Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Instructor of Buddhism at Chaminade University and Degree Fellow at the East-West Center, organized the first international conference of Buddhist nuns in 1987; the fifth of these meetings was held in 1995. She notes: "With shared values of compassion and loving kindness, a sense of immediacy, faith in women's potentialities, and a willingness to step out of familiar conceptual frames, Buddhist women around the world have initiated intercultural dialogue on a deeply personal, deeply spiritual level."
This erudite anthology brings together pieces that reflect the research and experiences of women who are both scholars and practitioners of Buddhism. The paperback is divided into two sections: Buddhist Women in Asian Traditions and Contemporary Buddhist Women. Preconceptions about the inferiority of women still prevail in the East where they have consistently been excluded from religious structures. Three of the most interesting essays are Karma Lekshe Tsomo's "Comparing Buddhist and Christian Women's Experiences," Theja Gunawardhana's "Aung San Suu Kyi: A Woman of Conscience in Burma," and Rita M. Gross's "Feminism, Lay Buddhism, and the Future of Buddhism."