This essay provides an updated evaluation of the diffusion of Buddhism throughout Eurasia during ... more This essay provides an updated evaluation of the diffusion of Buddhism throughout Eurasia during the Kusāna period (ca. 30 CE–375 CE). Recent studies and evidence have challenged established arguments about the nature of Buddhism in the Kusāna Empire. Perceptions have shifted about the role of the Kusāna rulers in the spread of Buddhism, while debate concerning Gandhāran art has been renewed. This new overview will help to alert readers to the most important findings of recent years and the scholarly advances that have recalibrated specialists’ understandings of the political, economic and cultural factors that defined the multilayered relationship between the Kusānas and India's Buddhist communities.
This essay examines how Tārā 'reclaims' the discourse of enlightenment for Buddhist women and fem... more This essay examines how Tārā 'reclaims' the discourse of enlightenment for Buddhist women and feminist theologians. Despite universal concern for the liberation of all beings, Buddhahood in mainstream texts and narratives was confined to male deities and masters, or females that switched their genders in their final rebirth. Furthermore, Tārā's senior male bodhisattvas, Avalokiteśvara and Mañjuśrî, overwhelmingly monopolized compassion and wisdom as the latters' embodiments. This study proposes how Tārā's theology gradually came to distinguish her from her male colleagues and reclaim the state of Buddhahood. Tārā is an unequivocally female Buddha in Vajrayāna Buddhism because she has managed to assimilate these theological virtues that were essentially reserved as masculine, correcting them as genderless qualities without identity. Tārā's legitimization sets a concrete precedent for the title of 'Buddha' to be included amongst the categories of feminine faith and practice.
All religious traditions claim to exert moral and spiritual authority. Most of the great world fa... more All religious traditions claim to exert moral and spiritual authority. Most of the great world faiths also like to believe they are aligned with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations, the third of which is " to promote gender equality and empower women ". As Buddhists, it would therefore be a spectacular own-goal to diminish our authority on gender issues and make a mockery of the third MDG at an event that was supposed to show off our moral stature. Yet this is precisely what last May's Vesak Conference in Vietnam achieved by, at the last minute, hastily banning Ven. Ajahn Brahm's (already approved) speech on bhikkhuni ordination. As a result, Theravada Buddhism's public image and authority on gender issues has been unneccessarily weakened.
This essay provides an updated evaluation of the diffusion of Buddhism throughout Eurasia during ... more This essay provides an updated evaluation of the diffusion of Buddhism throughout Eurasia during the Kusāna period (ca. 30 CE–375 CE). Recent studies and evidence have challenged established arguments about the nature of Buddhism in the Kusāna Empire. Perceptions have shifted about the role of the Kusāna rulers in the spread of Buddhism, while debate concerning Gandhāran art has been renewed. This new overview will help to alert readers to the most important findings of recent years and the scholarly advances that have recalibrated specialists’ understandings of the political, economic and cultural factors that defined the multilayered relationship between the Kusānas and India's Buddhist communities.
This essay examines how Tārā 'reclaims' the discourse of enlightenment for Buddhist women and fem... more This essay examines how Tārā 'reclaims' the discourse of enlightenment for Buddhist women and feminist theologians. Despite universal concern for the liberation of all beings, Buddhahood in mainstream texts and narratives was confined to male deities and masters, or females that switched their genders in their final rebirth. Furthermore, Tārā's senior male bodhisattvas, Avalokiteśvara and Mañjuśrî, overwhelmingly monopolized compassion and wisdom as the latters' embodiments. This study proposes how Tārā's theology gradually came to distinguish her from her male colleagues and reclaim the state of Buddhahood. Tārā is an unequivocally female Buddha in Vajrayāna Buddhism because she has managed to assimilate these theological virtues that were essentially reserved as masculine, correcting them as genderless qualities without identity. Tārā's legitimization sets a concrete precedent for the title of 'Buddha' to be included amongst the categories of feminine faith and practice.
All religious traditions claim to exert moral and spiritual authority. Most of the great world fa... more All religious traditions claim to exert moral and spiritual authority. Most of the great world faiths also like to believe they are aligned with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations, the third of which is " to promote gender equality and empower women ". As Buddhists, it would therefore be a spectacular own-goal to diminish our authority on gender issues and make a mockery of the third MDG at an event that was supposed to show off our moral stature. Yet this is precisely what last May's Vesak Conference in Vietnam achieved by, at the last minute, hastily banning Ven. Ajahn Brahm's (already approved) speech on bhikkhuni ordination. As a result, Theravada Buddhism's public image and authority on gender issues has been unneccessarily weakened.
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