What do you think?
I Hear Her Words
Is there gender equality in Buddhist traditions? What do Buddhist texts say about women? Do Buddhist ethics support prejudice against women? Are there Buddhist doctrines that imply that women are inferior to men?
Scholarship on the topic of women and Buddhism has exploded in the last few decades and this book is an accessible survey of recent research. It offers an introduction and overview on women in Buddhism aimed at the interested reader and student.
Collett shows that core Buddhist doctrines and ethical formulations provide no justification for the notion that women are inferior to men. But Buddhism was born and took root in ancient and medieval societies that held traditional views of women. In this way social and cultural norms that position women as inferior to men found their way into Buddhist tradition and some Buddhist texts. Certain of these views became mainstays of the tradition, such that members of Buddhist communities have, throughout history, attempted to subjugate women.
This book offers unique access to the more rarely told histories of the many inspiring Buddhist women who fought against attempted constraint, often in the calmest and most compassionate ways imaginable; that is, simply by being themselves. From examples of women who were direct disciples of the historical Buddha, through Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Tibet, to Buddhist women today, we hear about the many female exemplars of Buddhist tradition who became devoted disciples, innovative leaders and esteemed teachers. Not only do we hear about them in this book, but we also hear from them in their own words.
To ignore the contributions of such women to Buddhist tradition hides from view the history, struggles and liberation of the many women who have shaped and continue to shape Buddhist tradition.
Scholarship on the topic of women and Buddhism has exploded in the last few decades and this book is an accessible survey of recent research. It offers an introduction and overview on women in Buddhism aimed at the interested reader and student.
Collett shows that core Buddhist doctrines and ethical formulations provide no justification for the notion that women are inferior to men. But Buddhism was born and took root in ancient and medieval societies that held traditional views of women. In this way social and cultural norms that position women as inferior to men found their way into Buddhist tradition and some Buddhist texts. Certain of these views became mainstays of the tradition, such that members of Buddhist communities have, throughout history, attempted to subjugate women.
This book offers unique access to the more rarely told histories of the many inspiring Buddhist women who fought against attempted constraint, often in the calmest and most compassionate ways imaginable; that is, simply by being themselves. From examples of women who were direct disciples of the historical Buddha, through Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Tibet, to Buddhist women today, we hear about the many female exemplars of Buddhist tradition who became devoted disciples, innovative leaders and esteemed teachers. Not only do we hear about them in this book, but we also hear from them in their own words.
To ignore the contributions of such women to Buddhist tradition hides from view the history, struggles and liberation of the many women who have shaped and continue to shape Buddhist tradition.
280 pages, Paperback
Published June 15, 2021
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 9, 2026
Tl;dr - I think this should be essential reading for practitioners wanting to look into buddhist history. Hopefully, the fact Windhorse actively pushed for this book's existence will mean more similarly valuable works are to follow!
-------
I think an opportunity was missed here to pitch this as a feminist survey of buddhism rather than an introduction! The book has been composed with practitioners if the Triratna Buddhist Community in mind as the main audience, and while it does definitely provide something of an introduction to this topic it its much broader in scope than that! There is no general overview of buddhism, its history, or philosophy that you might want as a more casual reader. Instead it tracks the spread of buddhism across the east and west, provides information on various texts concern3d with or written by women, and tries to demonstrate the variety of views women have contributed to and challenged in buddhism's history.
Im familiar with some of Collett's articles, which I found while seeking out information on how Buddhism has traditionally viewed women. I really appreciate her writing style and have found her woro to me amazingly accessible without losing any nuance. You definitely get tyat here too, and will emerge with a good.jnderstanding not just of how women have been present in buddhist traditions for as long as the religion has existed, but also be aware of some of the limitations that have shaped the way western studies and feminist literature has mischaracterised women's role in buddhism.
Some of her key arguments and research have been represented in this volume in a more succinct way. (Im mostly thinking about her argument that misogyny and sexism are counter to buddhist doctrine, as well as her arguing against descriptions of women as inherently deceiving in early buddhist texts). However, I was disappointed by how brief some of the exploration of different named women's lives were in the book. So often, a historical figure or her work is introduced, and just as quickly, the book moves on. I think this is mostly due to the fact that colette is actively trying to cover as much of the buddhist world as possible. She is very transparent in the introductory chapters that the book will not be completely comprehensive, and further reading will be needed to properly capture a fuller understanding of all these women. I was left wanting a bit more of an intimate picture of the women who have shaped buddhism over the centuries.
Overall, I really appreciated Collett taking on this task of presenting so much information for Triratna audiences, we can end up quite insular, and it is so important to challenge our preconceptions and conditioning with external expertise! The book lists important women all the way up to modern day, with contemporary activists like the Ven. Canda being mentioned in later chapters. Even more importantly, Collett takes the time to scrutinise Triratna's attitudes to women specifically. While there are certainly echoes of more sexist dogma in lots of triratna dharma talks and early writing, this is the most straightforward overview of Subhuti's past work on the subject that I have been able to find. I am very grateful for its inclusion!
-------
I think an opportunity was missed here to pitch this as a feminist survey of buddhism rather than an introduction! The book has been composed with practitioners if the Triratna Buddhist Community in mind as the main audience, and while it does definitely provide something of an introduction to this topic it its much broader in scope than that! There is no general overview of buddhism, its history, or philosophy that you might want as a more casual reader. Instead it tracks the spread of buddhism across the east and west, provides information on various texts concern3d with or written by women, and tries to demonstrate the variety of views women have contributed to and challenged in buddhism's history.
Im familiar with some of Collett's articles, which I found while seeking out information on how Buddhism has traditionally viewed women. I really appreciate her writing style and have found her woro to me amazingly accessible without losing any nuance. You definitely get tyat here too, and will emerge with a good.jnderstanding not just of how women have been present in buddhist traditions for as long as the religion has existed, but also be aware of some of the limitations that have shaped the way western studies and feminist literature has mischaracterised women's role in buddhism.
Some of her key arguments and research have been represented in this volume in a more succinct way. (Im mostly thinking about her argument that misogyny and sexism are counter to buddhist doctrine, as well as her arguing against descriptions of women as inherently deceiving in early buddhist texts). However, I was disappointed by how brief some of the exploration of different named women's lives were in the book. So often, a historical figure or her work is introduced, and just as quickly, the book moves on. I think this is mostly due to the fact that colette is actively trying to cover as much of the buddhist world as possible. She is very transparent in the introductory chapters that the book will not be completely comprehensive, and further reading will be needed to properly capture a fuller understanding of all these women. I was left wanting a bit more of an intimate picture of the women who have shaped buddhism over the centuries.
Overall, I really appreciated Collett taking on this task of presenting so much information for Triratna audiences, we can end up quite insular, and it is so important to challenge our preconceptions and conditioning with external expertise! The book lists important women all the way up to modern day, with contemporary activists like the Ven. Canda being mentioned in later chapters. Even more importantly, Collett takes the time to scrutinise Triratna's attitudes to women specifically. While there are certainly echoes of more sexist dogma in lots of triratna dharma talks and early writing, this is the most straightforward overview of Subhuti's past work on the subject that I have been able to find. I am very grateful for its inclusion!
April 23, 2023
Easy to read and well documented with multiple sources of research...........
Book to pause and consider and deeply appreciate the women leadership as well as the monastic, and lay community in Buddhism.
Book to pause and consider and deeply appreciate the women leadership as well as the monastic, and lay community in Buddhism.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews