Courses

DATES: June 19, June 26 & July 3
TIME: 7 PM - 8:30 PM

In this course, we will learn about how women were viewed in ancient Buddhist texts, and what these views and images might tell us about the understandings and experiences of women in Buddhism today. Our focus will be on a translation of the Therigatha--an early text that presents women's voices about following the Buddhist path. The translation we will use is C. Hallisey, Poems of the First Buddhist Women (Univ. of Harvard Press). We will also consider other Buddhist narratives about women, such as Visakha, to explore how notions of gender have functioned in this tradition.

If anyone wishes to purchase the book that we will be discussing in detail (completely voluntary and not required), you can obtain it here for $19.95: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674251359

This course will be taught by our very own Steve Berkwitz. Steve Berkwitz is a professor of Buddhist Studies at Missouri State University and a longtime member of Ozarks Dharma Community. He appreciates the focus of Buddhist traditions on personal transformation and caring for others. He also likes to write books related to the literature and history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

ODC Zoom link for this course: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2258180988  |  Meeting ID  225 818 0988