First Buddhist Women Summary

Improved Essays
“First Buddhist Women,” is a Therigatha book comprised of many poems describing how women of different caste found enlightenment through Buddhism. The written works in this books were once passed down orally and then finally written down in the first century B.C.E.. They center around the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama, the man born into a Sakyan chief’s family who would become the Buddha. Gautama wished to seek a way out of suffering, birth, old age, and death. In his efforts he established a new religion called Buddhism. When he reached enlightenment he chose to become a Samasambuddha, an enlightened teacher who would teach dharma in order to save all beings. Gautama founded the sangha consisting of men, then laymen and laywomen, lastly, …show more content…
Without any background information on Kisagotami one could wonder why another women’s poem is entangled into Kisagotami’s poem. Upon knowing that Kisagotami was asked by Buddha to look for white mustard seed in a household that has had no deaths one begins to understand that this is an example of upaya. In foolish faith Kisagotami thought this was a feat that would bring her child back to life until she realizes that death was an imminent part of life. Through the stanza above which discusses the life of a women named Patacara, Kisagotami who once felt that the burdens of loss were hers alone now understood that other people felt and went through loss as well. The upaya served as a great awakening for Kisagotami. It is through the suffering of other women that she understands that everyone suffers impermanence and grief. A main theme that has played a part in the chapter of mothers in “The First Buddhist Women” is unhappiness. Aside from Kisagotami learning her lesson about impermanence one must then wonder how she ended that suffering through Buddhism. In stanza 9-13 Kisagotami states that one cannot just forget about suffering, that is not the way to enlightenment instead: We have to understand

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    This book moves more towards the less visible and un-promoted side of how Buddhism is starting to filter into today’s American life. For Moore this fits better than the shaved head, mantra chanting, and incense wreathed thought that most Westerners have associated with Dharma. The author looks for something or someway for him to replace what he lacked from his childhood faith. In the book, he seeks guidance towards confronting and being able to answer the big questions that leave us dissatisfied and wanting more information. My favorite parts of this book were Chapters 6 “Catholic Boy Zen” and 9 “The Plain-Spoken Theravada.”…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Life Along The Silk Road

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Of the many stories included, she mentions several people and populations practicing Buddhism. As trade became more prominent, Buddhism became stronger, especially in China. In one of her stories, The Nun’s Tale, a girl named Miaofu learned about the religion and worked toward becoming a nun. It discussed how men and women could become Buddhist, but it took more work for women to become a nun. For example, after 18, women had to undergo two years of study, while men did not.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A simple look at Buddhism and its 2,500 year long history. Through careful research, Samuel Bercholz and Sherab Chödzin discuss multiple aspects of Buddha and Buddhism. This book covers Buddha's life and historical background. In addition, the book discusses Theravada, Mahayana, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism explaining the similarities, differences, and origins of each. The text provides meditation instructions, an explanation of reincarnation, images of Buddhist art and architecture, as well as definitions for the plethora of terms related to Buddhism.…

    • 1171 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Humanity has strived to rid itself of suffering since the dawn of man. The history of religious teachings tells us that even the most primitive humans understood pain, suffering, sin, and even evil. The development of complicated belief systems spawned from a need to atone for human evils. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity are some of these belief systems which were created to give an explanation to the world and the suffering it brings. The fundamentals of these religions all revolve around attaining a form of salvation or enlightenment.…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The soul of the Classical Era was the creation of universal religions and their spread through Afro-Eurasia. These religions shifted and hijacked whole empires and became one of the most influential developments of history by 300 C.E. Arguably the two most notable religions were Christianity and Buddhism. To understand the impact these religions had on history their origins, spread through Afro-Eurasia, and similarities are to be analyzed. The origins of Buddhism were created by the first Buddha Sidhartha Gautama in the late 6th century B.C.E. Sidhartha was a warrior son of royalty that recognized the suffering in the world around him.…

    • 1537 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The composer romanticises ideas of motherhood throughout this poem and expresses the hardships experienced. Her childhood home was a place of stories and songs, recounted to her by her mother and grandmother and her childhood had a pivotal effect on her writing. Everything she writes about has been infused with the radiance of those days in Brisbane growing up through the 1980s. The poem is about a daughter who has just faced the death of her mother.…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Siddhartha Gautama's Life

