Author, Wendy Garling, on Buddhist women, March 31
Seth Josephson
See info below. -S |
 | FRIDAY, MARCH 31st at 6:30PMThe Book Loft presents Wendy Garling
A contemporary and provocative examination of the life of the Buddha highlighting the influence of women from his journey to awakening through his teaching career–based on overlooked or neglected stories from ancient source material. In this retelling of the ancient legends of the women in the Buddha’s intimate circle, lesser-known stories from Sanskrit and Pali sources are for the first time woven into an illuminating, coherent narrative that follows his life from his birth to his parinirvana or death. Interspersed with original insights, fresh interpretations, and bold challenges to the status quo, the stories are both entertaining and thought-provoking—some may even appear controversial. Focusing first on laywomen from the time before the Buddha’s enlightenment—his birth mother and stepmother, his co-wives, and members of his harem when he was known as Prince Siddhartha—then moving on to the Buddha’s first female disciples, early nuns, and to female patrons, Wendy Garling invites us to open our minds to a new understanding of their roles. Wendy Garling has a BA from Wellesley College and an MA in Sanskrit language and literature from the University of California, Berkeley. She has been a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner since her travels to Asia in her twenties, and she took refuge with HH the 16th Karmapa in San Francisco in 1976. In 1998 she began teaching in the women's spirituality program at the Women's Well in Concord, Massachusetts. Garling also teaches Buddhism in the Lam Rim tradition in community settings. |
Ph.D. Candidate
OSU, Department of Comparative Studies
451 Hagerty Hall - 1775 S. College Rd. - Columbus, Ohio 43210