What is it about?
Seizing on the opportunity provided by the Dalai Lama recently hinting at a female successor, this paper delves deep into theorizing a female Dalai Lama. It offers an intersectional tool to examine how such a conception not only overturns patriarchy pertinent in Tibetan Buddhism, but also disrupts the heteropatriarchal religious traditions beyond Tibetan Buddhism. Moreover, it brings to light affirmative imagination for feminist thinking and intervention premised on the understanding of feminisms as engaging with structures of power and systems of oppression.
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Why is it important?
An exploratory study drawing upon the lived experiences of a Tibetan woman to imagine how the revolutionary potential of a Female Dalai Lama serve as an intersectional tool for Tibetan Buddhism and for feminisms, this paper offers a rethinking of the gender binary in leadership, and a radical revisioning of feminist vision for change.
Perspectives
This publication builds on the statement of the current Dalai Lama about the possibility of a female Dalai Lama, and draws on auto-ethnography, that of the personal accounts of the author to expand the scope and scale for critical feminist thinking about patriarchy in religion and gender binary in leadership.
Dhardon Sharling
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Theorizing a Female Dalai Lama: An Intersectional Tool for Feminisms, Anthropology of Consciousness, February 2022, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/anoc.12146.
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Resources
The Power of the Feminine: Facing Shadow Evoking Light
The Power of the Feminine: Facing Shadow Evoking Light highlights women's role in global change. Authors are from Egypt, Ghana, Exile Tibet, and the United States. They discuss the dismantling of patriarchal and colonizing behaviors influencing political, economic, and religious paradigms. Colonization has caused great harm to people of color, indigenous cultures, and natural resources. Authors emphasize the need to face the human shadow. Patriarchy has suppressed women, Nature, and the power of the feminine. We have been unable to ground many of our religious and ethical ideals simply because of the suppression of the feminine—the relational archetype. Listening to the guidance of indigenous peoples is encouraged as they have maintained a stronger relationship to Nature, respecting all species throughout human evolution. Authors emphasize the need for healthier ways of living and relating in order to create a healthier future for our youth and the future of all humanity. An organization for change is presented: Face the human shadow, heal oneself, create healthier relationships from birth forward, and support the emergence of the feminine archetype in both women and men.
Finding Hope in the Darkest of Days, and Focus in the Brightest: The Dalai Lama’s Approach to Promoting Human Values
he Dalai Lama has encouraged humanity to “find hope in the darkest days and focus in the brightest,” and to “not judge the universe” (Adams, 2012, p. 131). His message on the relevance of interconnectedness points to the need for a compassion-based ethics and a realistic mind to see through the crises facing humanity. This article explores how values such as compassion, ethics based on compassion, and an understanding of the oneness of humanity underscore the Dalai Lama’s conception of human values, and critically examines the ways in which the Dalai Lama has been showing the world the urgency of harnessing the potential of these values to finding a more pragmatic and positive approach to contemporary crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
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