Harvard Professor Janet Gyatso to discuss historical women in Tibetan Buddhism

With all the political unrest in Tibet that repeatedly appears in the media, the issue of gender politics in the region is not top of mind. But considering the active debate about the current Dalai Lama’s reestablishment of a fully ordained nun’s order in Tibet, the issue of gender in Tibet is actually quite timely.
On Tuesday, April 15, Janet Gyatso, Hershey Professor of Buddhist Studies at Harvard University, will shed some light on the issue of gender in Tibet at 4:10 p.m. in Sinclair Auditorium. Gyatso will discuss historical women in Tibetan Buddhism, issues concerning gender politics and some distinctive theories about gender from Tibetan communities.
Gyatso has written several books on the topic of Tibetan Buddhism, including Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary; In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, and Women of Tibet.
Gyatso’s lecture is sponsored by Lehigh’s Visiting Lecturer’s Committee, the Chaplain’s Office, and the Asian Studies and Women’s Studies departments. It is the latest in a series of events designed to educate the campus community prior to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s visit.
His Holiness’s visit will include a series of teachings as well as a sold-out, half-day public lecture on July 13. The five-and-a-half days of teachings, sponsored by the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in Washington, N.J., will take place July 10-15.
All of the events will take place in Stabler Arena on the Goodman Campus.
For the latest information on the Dalai Lama’s visit, check out Lehigh’s Dalai Lama Web site.
--Elizabeth Shimer Bowers