University of San Diego Digital USD Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship Department of Theology and Religious Studies 2006 Sakyadhita Pilgrimage in Asia: On the Trail of the Buddhist Women's Movement Karma Lekshe Tsomo PhD University of San Diego,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digital.sandiego.edu/thrs-faculty Part of the Buddhist Studies Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Digital USD Citation Tsomo, Karma Lekshe PhD, "Sakyadhita Pilgrimage in Asia: On the Trail of the Buddhist Women's Movement" (2006). Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship. 8. https://digital.sandiego.edu/thrs-faculty/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Digital USD. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Digital USD. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. SAKYADHITA PILGRIMAGE IN ASIA ON THE TRAIL OF THE BUDDHIST WOMEN’S NETWORK _______________________________________________________________ Karma Lekshe Tsomo ABSTRACT: Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women was established in 1987 to address issues of gender equality in Buddhist societies and Buddhist institutions. Since then, through a series of innovative biannual conferences, Sakyadhita has worked to link women from different Buddhist traditions and cultural backgrounds and provide them with a forum where women’s voices can be heard. These conferences have generated a vibrant international Buddhist women’s movement that works for the welfare of the world’s estimated 300,000 Buddhist women. Because Buddhist institutions in Asian countries typically function independently and there is no central authority to oversee them or create policies, Sakyadhita’s intra-Buddhist communications network for women represents a major breakthrough.