Meeting the Great Bliss Queen: Buddhists, Feminists, and the Art of the Self [Anglais] [Broché]

Despite their formidable differences, Buddhism and feminism share common ground, according to Klein, who has studied with refugee Tibetan lamas in India, Nepal and the U.S. and is an associate professor of religious studies at Rice University. In this erudite tome, she suggests that the open boundary between self and cosmos in Tibetan Buddhism can offer inspiration to Western women seeking to redefine interdependent selfhood in a male-centered world dominated by individualism. Klein describes Buddhist meditation techniques for cultivating compassion, then links these practices to feminists' quests to overcome dualisms (active/passive, reason/emotion) that tend to marginalize women in the West. Eighth-century Tibetan queen Teshel Tsogyel encouraged the spread of Buddhism and is identified today with the largely mystical Great Bliss Queen of wisdom and compassion. Klein sifts the literature on the blissful red queen for her relevance to women seeking connectedness, self-empowerment and active engagement with the world.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

The paradox of identity-self with others-is examined by a Buddhist feminist and author who has studied under Tibetan lamas. After joining a women's studies program at Harvard Divinity School in 1982, Klein hoped to reshape dialog between the essentialist and postmodern feminists by encouraging selected Buddhist practices. Mindfulness, for instance, can foster a sense of uniqueness in women's caretaking roles. Visualizing Tibetan Queen Yeshey Tsogyel (eighth century) for meditation, women can be empowered by the "unconditioned self" to surpass personhood and transcend linguistic constraints. Recognizing that some feminists, especially postmodern constructivists, will find an "ungendered essence" distasteful, Klein uses Yeshey Tsogyel, the Great Bliss Queen, as an emblem of the clear mind sphere, beyond dualities and available to all. Rather difficult reading, this treatise is recommended for academic libraries.
Dara Eklund, Los Angeles P.L.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

Westerners drawn to Buddhism inevitably question its relevance to modern life, especially the life of American women concerned with achieving liberation from gender roles. Klein, a professor of religious studies and a student of Buddhism for 25 years, competently addresses the seeming incommensurability of Tibetan Buddhism and feminism. Her effort to build bridges between West and East, secular and religious, modern and traditional, and male and female yields some valuable observations about both sides of these divides. Klein's comparisons between the Western sense of self and the self in Tibetan society, and between the lives of American and Tibetan women, are anchored by her exploration of the significance of the Great Bliss Queen, or Yeshey Tsogyel, a part historical, part mythological figure in Tibetan Buddhism emblematic of enlightenment. Thoughtfully balancing the practical and the abstract, Klein is able to argue that both Buddhism and feminism are "aimed at practical benefits for real people." An often demanding but impressively disciplined treatise. Donna Seaman --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

"Thanks to Anne Klein for taking on crucial issues and making superb sense of them."

Buddhists, Feminists, and the Art of the Self --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

Despite barriers of language and culture, Buddhism and contemporary feminism have much to say to each other. Both appeared on the Western intellectual scene at about the same time, both focus on self and identity, and both are dedicated to the fruitful interaction of theory and experience in regard to those questions. The ritual of the Great Bliss Queen, an important Buddhist figure of enlightenment, unifies the book, modeling practices that can help us to be both at one with ourselves and open to engagement with others.

"A groundbreaking and important book."--Jan Nattier, Indiana University

"There is an element of personal reflection in Klein's work that makes the book immediately approachable..."--Jose Ignacio Cabezon, UC Santa Barbara

"Thanks to Anne Klein for taking on crucial issues and making superb sense of them."--Sandy Boucher, author of Turning the Wheel: American Women Creating the New Buddhism

Anne Carolyn Klein is professor and chair of Religious Studies at Rice University. She lives in Houston, Texas.

Anne C. Klein is Professor and Chair of Religious Studies at Rice University. She is also the co-founder of Dawn Mountain Tibetan Temple in Houston, Texas. She has studied Buddhist philosophy and practice with Asian scholars and meditation masters since 1971- including three years of fieldwork in India, Nepal, and Tibet.

Her ongoing research includes inquiry into Buddhist and feminist perspectives, and the study and translation of Tibetan oral scholarship, especially Geluk discussions of Madhyamika and Nyingma elaborations of Great Completeness (rDzogs-chen) texts.