BOOK REVIEWS

Opening the Lotus: A Woman's Guide to Buddhism

(By Sandy Boucher. Boston: Beacon Press, 1997.194 pp. Paper. isbn 0-8070-7309-1.)

 By Katherine M. Pickar

Le Moyne College, Syracuse, New York

Journal of Chinese Philosophy v.29 n.1 (March 2002)

pp.135-141

Copyright 2002 by Journal of Chinese Philosophy

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Sandy Boucher's book Opening the Lotus: A Woman's Guide to Buddhism is a logical outgrowth of the work she began in Turning the Wheel: American Women Creating the New Buddhism (1993); it also explores other avenues in women's and feminist Buddhism. The book is geared mainly toward the contemporary American woman who has a desire to learn more about Buddhism in general, the impact of feminism on Western Buddhist practice, or the practice of Buddhism in contemporary America. Opening the Lotus also represents Boucher's attempt to add to the growing body of feminist theology by presenting some suggestions for the practice of a more egalitarian (if a little gynocentric) Buddhism. Boucher's objectives are reflected in the five subdivisions of the book as well as in her resource directory, most notably demonstrated by her listing exclusively female teachers. The subdivisions, titled "The Heart of the Matter; Buddhist Basics, The Dance of Gender," "Ancient Beginnings," "The Teachings from a Woman's Perspective." and "A Woman on the Path." not only name her objectives but also give readers insight into her methodology and perspectives.

The first section, "The Heart of the Matter: Buddhist Basics", briskly and briefly outlines some of the fundamental tenets of Buddhism. Revealing her interest in socially engaged Buddhism, Boucher lays particular emphasis on the concepts and practices of mindfulness and compassion in the light of the precepts. This section only offers a cursory overview of Buddhism, however, so as not to overwhelm those with a beginning interest. An interesting feature of this section is Boucher's attempt to provide the reader with the differences between the meditational practices of some of the various schools such as Vipissana. Zen, Nichiren (Soka Gokkai), Tibetan, as well as one generically labeled "Southeast Asian Temple." Perhaps most fascinating in this section is Boucher's attempt to inform the reader about which non-Asian ethnic group is most likely to be involved in a various school. For example, Boucher claims that blacks and Latinos are more likely than whites to become involved with Soka Gokkai: "Soka Gokkai sessions often attract African-Americans . . . (If you are a person of color you may feel instantly more comfortable here than in other settings)" (p. 30).

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"The Dance of Gender" is the next step in the path: finding a teacher. Boucher tries to address what she perceives to be a possible problem for female Buddhist students: male teachers. Boucher has some unflattering attitudes about male teachers: "'The assumptions that gather around a male leader like a gang of sprites reach deep into the conditioning of his female followers and elicit a subservience that may be obvious or subtle but is extreme and hard to shake"(p. 42). She then takes on some key issues in the feminist critique of Buddhism, such as women's spirituality, female leadership and teaching, and how feminism has affected Buddhism in America. Returning to the earlier issue of men and male dominance, she also takes the opportunity to promulgate some unorthodox suggestions for a "better" Buddhism for women in statements such as "an egalitarian Buddhist institution is possible only if the top leader or teacher is a woman, and one with socially enlightened views"(p. 42). For Boucher, it is not only mandatory but entirely necessary that women become Buddhist teachers because "looking up to see, at the front of the room, yet again, a man, simply reinforces ingrained social patterns"(p. 42).

Boucher then attempts to provide the reasoning for making such a problematic statement in the section titled 'Ancient Beginnings," which not only gives the account of how women first came to Buddhism but also how the nun's order was established. She describes the Theravada, the Mahayana, and Vajrayana schools, and some distinguishing features of each (for instance. Theravada tends toward conservatism). She examines how women have been treated throughout the history of Buddhism, as well as how women are faring in present-day Buddhism. Finally, she examines contributions from the Therigatha, the nuns' canon, to present-day Buddhism.

The last two sections deal with what Boucher considers to be possible obstacles for American women coming lo Buddhism, such as the problem of compassion. Boucher feels that American women may reject the Buddhist teaching of compassion; she claims because women throughout history have been taken advantage of for their compassion, a stance of compassion could be viewed as a patriarchal role that women are being forced into. Boucher claims, however, that compassion is not about this: rather, it is the "natural flow'" of giving (p. 126). Her endeavor to reassure American women that the Buddhist concept of "Self" is a good definition for beginners, but for those already knowledgeable about Buddhism, is problematical. In trying to answer questions about sex and sexuality, the place of emotion, and mind-body unity, Boucher often takes a deeply experiential, nonanalytical approach and, again, offers some unorthodox, non-canon answers.

While Boucher's attempts to relate feminism to Buddhism as well as

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meditational practices are helpful, her errors and prejudices detract from what could have otherwise been an informative text. For example, she states that "an egalitarian Buddhist institution is possible only if the top leader or teacher is a woman, and one with socially enlightened views"(p. 42). Boucher fails to think through the implications of what she advocates, however. As Rita Gross writes in Buddhism after Patriarchy (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), "Unfortunately, in many systems, the first women to achieve authority arc clones of the men who have always held authority, which solves nothing. As many in academia have learned, a nonfeminist female dean or chancellor is worse than many a male dean or chancellor" (p. 121).The idea that only female teachers can bring equality to Buddhist institutions is conceptually problematic, in the third section/Ancient Beginnings," Boucher attempts to support her views, but I did not find her arguments convincing because she arbitrarily applies contemporary notions of equality onto ancient Indo-Asian culture: "Because they [Women] were practicing diligently, it was to be expected that at some point some of them would want to leave their domestic lives and enter fully into the religious life"(p. 72). While this scenario is all too likely today, in ancient India, wives were the property of their husbands and could not be expected to entertain the notions of independence and personhood that Boucher's statement presupposes.

I found Bencher's statements misleading to women who don't have a background in Buddhism, for she fails to separate her prejudices from actual fact, especially regarding male teachers. Boucher tries to legitimize her anti-male prejudice by citing (unnamed) incidents of sexual abuse. Yet Boucher never refers to the particular incidents in question, coyly indulging in the secrecy she claims to decry (pp. 44, 51). Her approach to this issue smacks of sensationalism and alarmism while subtly reinforcing the idea that all male teachers are unpredictable and sex-crazed, intent only on seducing their female students.

On a minor note, while it was fascinating to note Boucher's attempt at racial profiling in Buddhism, it is also somewhat disturbing. I had to wonder where she gathered the data that led to her conclusions, or how scientific her study, in fact, was. I would be interested in seeing the data she used in writing her conclusions.

My last major reservation concerns Boucher's treatment of the Tibetan and Nichiren schools. She relegates the entire Tibetan and Nichiren traditions to one stock definition―and never comes back to expand on them. With Nichiren in particular, she neglects to mention the ultra-right wing, extreme Japanese nationalistic history of the group, or the split and fallout between Mother Church in Japan and its mainland American offspring in the early 1990s.

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In conclusion, although the book does have some good, salient features (such as the meditations described at the end of each section and the resource directory), I do have some serious reservations as to the suitability of this book as an introductory text and learning resource for understanding Buddhism. These reservations fall into three main categories: biases bordering on bigotry, lack of credibility, and misleading and deceptive statements that occasionally culminate in factual error. While there are many other faults and errors in the book, those mentioned above detract most, seriously from this work.