The conference created an opportunity for ordinary and ordained women to share their experience and culture and to look at their lives as women in the context of the Dharma. More than 300 Buddhist women were able to attend.

The March 11^th conference included keynote speaker,Dr. Rita Gross, a plenary panel discussion, lunch, various workshops and discussion groups, and a closing celebration. The Conference will took place at the DePaul University Student Center which will also be the site of the 2007 Conference, "Women Voicing the Dharma," which will be held on February 24, 2007.

2006 Program

Keynote Speaker - Rita Gross, PhD. Plenary PanelDiscussion: "Women Living the Dharma in the 21st Century" Two Breakout Periods Lunch and Snacks Closing Celebration Art Exhibit

Keynote Speaker Rita Gross, PhD. Professor Emeritus of Religion at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and one of the world's best known commentators on Buddhism and gender. A warm and humorous teacher, she is the author of the influential book, Buddhism after Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis and Reconstruction of Buddhism and many other books. She is a senior teacher of Shambhala Buddhism as well as a senior teacher in the Nyingma school of the Venerable Khandro Rinpoche (who is one of the few Tibetan woman lineage holders.) Website Link

Schedule

Saturday - March 11, 2006

8:00 am	9:00 am	Registration
9:00 am	9:15 am	Greeting/Introductions
9:15 am	10:30 am	Keynote Speaker
10:30 am	10:45 am	Break
10:45 am	12:00 noon	Breakout Sessions
12:00 noon	1:00 pm	Lunch
1:00 pm	2:30 pm	Plenary Panel Discussion
2:30 pm	2:45 pm	Break
2:45 pm	4:00 pm	Breakout Sessions
4:00 pm	4:30 pm	Tea Break
4:30 pm	5:30 pm	Thanks & Closing Celebration

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During the Conference we were able to record several of the full sessions including the Keynote Address and the Plenary Panel Discussion, as well as key Workshops. A total of five sessions were recorded and these recordings are now available on Compact Disc.

To see a full listing of what's available and to order individual CDs, download the Order Form.

Rev. Kyoki Roberts is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest and is a founding member of the Order of the Prairie Wind (OPW). She is the senior ordained student of Rev. Nonin Chowaney, Head Priest of Heartland Temple and OPW. She has trained at Hokyoji Monastery in Minnesota, San Francisco Zen Center and Green Gulch Farm in California, and Zuioji and Shogoji monasteries in Japan. Kyoki received Dharma Transmission from Rev. Nonin Chowaney, OPW in June 2001. She was appointed to serve as Deep Spring Temple's first Head Priest. She serves on the Board of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association, and the Program Committee of the American Zen Teachers Association. Khenmo Khenpo Nyima Drolma, Abbess of Vajra Dakini Nunnery is the first western abbot and fully ordained nun of the Drikung Kagyu Lineage and a former Professor of Art. She has trained with the foremost spiritual teachers of our time including the Dalai Lama, HH Chetsang Rinpoche (the head of the Drikung Kagyu Lineage), Ven. Dhyani Ywahoo and Ven. Pema Chodron. As a nun she has lived and studied in India, Taiwan and at Gampo Abbey in Canada, where she developed contemporary traing systems for both nuns and monks. Her presentations range from Buddhist philosophy to Tibetan Art. She supervised the artistic choices for an international library in India, contributing her own life-size bronze equestrian statue. While actively teaching Dharma she is building the Vajra Dakini Nunnery from the ground up. As a sculptor and practitioner, her experience offers a unique perspective on the relationship of art to spirituality and healing, multiculturalism and the role of the artist. There are only about 350 Theravada Bhikkhunis (women who have received higher ordination as nuns) in the world today. Most stay in Sri Lanka exclusively. Only five Theravada Bhikkhunis have come to the USA. Two of them now reside at the Carolina Buddhist Vihara, as co-abbesses. Ven. Sudhamma Bhikkhuni, one of only two American-born women to gain Theravada Bhikkhuni ordination, joined the Vihara in July 2003. Originally from Charlotte, NC, she became a novice nun in 1999 at the Bhavana Society under Bhante Gunaratana and was ordained in early 2003 in Sri Lanka. The Conference Brochure is still available for viewing, downloading and printing in Adobe PDF Here! The Brochure will be displayed in a new window. Close the new window to return to this page. Snail mail and online registrations are no longer being accepted. To view or print the Conference Brochure you must have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. Adobe Reader is FREE and can be downloaded by clicking this button: