Himalayan Hermitess: The Life Of A Tibetan Buddhist Nun: The Life Of A Tibetan Buddhist Nun
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Author Description
Orgyan Chokyi (1675-1729) spent her life in Dolpo, the highest inhabited region of the Nepal Himalayas. Illiterate and expressly forbidden by her master to write her own life story, Orgyan Chokyi received divine inspiration to compose one of the most forthright and engaging spiritual autobiographies of the Tibetan literary tradition. Her life story is the oldest of only four Tibetan autobiographies authored by women. It is also a rare example of writing by a pre-modern Buddhist woman, and thus holds a unique place in Buddhist literature as a whole. Translator Kurtis Schaeffer prefaces the text with an illuminating study of the life and times of Orgyan Chokyi and an extended analysis of the hermitess's view of the relation between gender, suffering, and liberation. Based almost entirely on primary Tibetan documents never before translated, this fascinating book will be of interest to those studying Buddhism, gender and religion, and the culture of the Tibetan world.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This work investigates the life and spiritual legacy of Orgyan Chokyi, a 17th-century Tibetan Buddhist nun who defied social and religious constraints to document her own existence. Kurtis R. Schaeffer, a scholar of Tibetan literature and religion, utilizes rare primary Tibetan documents to reconstruct the historical context of Dolpo. He argues that Chokyi’s autobiography serves as a critical, albeit rare, window into the intersection of gender, suffering, and liberation within the pre-modern Buddhist tradition.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- A detailed historical analysis of the Dolpo region in the Nepal Himalayas during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
- An examination of the specific social and religious barriers faced by women in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
- A translation of one of the oldest known autobiographies authored by a Tibetan woman.
- A scholarly exploration of the relationship between gender, asceticism, and spiritual liberation.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars and students of religious studies frequently cite this text as a foundational resource for understanding female agency in pre-modern Buddhist contexts. The prose is noted for its academic rigor while remaining accessible to those interested in the history of the Himalayan region.
Page Count:
0
Publication Date:
2004-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0195348427
ISBN-13:
9780195348422
Biography
Religion
History
Buddhism
Asia
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