Female teachers

Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Karma Lekshe Tsomo is a professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of San Diego.

She was ordained as a samaneri in France in 1977 and as a bhikkhuni in Korea in 1982. She studied Buddhism in Dharamsala for 15 years and received a doctorate in Comparative Philosophy from the University of Hawai'i, with research on death and identity in China and Tibet.

She is a founder and past president of Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women and director of Jamyang Foundation, an innovative education project for women in developing countries.

Books:

• Into the Jaws of Yama: Buddhism, Bioethics, and Death. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 2006.
• (ed.) Out of the Shadows: Socially Engaged Buddhist Women in the Global Community. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 2006.
• (ed.) Buddhist Women and Social Justice: Ideals, Challenges, and Achievements . Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2004.
• (ed.) Discipline and Practice: Buddhist Women Past and Present, Honolulu: Sakyadita, 2004.
• (ed.) Bridging Worlds: Buddhist Women's Voices Across Generations, Taipei: Yuan Chuan Press, 2004.
• (ed.) Innovative Women in Buddhism: Swimming Against the Stream. Surrey, England: Curzon Press, 2000.
• (ed.) Buddhist Women Across Cultures: Realizations. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1999.
• (ed. with David W. Chappell) Living and Dying in Buddhist Cultures. Honolulu: School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies, University of Hawaii, 1997.
• Sisters in Solitude: Two Traditions of Buddhist Monastic Ethics for Women, A Comparative Analysis of the Dharmagupta and Mulasarvastivada Bhiksuni Pratimoksa Sutras. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1996.
• (ed.) Buddhism Through American Women's Eyes. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1994.
• (ed.) Sakyadhita: Daughters of the Buddha. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1989.

Contact:

• official page at San Diego University