They may shave their heads, don simple robes, and renounce
materialism and worldly desires. But the women seeking
enlightenment in a Buddhist nunnery high in the folds of Himalayan
Kashmir invariably find themselves subject to the tyrannies of
subsistence, subordination, and sexuality. Ultimately, Buddhist
monasticism reflects the very world it is supposed to renounce.
Butter and barley prove to be as critical to monastic life as merit
and meditation. Kim Gutschow lived for more than three years among
these women, collecting their stories, observing their ways,
studying their lives. Her book offers the first ethnography of
Tibetan Buddhist society from the perspective of its nuns.
Gutschow depicts a gender hierarchy where nuns serve and monks
direct, where monks bless the fields and kitchens while nuns toil
in them. Monasteries may retain historical endowments and
significant political and social power, yet global flows of
capitalism, tourism, and feminism have begun to erode the balance
of power between monks and nuns. Despite the obstacles of being
considered impure and inferior, nuns engage in everyday forms of
resistance to pursue their ascetic and personal goals.
A richly textured picture of the little known culture of a
Buddhist nunnery, the book offers moving narratives of nuns
struggling with the Buddhist discipline of detachment. Its analysis
of the way in which gender and sexuality construct ritual and
social power provides valuable insight into the relationship
between women and religion in South Asia today.
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