Edited by
Karma Lekshe Tsomo, University of San Diego, USA
Buddhism has produced realized beings, both female and male, for over 2,500 years. Many accounts of the lives and achievements of countless Buddhist women masters have been lost in the shoals of time, however, for lack of acknowledgment and appreciation. This collection attempts to redress this history of neglect by documenting the lived experience of remarkable women from a variety of cultural milieu, who mastered both the Buddhist teachings and their own lives and also triumphed over social expectations of women. The papers recount the enlightening stories of highly accomplished women – lay and ordained, recorded in texts, oral histories, and personal memories – and their unheralded contributions to world culture.