This book celebrates the flowering of women in American Buddhism. Lenore Friedman set out to explore this phenomenon by interviewing some of the remarkable women who were teaching Buddhism in the United States. The seventeen women she writes about vary in background, personality, and form of teaching. Together the represent the growing presence and influence of women teachers in America--a development that will surely affect Buddhism in the West for years to come. This revised edition includes a new section describing developments in these women's lives and work since the book's first publication in 1987.
Teachers include: Toni Packer, Maurine Stuart, Pema Chodron, Joko Beck, Ruth Denison, Bobby Rhodes, Jiyu Kennett, Sharon Salzberg, Karuna Dharma, Joanna Macy, Gesshin Prabhasa Dharma, Sonja Margulies, Yvonne Rand, Jacqueline Mandell, Colleen Schmitz, Ayya Khema, Tsering Everest

The relationship between body and mind has always been a topic of speculation and spirited discussion. The authors of the pieces contained in this anthology address the problem from the unique dual perspective of being women and being students of Buddhism.

In this compelling collection of talks, essays, interviews, and letters, Toni Packer presents a radically simple and original approach to spiritual growth free from religious authority, doctrine, symbolism and ceremony. A former Zen teacher and student of Krishnamurti's work, Packer goes beyond traditional religion and explores with the reader the root of human attachments and the source of suffering, opening the way to compassion.