Nearly four hundred Buddhist women gatherthered at the DePaul University Student Center in Chicago on Saturday, February 24, 2007 and participates in the Second Annual Buddhist Women’s Conference sponsored by the Buddhist Council of the Midwest and DePaul University.

The Conference theme, Women Voicing the Dharma offered an opportunity for Buddhists, both lay and ordained, to share their experiences as women who follow the dharma (teachings of Buddha), to deepen their spiritual lives, to discuss the role of women in the future of Buddhism.

The daylong conference include the keynote speaker, a plenary panel discussion, lunch, various workshops and discussion groups, ending with a closing celebration.

Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo, an ordained Buddhist nun in the Tibetan tradition and well-known Buddhist scholar, will deliver the keynote address. Ven. Tsomo, an assistant professor at the University of San

Diego, is currently the president of Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women and the founder and director of Jamyang Foundation, a non-profit organization created to provide education to women in developing countries.

Her books include Sakyadhita: Daughters of the Buddha; Buddhism Through American Women's Eyes; Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming Against the Stream; Sisters in Solitude: Two Traditions of Monastic Ethics for Women; Buddhist Women Across Cultures: Realizations; Living and Dying in Buddhist Cultures (with David W. Chappell).

The Conference offers a number of additional activities and services including, a Mediatation and Shrine Room and a Dharma Arts Gallery.

Paintings by Zoe Kaufman will be featured on the dias and in the Dharma Arts Gallery exhibit area on the second floor of the Student Center. Kaufman says: "Buddha is here in America now, and she is us. We are translating the sutras but we need a new, visual language of enlightenment too." Since 80% of our information is taken in through the eyes, Art can have a very powerful impact on the mind. In this work, the question (relatively new to the Western mind) is asked: "Can, and should, art elevate the mind? and if so, how?"

Conference Format

Registration

Greeting/Introductions

Keynote Speaker

Break

Breakout Sessions

Lunch

Plenary Panel Discussion

Break

Breakout Sessions

Break

Thanks & Closing Celebration

The monetary grant presented with the award is based on the success and attendance of the conference and dana given by the participants.

Maekhao Chanthasomphone and Maekhao Keo are specifically cited for their initiative in founding the Wat Sila Salalam Pokam school for girls. Unesco reports the entire educational system in the Lao PDR to be in crisis. Many children complete no more that two years formal education, and girls and women are at a higher risk of dropping out of school or never attending school.

Wat Sila Salalam Pokam was originally established as a place of refuge for Laotian women seeking to practice and live as Buddhist as nuns. Full ordination is not open to women in Laos . Likewise girls are barred from access to the free education offered only to boys by the numerous temples throughout Laos . The Maekhaos of Wat Sila Salalam Pokam seek to address this discrepancy by offering a school in which girls and young women can receive a general and Buddhist education that will prepare them to serve as teachers and community development leaders.

The Buddhist Women’s Conference dana is granted to the Wat Sila Salalam Pokam school for girls, to furnish desks, chairs, and books.

General Recognition is also given to Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and the Jamyang Foundation for their long term commitment to address the issues of poverty, literacy, and gender discrimination in some of the neediest and most remote parts of the world: the Indian Himalayas. Laos , and the tribal areas of Bangladesh . Their innovative education projects for girls and women foster women’s learning potential in ways that are harmonious with their unique Buddhist cultural backgrounds. By providing education and vocational training to girls and young women, Jamyang Foundation projects promote gender equality and also helps prevent sex trafficking and other forms of exploitation of women.

The 2007 Conference Brochure is still available for downloading and printing. This twelve-page brochure outlines the Conference Program and includes maps and

directions to DePaul University. Workshop descriptions and short biographical sketches of presenters are featured. Download the full Conference Brochure - Click Here

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