Lotus Petals in the Snow: Voices of Canadian Buddhist Women
ISBN 978-1-896559-22-3
218 pages, paperback, 6.14 x 9.21 inches (royal octavo)
Buddhism, Women’s Studies, Canadian History
LOTUS PETALS IN THE SNOW: Voices of Canadian Buddhist Women
Tanya McGinnity, Editor
Lotus Petals in the Snow is the result of outreach extended across Canada with the goal of bringing together the work of scholars and stories from practitioners, scholar-practitioners, Dharma students, teachers, nuns and laywomen. With pieces covering a vast landscape of experiences, this book is one of the few to focus entirely on the voices of Canadian Buddhist Women.
The book, edited by Tanya McGinnity (http://dharmage.com/), organized alphabetically, offers up stories of motherhood, grief, travel, art, the universal nature of suffering and several works dedicated to notable teachers and organizations who have left a profound impact upon the participants’ lives. Each story is authentic and demonstrates the uniquely feminine voices of girls, mothers, goddesses, crones, dakinis, nuns, bhikkhunis and all of the various emanations of the female form (both in the absolute and relative sense of the word). These may all just be convenient labels though, as a good story is a good story regardless of gender but reclaiming our voices as women who have been rendered silent in many domains – including Buddhism, does deliver collective power.
CONTENTS
- Karma: A Method of Evolution and Escape • Aryadrishti
- Buddhism as a System of Education: Reflections on Life and Self • Heesoon Bai
- The Things We Leave Behind • Nicole Belanger
- Who is a Tibetan Buddhist Self-Immolator? Freedom Fighter, Martyr, Terrorist or Bodhisattva? • Citizen Shambhala
- Sakyadhita Canada: Branching Out • Mavis Fenn
- Authentic Self • Tracy Franz
- Dharma Decisions: I Don’t Know Until I Know, and Then I Know • Ainslie Greig
- Finding the Kingdom of Happiness • Dianne Harke
- Why Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Chose Buddhism • Usha Heer
- My Path of Vajrayana Practice • Jackie Ho
- Patterns in Groups Tending Toward the Formation of Cults; Applications to Western Buddhism • Patricia Ivan
- Heart of Light: Anagarika Dhammadinna • Jayanta
- Women at the Forefront: Pioneering and the Dhamma of Perseverance • Jayanta
- Why I Never Felt Beautiful and Now I Do • Natalie Karneef
- Rediscovering the Gift of the Universal Feminine Through Faith, Scripture and Myth • Cecilie Kwiat
- Art Is Not for Control Freaks • Carole Leslie
- Buddhism, Maternity and the Body • Erin McCarthy
- Stumbling Into Fields of Joy: A Biography of Cecilie Kwiat • Julia Milton
- I Talk to People Everywhere: An Interview with Cecilie Kwiat • Julia Milton
- Why Do I Feel an Irresistible Urge to Dance? • Kuya Minogue
- Summer at the Kootenay Hermitage • Kuya Minogue
- Mother-Daughter: Mastering the Art of Losing Each Other • Lynette Genju Monteiro
- Convergence • Julie Price
- Giving and Receiving: Why Dharma Teachers Don’t Charge Fees • Bonni Ross
- Dissolving the Pain Body; Abiding in the Body of Wisdom • Daryl Lynn Ross
- Discovering the Three Jewels in Rural Alberta • Bonnie Ryan Fisher
- Finding My Way on the Eightfold Path • Laura Sugimoto
- My Rebirth as a Bhikkhuni • Thich Nu Tinh Quang
- The Front Runner • Thuc Cong
- The Despondency (Qi Xia Temple): Nanjing and a Visit to the 1000 Smashed Buddha Caves • Sarah E. Truman
- Weeds in the Stream • Vimalasara
This is a gift economy book, which means that 100% of net proceeds from online sales will be donated to the Buddhist Compassion Tzu Chi Foundation for charitable work. Proceeds from direct sales will support local Buddhist initiatives across Canada. Everyone involved in the project is donating their energy, work and and time. Carole Leslie (zendotstudio.blogspot.ca) has contributed our cover art as well as her article.
REVIEWS
The anthology is also a treasure trove for scholars of Buddhism in Canada and women in Canada, especially scholars who use an ethnographic approach to contemporary Buddhist Studies and Women's Studies. As well, while Canadian Buddhists would be very interested in reading these stories, many of the chapters in the volume highlight the international connections developed between these Canadian Buddhist women and Buddhist groups and teachers all over the globe. Lotus Petals in the Snow is unique in its singular focus on the voices of Canadian Buddhist Women. Through keen editorial decisions, McGinnity has done an admirable job of creating a space for each author’s voice to be heard without forcing them into a restrictive literary form; they were free to offer an essay, poem or story based on their experience of Buddhism.–Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies
The chapter topics cover an impressive range; what a fantastic presentation of work – I look forward to reading it and gifting it to friends.–Derek Rasmussen, Derek's Dharma Blog
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Tanya McGinnity has been interested in Buddhism for a few years (since the latter half of the roaring ’90s to be exact), yet it all still feels fresh to her. She has been sharing her experiences of studying and practicing the Dharma on her blog, dharmage.com since 2006. She is currently a member of Nalandabodhi and is a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.
http://secularbuddhism.org/2015/04/05/episode-221-tanyamcginnity-
and-john-negru-writings-by-canadian-buddhistwomen/
