1. BOOK REVIEWS 2. The book "Buddhist Women and Social Justice: Ideals, Challenges, and Achievements" was edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo. State University of New York Press, 2004. 280 pages. $24.95. 3. Author Affiliations: University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire
關鍵詞
religion; justice; Karma=Kamma; 佛教人物=Buddhist
摘要
Journal of the American Academy of Religion 74.2 (2006) 512-514 Beginning in 1987 Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women, an organization founded and led by Karma Lekshe Tsomo, has held international conferences in Asia on Buddhist women about every two years. Frequently the papers presented at these conferences are published, and this book is another in the series. Karma Lekshe Tsomo is in an ideal position to do this work. An American who is a Buddhist nun, she has lived and trained in Asia for many years and is very familiar with many forms of Asian Buddhism. She also holds an American PhD in religious studies and teaches at an American university. Unlike many who receive traditional religious training in Asia, Tsomo has retained keen interest in the problems and needs of women, especially monastic women, who work and live in Asian settings that have not always been so receptive to women and nuns. Her work and these conferences have done a great deal to acquaint Buddhist women from around the world to each other and to each other's work. In many cases a young Asian nun working on a PhD at an Asian university experiences her first opportunity to give a paper at an international conference in this setting. As one would expect for such a volume, it consists of an overview introductory chapter and several sections in which papers with somewhat similar agendas and methodologies are grouped together. In general the papers take a conciliatory rather than a confrontational approach. Authors acknowledge problems with Buddhism historically and difficulties in working with Buddhist institutions, but they are confident that things can change and that a great deal has already been accomplished. None of the authors simply notes and condemns past patriarchal practices, including the editor in her chapter on rules of monastic discipline for women, one of the easiest targets for someone who wants to highlight aspects of Buddhism that can seem antiwomen. As with all such books, some papers are stronger than others, and the groupings are sometimes a bit artificial. Nevertheless for anyone who wants to remain current with what is going on in the world of Buddhist women's commentary on their religion, this book is vital. As with all of Tsomo's books that have grown of the Sakyadhita conferences, in this book one can learn about Buddhist women's activities in a wide variety of times and places. Most of this information will be new to most readers. Tsomo's introduction is one of the more interesting chapters of the book. Drawing on her long experience of living in Asia, she discusses subtle aspects of attitudes common in Asian countries, usually the result of family patterns and early socialization that are difficult for outsiders to understand. She points out that respect and deference toward elders are taught from a very early age and reinforced by consistent praise of people who are humble and polite. Part of those patterns of respect and deference, which are largely unconscious or second nature to most people, include expressing greater respect to men than to women. Even when people become aware of these patterns and their inadequacies, it is difficult to find effective counter measures. Direct confrontation is often the least effective technique for promoting conscious raising and social change. Polite but challenging questions are more effective. For example, people often ask nuns why they would want full ordination, asking them, "aren't ten precepts enough?" Women then repeat these arguments to each other, maintaining the respect they receive for being humble and deferential. Yet the same question, "Why aren't ten precepts enough?", applies equally to monks who seek higher ordination. Why not ask them the same question? Education may be the most effective tool of all. However, Tsomo claims, finding qualified teachers willing to teach nuns is very difficult. The first group of articles explores more theoretical and philosoph
