Treasuring the Feminine - What does this really mean?
Vinciane Rycroft and Ruth Seehausen
In places, religions around the world are embracing the rise of the feminine. At the same time, more and more light is shed on unequal, disrespectful and in cases abusive relationships between men and women.
Vajrayāna Buddhism is experiencing this force for change too. Practitioners today can benefit from the wisdom of both female and male teachers, and teachings on the feminine are published and available. And yet the largest communities or sanghas in the West have had to face in the last years distressing accounts of the behaviour of their teachers with some of their female students.
In 2019, a group of practitioners from the Rigpa community proposed to hold an on-going dialogue across sanghas on the topic of women and the feminine in Vajrayāna Buddhism. The wish was to gather and reflect on where we are at in our tradition when it comes to treasuring the feminine. It was also clear that the problems Vajrayāna Buddhist communities had faced in the student-teacher relationship between men and women had been greatly amplified by the many misunderstandings about Vajrayāna Buddhism itself. There was also a longing to turn to wise women in these difficult times for support and clarity.
The group chose to start from the big picture to bring a context on and start with these questions:
Is gender relevant in a tradition focused on non-duality?
Do we understand the feminine principle in Vajrayāna Buddhism?
Do we honour female practitioners and teachers of the past?
What is cultural and what is dharma when it comes to sexuality and conduct?
The dialogue across sanghas was kicked off with a small symposium of female Vajrayāna teachers and senior practitioners that took place from 8 to 12 June 2021. It was hosted by Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in the south of France, on Zoom, with 38 participants from almost twenty different sanghas.
On this occasion the main contributors were Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche, Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel, Sangye Khandro, Chagdud Khadro, Marcia Schmidt, Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Lama Tsultrim Allione, Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown – in order of intervention. The biographies of all participants are available here.
There was really no predefined outcome for the symposium other than openly sharing our understanding and also our hearts in a confidential setting. Coming together as female Vajrayāna practitioners was in itself an accomplishment and an important new step.
In the end, the hot questions about whether students should accept or decline to have an intimate relationship with their teacher came up on the very first day, and by the end of the gathering we were clearly taking responsibility for ensuring the next generations of both teachers and practitioners are better equipped to prevent and face misconduct.
The questions from our sanghas
We received over fifty questions from the communities before the event, clearly showing there was so much need for teachings and clarity on this topic. These questions are available here, and were shared in advance with the symposium participants.
They clearly prompted the incredible teachings we then received. As Sangye Khandro pointed out, “in reviewing the questions submitted by sangha members, it became really clear that the meaning of the feminine principle needs more clarification with the greater sangha community. Going forward, it is sure that these topics need to be constantly clarified, and teachings need to be made available.”
The summary of the symposium
The summary of the symposium can be downloaded here (in English).
This account of the symposium is shared as a support for personal reflection, and further reading and study, as well as discussions with others in examining these topics in workshops and conversations. It is an invitation to remain open in the face of complexity, to sharpen our discernments, broaden our compassion and strengthen our sense of agency.
It includes extracts from the teachings of the main contributors that are accessible to a general Buddhist audience, questions for reflection and striking main points from the group discussions.
You will not find one answer here to the question of treasuring the feminine, but hopefully it will prompt you to engage in safe dialogues with sangha friends and deepen your study and practice.
Here is the bibliography that was shared during the symposium as a support for further study and practice.
Taking this dialogue and actions to our sanghas
All the materials of the symposium are now available to the women teachers who took part in the symposium, and we hope that they can become a support to workshops and continued dialogues, holding the space for each of us to explore what it means to treasure the feminine in Vajrayana Buddhism.
The conversation has started and our communities are more and more prepared to face their blindspots. From such openness, there is no saying what will happen next.
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Summary of resources from this event:
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