Buddhism and Gender: Glimpsing into and beyond Patriarchy

What resources does Buddhism offer in terms of women's stories and the deconstruction of gender that can illuminate the challenges we are dealing with today? How can looking at patriarchy as a system of domination help us untangle our gender conditioning and the ways we act that out in daily life?

This evening dialogue explores social constructions of gender in Buddhist sources and in contemporary society to unpack sex and gender, understand the hierarchies and inequities built around them, and glimpse how we might go beyond such limiting factors.

Acharya Holly Gayley completed her M.A. in Buddhist Studies at Naropa University (2000) and Ph.D. in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies at Harvard (2009). Her research into contemporary Buddhist literature and its lived contexts has taken her to eastern Tibet on research trips since 2004. Currently, she is Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Boulder Colorado, where she teaches courses on Tibetan Buddhism, Women in Buddhism, Gender in Hagiography, Buddhist Ethics, and Transnational Buddhism. She has been a member of the Shambhala community for over twenty years and regularly leads meditation workshops.

Her writings can be found on her website.


Acharya Charlene Leung has served as Chairperson of the Shambhala International Diversity Working Group since 2009. She was appointed by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche as a Shastri in 2010 and an Acharya in 2018. She first became a student of the Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1983. Over the years, Charlene has led Way of Shambhala and parenting as path programs. She facilitates workshops for the UNtraining, a Shambhala inspired organization devoted to healing personal and social oppressions. Her current teaching focus is developing programs that join Shambhala dharma with social justice and inclusion.

Professionally, she practices Chinese medicine and teaches qi gong in the San Francisco Bay Area. She lives in a Shambhala household with her husband, Robert Pressnall, where they raised their two, now adult sons, Steven and Gabriel Pressnall.

Read Acharya Charlene Leung's personal statement here.

Cost
Program Price: $20
Patron Price: $30
Student / Limited Income: $10

Nobody turned away for lack of funds. Please contact Elena: education [at] berkeleyshambhala [dot] org to make a financial arrangement or apply for work-study.

Contact
Elena: education [at] berkeleyshambhala [dot] org.

Registration
Please register online and pay in advance in order to expedite the registration line at the start of the program!

Registering for the weekend program, Resilience, Compassion, and the Feminine Principle in Buddhism, automatically registers you for Friday night's talk. There is no need to register twice.