First Buddhist Women: Poems and Stories of Awakening

by Susan Murcott

First Buddhist Women is a readable, contemporary translation of and commentary on the enlightenment verses of the first female disciples of the Buddha. The book explores Buddhism’s relatively liberal attitude towards women since its founding nearly 2,600 years ago, through the study of the Therigatham, the earliest know collection of women’s religious poetry. Through commentary and storytelling, author Susan Murcott traces the journey of the wives, mothers, teachers, courtesan, prostitutes, and wanderers who became leaders in the Buddhist community, roles that even today are rarely filled by women in other patriarchal religions. Their poetry beautifully expresses their search for spiritual attainment and their struggles in society.

Genres: Buddhism, Poetry, Nonfiction, Religion, Spirituality, Womens

241 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 22, 2006

Reviews

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of the Therīgathā ("Songs of the Buddhist Nuns") along with plenty of historical context. It's not the most academically rigorous work (What? No diacritical marks?), but it's good to have newer translations of these works that are essential to understanding women in early Buddhism. Hearing their voices is a good antidote to the rather patriarchal nature of much of the rest of the tradition. My favorites are Kisagotamī, whose story of dealing with grief always moves me, and Vārjiā, whose chariot analogy became really important in later Buddhist philosophy.

[Jessica Zu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those are the words of the first Buddha's daughters. Susan's careful arrangements of historical backgrounds, detailed analysis and mindful comments made the words of those Buddha's daughters alive. Reading this book, I went through all their lives one by one and felt joining the stream of love and compassion.

Thank you for such a wonderful work!

[Richard Seltzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is difficult for me to understand and empathize with the basic teachings of Buddhism. I cannot imagine rejecting the goals I take for granted, what motivates me to get up in the morning. Why would anyone strive for nothingness?

But having read these poems (composed around 600 BC and first written down hundreds of years later) together with the commentary, I see the beliefs not as philosophical statements, but rather as a reaction to the human condition, to pain and suffering. It's not a question of "what is truth?" but rather "how could this belief change how I live and hence reduce my pain?"

Many of the women who wrote these poems turned to Buddhism because they needed a release from suffering, typically from grief at the death of loved ones. Others were in reaction to near-death experiences or to the realization that their bodies would inevitably decay and return to dust -- the impermanence of all that lives.

Their chosen religion did not console them with promises that they would join their loved ones again an afterlife. Rather, they sought to be "free of desire and its chains." As Wordsworth put it,

"The world is too much with us late and soon,
Getting and spending we lay waste our powers ..."

They also did not want reincarnation, as if life were a videogame and when you die you automatically come back in another body, over and over again. They believed that was what normally happened but wanted that cycle to end for them.

The poems and the commentary in this book make me think of Buddhism as a remedy for grief and suffering, rather than as a statement about the nature of reality. They help me emotionally connect with those women, to empathize with what they suffered and how they coped.

A sampling of passages from the poems:
"Bathing my feet
I watched the bathwater
spill down the slope.
I concentrate my mind
the way you train a good horse." p. 46
"the truth of impermanence" p. 78
"This is how my body was,
Now it is dilapidated,
the place of pain,
an old house
with the plaster falling off." p.148
"I have ended the hunger
of gods and humans,
and I will not wander
from birth to birth.
I have no thought of becoming." p. 67
"I wish to stop running,
never to go
from birth to birth again. p. 142, similar "This is my last body." p.151
"Everywhere the love of pleasure is destroyed,
the great dark is torn apart,
and Death,
you too are destroyed." p 67 and repeated verbtaim p. 103, p. 176
(cf. the very different response to death in Donne's "Death shall have no dominion" and Dylan Thomas' "Do not go quiet into that dark night."
"I know there is no happiness in anything born from a cause,
and I cling to nothing." p. 198

As the author points out in her commentary, when these poems were written a wealthy married woman was, in some ways, worse off than a slave.
"It is possible that the distinction between wife and consort was based in part on economics -- consorts receiving remuneration, wives not." p. 36
"Neither a sudra wife -- sudra being the lowest caste (servants or slaves) -- nor a wife purchased by bride price, was entitled to any religious rights or privilege." p. 72
"Because Khujjuttara, as a slave, had greater freedom of mobility than the more confined upper-class woman, she could do this." p. 156

Susan Murcott concludes, "'First Buddhist Women' is an attempt to transfer and communicate to Western readers a religious text that has had profound meaning in various Asian cultures over a span of 2500 years. To me, the Therigatha is a treasure because it is something I should and could not find in my own culture." p. 236

[Sreena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It's one of those rare gems that makes you feel completely at peace after reading. I was captivated by the intimate, personal songs of the first Buddhist daughters, which lay bare their struggles, their joys, and their ultimate spiritual awakening.

And you know what, the very last page brought only one sigh of regret: Why did it take me so long to find this?

Here is one such poem from the book, which I liked:

I used to worship fire,
the moon, the sun,
and the gods.
I bathed at fords,
took many vows,
I shaved half my head,
slept on the ground,
and did not eat after dark.
Other times
I loved makeup and jewelry,
baths and perfumes,
just serving my body
obsessed with sensuality.
Then faith came.
I took up the homeless life.
Seeing the body as it really is,

desires have been rooted out.
Coming to birth is ended
and my cravings as well.
Untied from all that binds
my heart is at peace.

[Zach Strickland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very engaging. Great background on early Buddhist women. Important historical context.

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

honestly slay

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent look at the Therigatha, the stories of the first Buddhist nuns. Murcott gives great backgrounds on both the individual nuns and the context of the times in which they lived. The Therigatha itself is worth a read and the commentary and context provided here help give it more meaning. These were some awesome nuns, especially considering the times they lived in and this book does a good job of really bringing that out.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book with the money of the settlement with Amazon. I don't really understand the lawsuit, but I got money so I bought a bunch of kindle books. I have always loved the Therigatha, and was a little disappointed this wasn't a direct translation. But I came to appreciate her commentary on the poems. This is a good book to read after you've read the original and want to read the original again. It's an inspiring work of literature and deserves useful books around it to support it.

[Phillip Moffitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an inspiring collection of poems written by early nuns describing their own search for and experience of realization. They are a delight to read and capture the liberating feeling of the ego letting go of its tyrannical reign. (This is not a book for women only!)

[S Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book last summer at Dog Eared Books in SF. I think I paid like 4 bucks for it and it was the best 4 bucks I spent in 2007, by far.

[Linda Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this while on retreat at Deer Park Monastery.