Opening the Lotus CL

For American women who wish to understand both the basics of Buddhism and its teachings and attitudes toward women, Boucher, a practitioner of Theravada Buddhism since 1980, offers a simple and enthusiastic primer. She first introduces readers to essential Buddhist concepts like mindfulness, the Five Precepts (don't kill, don't steal, don't lie, avoid sexual misconduct, shun intoxicants) and the differences among the three major Buddhist traditions (Theravada, Mahayana and Vajraya). She nicely answers the question, ""What can I expect in a meditation hall?"" by describing typical scenes at each Buddhist branch, from a Vipassana hall in northern California to a Southeast Asian Temple. She then tackles issues that specifically concern women, including an exploration of the kinds of Buddhism most open to women priests and teachers (Zen and Vipassana) and vivid descriptions of two great women bodhisattvas, the Chinese Kwan Yin and the Tibetan Tara, both of whom have been spiritual role models to women for centuries. Finally, she explores major Buddhist teachings from a woman's perspective, emphasizing the differences between the West's understanding of compassion and selflessness as stereotypically female traits and the quite broader meanings that these ideas enjoy in Buddhism's spiritual landscape. A directory of American women teachers rounds out this energetic and useful recasting of Buddhism's beliefs for contemporary women. (May)