Birth in Buddhism

The Suffering Fetus and Female Freedom

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Ethnic Studies, Religion & Spirituality, Eastern Religions, Buddhism
Cover of the book Birth in Buddhism by Amy Paris Langenberg, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Amy Paris Langenberg ISBN: 9781315512518
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: June 26, 2017
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Amy Paris Langenberg
ISBN: 9781315512518
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: June 26, 2017
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Recent decades have seen a groundswell in the Buddhist world, a transnational agitation for better opportunities for Buddhist women. Many of the main players in the transnational nuns movement self-identify as feminists but other participants in this movement may not know or use the language of feminism. In fact, many ordained Buddhist women say they seek higher ordination so that they might be better Buddhist practitioners, not for the sake of gender equality.

Eschewing the backward projection of secular liberal feminist categories, this book describes the basic features of the Buddhist discourse of the female body, held more or less in common across sectarian lines, and still pertinent to ordained Buddhist women today. The textual focus of the study is an early-first-millennium Sanskrit Buddhist work, "Descent into the Womb scripture" or Garbhāvakrānti-sūtra. Drawing out the implications of this text, the author offers innovative arguments about the significance of childbirth and fertility in Buddhism, namely that birth is a master metaphor in Indian Buddhism; that Buddhist gender constructions are centrally shaped by Buddhist birth discourse; and that, by undermining the religious importance of female fertility, the Buddhist construction of an inauspicious, chronically impure, and disgusting femininity constituted a portal to a new, liberated, feminine life for Buddhist monastic women. Thus, this study of the Buddhist discourse of birth is also a genealogy of gender in middle period Indian Buddhism.

Offering a new critical perspective on the issues of gender, bodies and suffering, this book will be of interest to an interdisciplinary audience, including researchers in the field of Buddhism, South Asian history and religion, gender and religion, theory and method in the study of religion, and Buddhist medicine.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Recent decades have seen a groundswell in the Buddhist world, a transnational agitation for better opportunities for Buddhist women. Many of the main players in the transnational nuns movement self-identify as feminists but other participants in this movement may not know or use the language of feminism. In fact, many ordained Buddhist women say they seek higher ordination so that they might be better Buddhist practitioners, not for the sake of gender equality.

Eschewing the backward projection of secular liberal feminist categories, this book describes the basic features of the Buddhist discourse of the female body, held more or less in common across sectarian lines, and still pertinent to ordained Buddhist women today. The textual focus of the study is an early-first-millennium Sanskrit Buddhist work, "Descent into the Womb scripture" or Garbhāvakrānti-sūtra. Drawing out the implications of this text, the author offers innovative arguments about the significance of childbirth and fertility in Buddhism, namely that birth is a master metaphor in Indian Buddhism; that Buddhist gender constructions are centrally shaped by Buddhist birth discourse; and that, by undermining the religious importance of female fertility, the Buddhist construction of an inauspicious, chronically impure, and disgusting femininity constituted a portal to a new, liberated, feminine life for Buddhist monastic women. Thus, this study of the Buddhist discourse of birth is also a genealogy of gender in middle period Indian Buddhism.

Offering a new critical perspective on the issues of gender, bodies and suffering, this book will be of interest to an interdisciplinary audience, including researchers in the field of Buddhism, South Asian history and religion, gender and religion, theory and method in the study of religion, and Buddhist medicine.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Mobility, Markets and Indigenous Socialities by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book Economic Geography by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book The Philosophy of Open Education (International Library of the Philosophy of Education Volume 15) by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book Cultures of Healing by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book Liberation And Purity by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book Towards World Heritage by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book European Neighbourhood through Civil Society Networks? by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book Berlioz and Debussy: Sources, Contexts and Legacies by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book Selected Essays of Edwards A. Park by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book My Mum Bakes Awesome Cakes by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book Twentieth Century Music and the Question of Modernity by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book Inclusive Leadership in Higher Education by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book Violence Against Women in Legally Plural settings by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book Targeting Terrorist Financing by Amy Paris Langenberg
Cover of the book The Organization of Behavior by Amy Paris Langenberg
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy