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
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 ›
A Feminist Liturgy of Old and Age by Lache S.
How the voices speak of what is and isn’t tastes of a superficial sauce I let drip from my lips. In the first dialectic of aging (harkening back to Marie Cartier’s helpful division of conversational foci), usually what is spoken… 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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
On Minimalism by Ivy Helman
One of the concerns of ecofeminism is the modern materialistic mindset of capitalism. Materialism in capitalism instills not just owning many possessions, but it also inculcates the “need” to own the newest innovation. In addition, materialism advocates a throw-it-away mentality…. 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 ›
Lotus in the Mud: A Metaphor for Humanity on our Darkest Days by Lache S.
There are days I find myself so overwhelmed with sadness concerning the state of our world that I break down crying. Last week, I saw an episode of Mars, a scripted documentary shown on the National Geographic channel about human colonization… 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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
“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 ›
Drop the sense of entitlement towards life by Oxana Poberejnaia
At the time of climate change and crises of capitalism we need to drop our sense of entitlement to comfortable life or even to life at all. Nature will not spare us just because we are humans. When the meltdown… Read More ›
Pause, Stop and Re-evaluate your place within patriarchy and capitalism by Oxana Poberejnaia
There are three vicious circles: patriarchy, samsara and wanton destruction of environment. All three lead ultimately to annihilation of life. All three are incredibly difficult to escape. One of the reasons for this difficulty is that there are pay-offs. Someone… Read More ›
Complete in Incompleteness by Oxana Poberejnaia
A former monk and hospice worker Rodney Smith, now the Founding teacher in Seattle Insight Meditation Society uses the phrase: “Be complete in incompleteness” quite a lot. When applied to Feminism, to me it means a couple of things. First,… Read More ›
Birth, Death, and Regeneration: Why I Am Only a Kind of a Buddhist by Carol P. Christ
In a recent blog describing conversations with my friend Rita Gross, I said that I think of myself as a “kind of a Buddhist” because I have given up a great deal of the ego(tism) described by Buddhists. I also… Read More ›
Relaxing Into an All-Encompassing World by Oxana Poberejnaia
I believe that as feminists what we are striving towards is not just equality between women and men, although this aspect is crucial. Feminism has contributed to developing of such disciplines and practices as deconstruction, environmentalism, LGBT rights, and animal… Read More ›
REGRETS by Esther Nelson
Both my sisters claim to have no regrets about their lives. I do. It’s not so much that I regret specific things that happened to me in my life or even some of the particular choices I made although both… Read More ›
Is it harmful to assign positive qualities to women? by Oxana Poberejnaia
I have recently learnt about features assigned to women and men by a Tibetan Lama. Women are seen as having better access to qualities of space and therefore holding special kinds of wisdom that lead to Enlightenment. Men, on the… Read More ›
Where does your conviction come from? By Oxana Poberejnaia
I sometimes feel a bit awkward about not having read a lot of feminist books and not knowing a lot of feminist theory. However, I draw support from the example of Zen, “the teaching beyond letters.” The number and scope… Read More ›
