Buddhist Women on the Edge: Contemporary Perspectives from the Western Frontier Paperback - 1996

First line

"VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM in America will be revolutionized as women assume the leadership roles that we have enjoyed throughout the long history of this tradition-as teachers, initiators, revealers, artists, writers, prophets, healers, ritual experts, innovators"

From the rear cover

Buddhist Women on the Edge presents the voices of American women on their experiences of Buddhist practice. In thirty thoughtful and provocative essays, a diverse range of contributors - Dharma teachers, scholars, monastics, practitioners, and sympathizers - explore the challenges and rewards of integrating Buddhist practice in the West. Contributors include Tsultrim Allione, Sandy Boucher, Pema Chodron, Rita M. Gross, Jane Hirshfield, bell hooks, Anne C. Klein, Miranda Shaw, Sallie Tisdale, Kate Wheeler, Jan Willis, and many others. The essays explore issues of gender, race, class, and sexuality; lineage, authority, and the accessibility of Buddhist institutions; monastic, lay, and community practice; the teacher-student relationship; psychological perspectives and the role of the emotions; crosscultural adaptation and appropriation; and how spiritual practice informs creativity, personal relationships, and political/social activism.

Media reviews

"A superb collection. Not only does this book fill a long-vacant gap, but the quality of work is astonishingly high."
-San Francisco Chronicle

"As this collection reveals, women's perspectives are significantly expanding the American Buddhist agenda. A path-breaking anthology."
-Shambhala Sun

"Dresser has astutely laid out the parameter of contemporary Buddhist thought. This book is important reading regardless of your spiritual tradition or perspective. These essays pose questions at the very heart of existence, morality, and prosperity for thoughtful Americans living into the 21st century. Don't miss this one!"
-Bloomsbury Review