zenartcenter, 9 months ago

@seanbala @BuddhismNow @ReadingFaithfully_org @obu @dharma @dhamma @buddhism I appreciate the referral 🙏

TheDailyBurble, 9 months ago

@seanbala @BuddhismNow @ReadingFaithfully_org @obu @zenartcenter @dharma
@dhamma @buddhism
I'd quite like buddhism the theory is good but it's awfully male, somehow.

seanbala, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago)

@TheDailyBurble @BuddhismNow @ReadingFaithfully_org @obu @zenartcenter @dharma @dhamma @buddhism

I can understand your concern. Many Buddhist schools are aware of the perception and imbalance. There are inequalities, as there are in many religions. People much more familiar with Buddhism than I can speak to this but I would note a a couple of things:

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seanbala, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago)

@TheDailyBurble @BuddhismNow @ReadingFaithfully_org @obu @zenartcenter @dharma @dhamma @buddhism

In #Tibetan #Buddhism, special attention has been given to reviving female monasteries, and female monastics in exile have been receiving Geshe status (like a super PhD indicating the highest level of learning) the first time in millennia. This is a project very close to the the Dalai Lama's vision for the future of Tibetan Buddhism.

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seanbala, 9 months ago

@TheDailyBurble @BuddhismNow @ReadingFaithfully_org @obu @zenartcenter @dharma @dhamma @buddhism

Especially in the West, I think you see many #Zen communities led by female priests, and there are many gender-friendly zendos. One of my favorites is Domyo Burke who hosts the Zen Studies Podcast:

https://zenstudiespodcast.com

I'm not a Buddhist but I've learned so much from her.

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TheDailyBurble, 9 months ago

@seanbala @BuddhismNow @ReadingFaithfully_org @obu @zenartcenter @dharma @dhamma
@buddhism I thank you for your kind response. I asked though what is a bodhisatva, just to know what it means and if it is a human.
I understand there are many traditions but some concepts are probably stable so I ask about this particular one.

seanbala, 9 months ago

@TheDailyBurble @BuddhismNow @ReadingFaithfully_org @obu @zenartcenter @dharma @dhamma @buddhism

And as @zenartcenter has noted, there are female Bodhisattvas within the #Mahayana tradition.

This is not to say that there are not problems. But I've always thought religious communities are so diverse. Consider #Christianity - you can have hardcore Christian nationalists in the US and you can have radical peace churches like the Quakers, Mennonites, and Amish within the same tradition.

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seanbala, 9 months ago

@TheDailyBurble @BuddhismNow @ReadingFaithfully_org @obu @zenartcenter @dharma @dhamma @buddhism

The key is to not see religious traditions as monolithic and to understand that there are many traditions operating simultaneously within the larger umbrella and which can become more important in certain places, times, societies, and contexts.

@religion

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