Let's Gather Our Minds As One: Andrea Miller Collects Dharma Talks by Women
When it comes to patriarchy and religion, Buddhism hasn’t faired much better than the rest. The historical Buddha was totally inclusive when it came to gender and rather explicit about it. In addition, the Nalanda monastery in India is considered to be the first co-ed university in the world. This ancient Buddhist center for higher learning was established in the Fifth century AD and allowed women to study as freely as men.
However, this spirit of gender inclusivity didn’t hold as Buddhism spread. The religion simply reflected the many cultures where it developed which were often male-dominated. So sadly women did not have a seat at the table and their voices were often left out.
Auspiciously, Buddhism took hold in the West around the time of the Women’s Movement. As a result, many women emerged as Buddhist teachers and became some of the most expressive and articulate translators of the dharma.
Andrea Miller, deputy editor of Shambhala Sun magazine, has pulled together a collection of Dharma Talks by the women who have helped to shape Buddhism here in the U.S. Contributors include renown masters like Tara Brach, Pema Chodron and Sharon Salzburg. The teachings are not particularly feminist in nature, but uniquely expressed through the voices of women.
My absolute favorite talk is by Joanna Macy. The piece is called Gratitude: Where Healing the Earth Begins. When it comes to the fate of the planet, Macy reminds us that there is much to be done, and time is short. Knowing this, how does one proceed? Of course, we can move forward with grisly desperation. That would be only natural. But Macy reminds us that the tasks at hand will be accomplished more easily and effectively with a measure of thankfulness. Gratitude links us to deeper powers within that will sustain and liberate us.
From Macy’s perspective, gratitude is actually subversive. Because gratitude shakes us free from the predominant message of an industrial growth society. Namely that we’re insufficient and inadequate and as a result we’re in constant need of more crap, more status, more attention, more comfort, more approval, more entertainment.
Macy relates how many indigenous cultures have understood the power of gratitude all along. She details the thanksgiving practice of the Haudenosaunee culture with their rituals that pay homage to the sun, moon, water, the birds and trees. These daily prayers enable a nation of people to “gather their minds as one” and live more harmoniously.
Ultimately, Macy believes the practice of noticing and giving thanks to the life all around us can teach how to stay in tact when “all possessions and comforts have been lost.”
