Buddhist Women's History Month (live)

Ananda M. (DMI), Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Molly Murphy MacGregor (nwhp.org)

The first picket line, College Day, Feb. 1917 (WHM/Library of Congress/loc.gov)

 

Billie Holiday, Downbeat, NY, 1947

To close out another wonderful Women's History Month, the Dharma Meditation Initiative will discuss Buddhist women by asking, "What happened to the Buddha's wife, mother, sister, and nuns?"

The Buddha had two chief female disciples, the enlightened nuns Khema and Uppalavanna. But we next to never hear about them or how they helped females gain enlightenment.

Siddhartha and Yasodhara break up one night.

At every key point in the story of the Buddha's life, there's a female. He became enlightened thanks to Sujata. He launched the Order of Nuns with Pajapati Gotami. Bimba ordained and became the most famous nun and disputant in the land. Bimba Devi is Princess Yasodhara (Rahula's mother) is Ven. Bhaddhakaccana Theri.

But all we hear is the legend, nonsense, a misleading allegorical tale about how "Siddhartha left his wife." What really happened? Why do women love Buddhism? Who are the Buddhist Tara goddesses, Kwan Yin, and Prajnaparamita Devi? Why was it originally so friendly and attractive to all genders?

• Pasadena Buddhist Meditation @ Sequoyah School
• FREE  6:00-8:00 PM, Thursday, March 29, 2018
• 301 Orange Grove Bl. (near Colorado), Pasadena 91103
• Read all about it: What about the Buddha's wife?

DMI - PasaDharma - DisclosureProject.org - Dharma Punx - MARC UCLA

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Why is March "National Women's Month"?

Exec. Director and Co-founder of Nat'l Women’s History Project Molly Murphy MacGregor

As recently as the 1970s, women’s history was virtually an unknown topic in American K-12 schools and the general public consciousness.

To address this situation the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women initiated a “Women’s History Week” celebration for 1978.

International Women’s Day, March 8th, was chosen as the focal point of the observance.

What did the Buddha's wife do?

Local Women’s History Week activities met with enthusiastic response, and dozens of schools planned special programs.

Over 100 women participated by doing special presentations in classrooms throughout the country. And an annual “Real Woman” essay contest drew hundreds of entries.

The finale for the week was a celebratory parade and program held in the center of downtown Santa Rosa, California. More