Buddhist goal of ending suffering requires consideration of others, so often feminist change requires thinking about other women. I often had conversations with people on both these subjects. I heard… Read More ›
Stories vs. What Is by Oxana Poberejnaia
I have recently watched one of these real life entertainment documentaries. This one was on plastic surgery. A woman went under the knife to enlarge her breasts. The female presenter, wearing sterile white, peeped into the operation theatre and, facing… Read More ›
Religion, Race, and Feminism in an Era of Elusive Enlightenment by Salaam Green
The warrior spirit is not only the coherent ability to resist circumstances outside of one’s making; but the ability to fight the war within all of us thus managing discomfort and chaos with the force of authenticity. Recently an enlightened… Read More ›
The Burden of Shame by Oxana Poberejnaia
I know a man who says to his daughter: “You should be ashamed of yourself” when he wants to imbue some good habits in her. One example would be not putting her dirty socks in the laundry basket. It might… Read More ›
Get Serious: Don’t Die in Character by Oxana Poberejnaia
Recently I had a few experiences that brought home to me the meaning of a saying by the Buddha: What’s the laughter, why the joy, When the world is ever burning? Plunged into darkness, Won’t you look for a lamp?… Read More ›
Viśākhā: Surrogate Mother of Buddhism by Oxana Poberejnaia
Viśākhā is often called the greatest female lay follower of the Buddha. She prompted the Buddha to give numerous teachings. She also donated generously to the Sangha (monastic order). Her crowning contribution was building a monastery called Migāramātupāsāda. She is… Read More ›
The Elusive Patriarchy by Oxana Poberejnaia
The sense of separate personal identity is elusive. It is difficult to observe, find and bring to the surface of consciousness where, according to Buddhist beliefs, it dissipates naturally, like a bubble of foam popping. In the same way patriarchy… Read More ›
Like Birds in the Sky by Oxana Poberejnaia
I once heard an educated non-feminist say that it would not matter if women came into positions of power. He gave examples of Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi and other women and pointed out that once in power they started wars… Read More ›
Touch the Earth by Oxana Poberejnaia
I suddenly felt sad. Not depressed, but low and sorrowful. I realised that it must have been because I had just exploded and answered my husband in an angry, tense voice. He had said something and I reacted in this… Read More ›
Hard Work without Getting Anywhere by Lache S.
When my students read about the Buddhist concepts of non-resistance, non-attachment, and living in the present, one of the first protests I end up addressing is how these ideas seem to negate progress, goal-setting, or success. What my students don’t… Read More ›
Whose life is this: yours or your identity’s? By Oxana Poberejnaia
What is, would you think, one of the foremost problems that my Russian friends and relatives mention to me? Economy? Politics? Personal and family issues? Nope. It is immigrants in Europe. I hear genuine concern and aversion when my friends… Read More ›
A Maternal Perspective Towards the Body by Lache S.
Separatism and dualism do not usually serve me. I understand that denying unity and reducing the multi-prismatic complexity of existence muddies up our vision of reality and can sometimes clog up the channels to compassion. So knowing that this perspective… Read More ›
The Fringe is Our Stronghold by Oxana Poberejnaia
Recently I have come across several stories of women’s fringe spiritual movements or practices. This made me think about the role of outsiders’ or minority views in religions and society. Patriarchy pushes women and their issues to the margins of… Read More ›
20 Tibetan Buddhist Nuns Become Geshemas — An Update by Karen Nelson Villanueva
In the winter of 2013, I went on pilgrimage to Kathmandu, Nepal. While there, I visited the Khachoe Ghakyil Ling (Pure Land of Bliss) Tibetan Buddhist nunnery, the largest in Nepal with about 400 nuns. It’s affiliated with the nearby… Read More ›
O Tempora o mores by Oxana Poberejnaia
I have entitled this post O Tempora o mores after a sentence by Cicero, meaning “Oh what times! Oh what customs!” I would like to discuss how some of the messages we get from religious writings are defined by the… Read More ›
The good vs the better by Oxana Poberejnaia
Today let’s talk about the relationship between the Ultimate and the relative. I do not have the answers to these tricky questions, I would just like to outline the problems. Why, on the Buddhist path, do I often tell myself… Read More ›
“Suchness” of inequality vs. the “story” of patriarchy by Oxana Poberejnaia
In the TV film about American suffragists “Iron Jawed Angels” Alice Paul (played by Hilary Swank) says to a psychiatrist who came to prison to assess her mental state during her hunger strike: You asked me to explain myself. I… Read More ›
Feminism and Buddhism: constructive wave interference by Oxana Poberejnaia
Although it can be said that the Buddhist teaching can benefit all, including feminists, it can also be argued that Feminism has a lot to teach Buddhist practitioners. Rita M. Gross made this point brilliantly in her “Buddhism After Patriarchy:… Read More ›
Body of Nature by Oxana Poberejnaia
In the medieval European philosophy, woman’s body was seen as a vessel filled with sins, while man was regarded as a more spiritual being. This is one of the reasons why the concept of body is reassessed in feminist studies… Read More ›
