Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as Bhutan and Nepal. Smaller groups of practitioners can be found in Central Asia, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and some regions of Russia, such as Tuva, Buryatia, and Kalmykia.
Dennis Philip Edward Lingwood, known more commonly as Sangharakshita, was a British spiritual teacher and writer. In 1967, he founded the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO), which was renamed the Triratna Buddhist Community in 2010.
The Vinaya texts are texts of the Buddhist canon (Tripitaka) that also contain the rules and precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas. The precepts were initially developed thirteen years after the Buddha's enlightenment. Three parallel Vinaya school traditions remain in use by modern ordained sanghas: the Theravada, Mulasarvastivada and Dharmaguptaka. In addition to these three Vinaya traditions, five other Vinaya schools of Indian Buddhism are preserved in Asian canonical manuscripts, including those of the Kāśyapīya, the Mahāsāṃghika, the Mahīśāsaka, the Sammatīya, and the Sarvāstivāda.
Khakhyap Dorjé, 15th Karmapa Lama was born in Sheikor village in Tsang, Tibet. It's said at birth he spoke the Chenrezig mantra, and at five he was able to read scriptures. He was recognized as the Karmapa reincarnation and enthroned at 6 by the ninth Kyabgon Drukchen.
Khema was a Buddhist bhikkhuni, or nun, who was one of the top female disciples of the Buddha. She is considered the first of the Buddha's two chief female disciples, along with Uppalavanna. Khema was born into the royal family of the ancient Kingdom of Madra, and was the wife of King Bimbisara of the ancient Indian kingdom of Magadha. Khema was convinced to visit the Buddha by her husband, who hired poets to sing about the beauty of the monastery he was staying at to her. She attained enlightenment as a laywoman while listening to one of the Buddha's sermons, considered a rare feat in Buddhist texts. Following her attainment, Khema entered the monastic life under the Buddha as a bhikkhuni. According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha declared her his female disciple foremost in wisdom. Her male counterpart was Sariputta.
Women in Buddhism is a topic that can be approached from varied perspectives including those of theology, history, anthropology, and feminism. Topical interests include the theological status of women, the treatment of women in Buddhist societies at home and in public, the history of women in Buddhism, and a comparison of the experiences of women across different forms of Buddhism. As in other religions, the experiences of Buddhist women have varied considerably.
The Eight Garudhammas are additional precepts required of bhikkhunis above and beyond the monastic rule (vinaya) that applied to monks. Garu literally means "heavy" and when applied to vinaya, it means "heavy offense that entails penance (mānatta) consisting of 2 weeks" as described in garudhamma rule No. 5. The authenticity of these rules is contested; they were supposedly added to the (bhikkhunis) Vinaya "to allow more acceptance" of a monastic Order for women, during the Buddha's time. They are controversial because they attempt to push women into an inferior role and because many Buddhists, especially Bhikkhunis, have found evidence that the eight Garudhammas are not really the teachings of Gautama Buddha.
Freda Bedi, also known as Sister Palmo or Gelongma Karma Kechog Palmo, was a British woman who was jailed in India as a supporter of Indian nationalism and was the first Western woman to take full ordination in Tibetan Buddhism.
Carola Roloff is a German Buddhist nun. Her monastic name is Bhiksuni Jampa Tsedroen. An active teacher, translator, author, and speaker, she is instrumental in campaigning for equal rights for Buddhist nuns.
A bhikkhunī or bhikṣuṇī is a fully ordained female in Buddhist monasticism. Bhikkhunis live by the Vinaya, a set of either 311 Theravada, 348 Dharmaguptaka, or 364 Mulasarvastivada school rules. Until recently, the lineages of female monastics only remained in Mahayana Buddhism and thus were prevalent in countries such as China, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam, while a few women have taken the full monastic vows in the Theravada and Vajrayana schools. The official lineage of Tibetan Buddhist bhikkhunis recommenced on 23 June 2022 in Bhutan when 144 nuns were fully ordained.
The Jamyang Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in San Diego that provides educational programs to Buddhist women and girls. Its mission chiefly centers around empowering underprivileged women and girls to create and manage self-sustaining communities.
Dharmachāri Gurumā was a Nepalese anagarika who was an influential figure in the revival of Theravada Buddhism in Nepal. She was expelled from Kathmandu by the government for her religious activities.
Buddhist feminism is a movement that seeks to improve the religious, legal, and social status of women within Buddhism. It is an aspect of feminist theology which seeks to advance and understand the equality of men and women morally, socially, spiritually, and in leadership from a Buddhist perspective. The Buddhist feminist Rita Gross describes Buddhist feminism as "the radical practice of the co-humanity of women and men."
Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1987 at the conclusion of its first conference and registered in California in the United States in 1988. Sakyadhita holds an international conference every two years, bringing together laypeople, nuns, and monks from different countries and traditions around the world.
Songdhammakalyani Monastery is a temple and monastery of Bhikkhuni in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. It was founded in 1960 by Ven. Ta Tao Fa Tzu, the first modern Thai woman to ordain as a bhikkhuni. The monastery was originally known as Wat Songdhammakalyani ."
Kindo Baha, also known as Kinnu Bāhā, Kindol Bāhāl or Kimdol Bāhāl, is a vihara in Kathmandu which was the hub for the resurgence of Theravada Buddhism in Nepal from the 1920s to the 1940s.
Voramai Kabilsingh, also known by her monastic name Ta Tao Fa Tzu (Chinese: 大道法師; pinyin: Dàdào Fǎshī, was born Lamai Kabilsingh, was the first modern Thai bhikkhuni. She founded Songdhammakalyani Monastery, the first modern monastery in Thailand for bhikkhuni and was the mother of Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, the current abbess of Songdhammakalyani Monastery.
Urgyen Tsomo (1897–1961) was a prominent Tibetan Buddhist female master who was known as the Great Dakini of Tsurphu. She was the consort of the Khakyab Dorje, 15th Karmapa Lama. She was considered by other masters to be the reincarnation (emanation) of Yeshe Tsogyal, the wife of Padmasambhava of the 8th century, who spread Buddhism in Tibet.
Khunying Kanitha Wichiencharoen was a Thai lawyer and women's rights advocate until late in life when she became a maechee. Most noted for her human rights work with women, she established the first emergency shelter for women in Thailand and wrote legislation to protect women's rights. She established the Mahapajapati Theri College, the first college to train women as Buddhist nuns in southeast Asia.
Shundo Aoyama Rōshi is a Japanese Buddhist nun and abbess. She is the first nun to be appointed to the rank of Daikyoshi in the Soto Zen school.
