Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Snow Lion Publications
346 pp., $14.95

Reprinted from Religious Studies
Review, January 1993
Reviewed by Janice D. Willis,
Wesleyan University

This valuable collection of essays grows out of the first International Conference of Buddhist Nuns, held in Bodhgaya, India in 1987. At that conference, women rununciates from East and West came together to share their experiences and ideas about being Buddhist women practitioners from various countries and traditions.

The volume actually represents two books in one. There are numerous shorter presentations by various Buddhist nunsarranged topically and by region, and, preceding each section, there are Tsomo's own lengthier introductory remarks, wherein she argues both passionately and with measured restraint for necessary reform. Roughly half the text was authored by its editor. Readers will feel that they have gotten a more extensive picturenot only of the key issues and concerns feeing modern-day women practitioners, but also of the range and personalities of the women framing this important discussion. This book will interest students, scholars, and practitioners of Buddhism, as well as readers interested in women's studies and religion in the modern world.