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Who was the Buddha? Siddhartha Gautama was the man to become a Buddha; he was born in approximately 563 BCE into a family of the Kshatriya class in a kingdom called Shakya. Shakya was located in the mountains of the Himalayas, which is found in Nepal. Although Siddhartha’s early life was comfortable he didn't want to live a luxurious life, he wanted spiritual satisfaction. After Siddhartha’s journey to find a solution of life’s problems through a spiritual solution, he became to be known as the Buddha, which means “Enlightened One” or “The One Who Has Awakened.”…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    World History Quiz

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Pg. #15 1. Identify: A) Siddhartha Gautama: Siddhartha Gautama or Buddha is the founder of Buddhism. He believed that desire can cause suffering. B) Confucius: Confucius is a “brilliant” Chinese scholar was focused more on social order and good government.…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martha Dharmapali is an American trying to establish a Women’s Dharma Monastery that is not tied to any one tradition. As it is stated in "Buddhism: An Overview.” “Buddhism as a whole has not yet developed a distinctive character in the modern period... Thus the sectarian, civilizational, and cultural patterns continue to exert a predominant influence in the evolution of Buddhist tradition.”…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Harvey, P. (n.d.). An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (1st ed., Vol. 2). Cambridge University Press. When starting on understanding Buddhism and its complexity, first get a basic knowledge of what it is about.…

    • 1517 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Upon reading Serinity Young’s, “Women Changing Tibet, Activism Changing Women” in Women’s Buddhism and Buddhism’s Women, my vocabulary and understanding of Tibetan (and Indian) traditional religious terms indefinitely extended and increased. The most stimulating and thought provoking terms from this work were: bhiksuni, gelongma, and volition. This text discovers, "…the role of monastics (especially nuns) in ongoing demonstrations in Tibet and the consequences they face for their activities.” Early in the text, the dynamics between the Chinese and Tibetan governments in relationship to religion and imperialism are explained. Later, atrocities committed against the Tibetan nuns for going against the wills of the Chinese government (protesting)…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Buddhism In Jane's Life

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Pages

    As long as Jane can remember she has been practicing Buddhism and it was often times a pillar in her life along with her families in time of need or struggle. To Jane, the core principles of Buddhism all lie within oneself and the family. She explained to me that when she says oneself she does not only mean the life that she is currently living. Buddhism is based on the idea of reincarnation. The idea that once an individual dies they come back onto this earth either in a better or worse form than they currently are.…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Buddhism’s founder, Siddharta Guatama, had four powerful sightings that moved him, which led to the findings of Buddhism’s marks of existence. At the age of 29, Gautama saw an old man, who was disabled by age; a sick man, disabled by disease; a dead man; and a poor man, who was still contented. He realized…

    • 1383 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Between the era of 600 BCE and 600 CE, as religious diffusion took place across the globe, India experienced many changes such as the rise of buddhism, and the threat of it’s people adopting a new religion, while hinduism continuously remained as the predominant religion of the area. The rise of Buddhism in India served as a change in the religious demographic of India. Buddhism was developed unintentionally in India by the prince Siddhartha Gautama. The story is told that the Buddha (Prince Gautama,) was born a prince in a lavish palace who led a lavish lifestyle. One day he ventured into the world where for the first time in his life he witnessed sorrow and poverty.…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Buddhism and Jainism are belief systems that originated in India in the 6th Century. Both Buddhism and Jainism are polytheistic religions. The main goal of Buddhism is enlightenment, a belief which is centered on the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha, while, Jainism is centered around the continued teachings of 24 prior teachers through Vardhaman Mahavira, and focus on the liberation of the soul. Buddhavamsa, is a Buddhist scripture, which is a part of the Pali Canon of Theravada (book of scriptures of the Theravadan Buddhist traditions) Buddhavamsa claims there were 24 preceding Buddha’s before the 6th century Buddha.…

    • 1029 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays