WOMEN WHO SHOW US THE WAY

The Buddha established a fourfold community of his followers: lay women and men and monastic women and men. Stirred by compassion for all beings, without heed for gender, caste, color, or status, he laid out a blueprint for his ministry in which the dharma would be available to all aspirants. His legacy would include accomplished practitioners and teachers from all four groups in the community to ensure continuity of the dharma into the future. Note that half his intended population of disciples was female.

Many accomplished women emerged from the first generation of Buddhism, the pre-sectarian era when Gautama Buddha himself was teaching. Most notable was his adoptive mother , who as queen brought the Sakya women to her son’s teachings, then five years later requested ordination on their behalf. As the foremost nun, she devoted the rest of her life to supporting the growing population of women in the community. Along with