Aśokadatta - Fearless Virtue: Gender Transformation in Buddhism
Sutra Study Workshop with MC Owens
In Person and Online
Mahayana Buddhist sutras often use supernatural tropes as narrative devices, such as bodhisattvas levitating in the air upon making spiritual attainments, always to ‘the height of seven tāla (palm) trees’, or the Buddha manifesting multiple bodies, appearing directly before each person. Another such trope is the miraculous gender transformation of bodhisattvas, typically females transforming into males. This is a controversial and easily misunderstood aspect of Mahayana Buddhism. Is it meant to be empowering - a demonstration of mystical prowess? Is it just patriarchy as usual? Or is there some entirely different meaning?
This half-day workshop is based on a new translation of the Aśokadatta Bodhisattva Sūtra (‘Fearless Virtue’) by M.C. Owens, one of the many radical texts found in the Mahāratnakūṭa collection that tells the story of a female bodhisattva, her gender transformation, and the inevitable attainment of enlightenment.
Join us in person at 2929 24th street
OR online via Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/SFDharma (password: 108108)
Suggested donation $30 - $60. All are welcome. No one is ever turned away for lack of funds. If scholarship support is needed, please contact us at sfdharmacollective@gmail.com
MC Owens is a Buddhist teacher, translator, and author who uses a sutra-based curriculum that draws from a variety of traditions to teach the history, philosophy, and practice of Buddhism. He teaches regularly for the San Francisco Dharma Collective and he also runs Lotus Underground – a repository of his teaching activities, audio recordings, and writings.