Women Under the Bo Tree
by Tessa J. Bartholomeusz
Women under the bo tree examines the tradition of female world-renunciation in Buddhist Sri Lanka. The study is textual, historical, and anthropological, and links ancient tradition with contemporary practice. Tessa Bartholomeusz utilizes data based on her field experiences in many contemporary cloisters: the history of the re-emergence of Buddhist female renouncers in the late nineteenth century after a hiatus of several hundred years; the reasons why women renounce; the variety of expressions of female world-renunciation; and, above all, attitudes about women and monasticism that have either prohibited women from renouncing or have encouraged them to do so. One of the most striking discoveries of the study is that the fortunes of Buddhist female renouncers is tied to the fortunes of Buddhism in Sri Lanka more generally, and to perceived notions of Sri Lanka as the caretaker of Buddhism.
Hardcover
English
Brand New
Publisher Description
Tessa Bartholomeusz explores the relationship between female world-renunciation in Buddhist Sri Lanka and attitudes about women and the religious vocation. She gives a history of Buddhist female renouncers in Sri Lanka and recounts her own field experiences of contemporary Buddhist women who have chosen to live celibate and cloistered lives. By presenting the point of view of the women themselves and describing their role and vocation in present-day Sri Lanka, the author puts a new perspective on the island's Buddhist culture.
Author Biography
Bartholomeusz is Associate Professor of Religion at Florida State University.
Table of Contents
Preface; Acknowledgments; Notes on pronunciation; Dramatis personae; Part I; Introduction: The tradition of Buddhist female renunciation in Sri Lanka; 1. The ancient order of nuns in Sri Lanka; 2. Nineteenth century Ceylon: the emergence of the lay nun; 3. Theosophists, educators and nuns; 4. The Sanghamitta Sisterhood; Part II; 5. The Institutionalisation of tradition; 6. The lay nun in transitional Ceylon; 7. The Dasa Sil Mata in contemporary Sri Lanka; 8. Novitiates, western lay nuns, and cave dwellers; 9. The Sri Lankan Bhikkhuni Sangha: trends and reflections; Epilogue: Women under the bo tree; Appendices; Notes; Bibliographies; Index.
Review
"This book represents a significant and welcome departure from most studies of "women in Buddhism"...[It] is an excellent resource for scholars and students and is a 'must read' for anyone working on topics concerning Buddhist nuns, Sri Lankan history or ethnography, or Buddhism today." Journal of Buddhist Ethics "...a solid and important contribution to the study of Buddhism in Sri Lanka since 1890. As one of the first book-length studies of renunciant women in a modern Buddhist society, it sets a good example in its judicious empathy and in its thorough social and historical contextualizing of its subject." The Journal of Asian Studies "Women under the Bo Tree is a fascinating account of the life of an unusual institution, the history of which sheds a great deal of light on the position of women in contemporary Theravada Buddhist cultures. By perusing the historical record and recovering the voices of nineteenth and twentieth-century lay nuns, their supporters, and their critics, and also by interviewing contemporary lay nuns, Bartholomeusz provides us with an insightful account of this self-declared monastic community." Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Review Quote
"Women under the Bo Tree is a fascinating account of the life of an unusual institution, the history of which sheds a great deal of light on the position of women in contemporary Theravada Buddhist cultures. By perusing the historical record and recovering the voices of nineteenth and twentieth-century lay nuns, their supporters, and their critics, and also by interviewing contemporary lay nuns, Bartholomeusz provides us with an insightful account of this self-declared monastic community." Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Promotional "Headline"
A lively examination of female world-renunciation on Buddhist Sri Lanka.
Description for Bookstore
Tessa Bartholomeusz explores the relationship between female world-renunciation in Buddhist Sri Lanka and attitudes about women and the religious vocation more generally. A lively history of Buddhist female renouncers on the island is combined with insights derived from the experiences of modern Buddhist women.
Description for Library
Tessa Bartholomeusz explores the relationship between female world-renunciation in Buddhist Sri Lanka and attitudes about women and the religious vocation more generally. A lively history of Buddhist female renouncers on the island is combined with insights derived from the experiences of modern Buddhist women.
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