201 Meditating with Anger
Rita Gross, PhD
Women often experience a great deal of anger when they wake up to many traditional teachings about women. But Buddhism tells us that anger is negative, to be avoided. How do we resolve this seeming conflict? How does meditation transmute anger into clarity? (Author of Buddhism After Patriarchy; see Keynote Speaker for more information.)
202 Damage to Men in Patriarchal Institutions
Santikaro
The patriarchal structures of our Buddhist religious institutions, particularly monastic settings, cause both obvious and subtle suffering to practitioners of both genders. This workshop focuses on the harm done to men by the institutions which both elevate and distort them.
Santikaro was a Thai Theravada Buddhist Monk for 19 year. Now a lay person, he is the founder of Liberation Park Buddhist Community in Oak Park, IL.
203 How Buddhism Can Transform Your Life
Ven. Sudhamma Bhikkhuni, JD
Workshop will present the essential teachings of Buddhism in a way relevant to all of us. The speaker is a one of only two American born women to gain Theravada Bhikkuni ordination. (See panel description for more information.)
204 Embodied Practice: The Body As A Site Of Practice
Patricia Deer, PhD, Rosi Gowdey, MS & Janet Kahn, PhD
What does compassion feel like in our bodies? How do we create the neurochemistry of ease on purpose as a wonderful state in itself, and as a pathway to deeper practice? This workshop will teach simple somatic techniques to enliven our sitting practice.
Patricia Deer, Ph. D., is a massage therapist and a mediator with the Chicago Center on Conflict
Resolution. She spends a month each year in a monastery in Nepal and translates Tibetan texts. Janet Kahn, Ph.D., is a massage therapist and somatic awareness trainer specializing in treating people with cancer and chronic pain. She is a Research Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at the University of Vermont, College of Medicine Rosi Gowdey, M.S., is an organizational development consultant whose work embraces the body as a vehicle for change. She has worked internationally to enhance effectiveness, diversity, and human kindness in the workplace.
205 Being a Mother: Being a Buddhist
Patricia Palden
How does a multi-tasking mother find time for meditation? We will discuss the joys, challenges and insights that arise from Buddhist family life. Patricia
Palden is the mother of three children and the executive director of the Blue Beryl Dharma Center, which she co-founded with her husband, Lama Lobsang Palden.
206 Refuge and Renewal in a Wild Wetland
Laurie Lawlor, MA
Participants examine the ways in which the study and experience of our natural surroundings can offer spiritual affirmation and renewal and lead to activity to save an endangered landscape. Issues include the sustainability of engaged Buddhism, and how we can blend meditation and observation skills to remain fully present for the unexpected in the wild. Workshop includes hands-on journaling.
Laurie Lawlor has published more than 35 books and teaches at Columbia College Chicago in the Fiction Writing Department. She was ordained as a teacher by the Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh. In 1989 she helped found the Lakeside Buddhist Sangha in Evanston. She is the author of This Tender Place: The
Story Of A Wetland Year, a memoir/natural history, University of Wisconsin Press, October 2005.
207 Mindfulness for Caregivers
Marcia Grabowecky, PhD
What can we do to learn to care for others who are suffering from mental or physical illnesses in a way that brings joy to our lives and preserves our own mental and physical health? Research shows how our usual experience of stressful life events has a negative impact on our mental and physical health; other research shows that practices based on mindfulness and meditation can alleviate these stress-related problems. Lecture followed by group discussion.
Marcia Grabowecky, Ph.D., is a Lecturer and Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University who teaches Cognitive Psychology, Buddhist Psychology and Mind-training, Biofeedback and Attention. She has been a student of Buddhism since 1978.
208 Buddhist Women and Eating Disorders
Jo Marie Thompson, RN
A presentation and facilitated discussion of the resources and obstacles presented by traditional Buddhist views & practices for women striving to heal their addictive relationships to food and other realms of the body.
Jo Marie Thompson, RN is a decade-long practitioner and critic of Theravada Buddhism. A resident of Liberation Park Buddhist Community, she is in recovery from eating disorders, and endeavors to encourage other women in their recovery within their own spiritual traditions.
209 Chiyo-Ni: A Woman Master's Way Of Haiku
Patricia Donegan
A well-known haiku poet of our own time talks about Chiyo-ni (1703-1775), Japan's greatest female haiku poet. As a haiku poet, painter and Buddhist nun, Chiyo-ni lived a vibrant life, promoting her vision of living 'the way of haiku', a way for us all to stop and appreciate each moment of our lives. This will be followed by a short group writing session on haiku as "an awareness practice."
Patricia Donegan studied in Japan with haiku master Seishi Yamaguchi where she completed a Fulbright grant. She has taught at Naropa University and in Tokyo and is the poetry editor for the Kyoto Journal. She has been a practitioner of Buddhist meditation for many years. She is the author of Without Warning (forward by Allen Ginsberg), Hot Haiku and coauthor of Chiyo-ni: Woman Haiku Master. Her most recent book is Haiku: Asian Arts for Creative Kids.
210 History of Women in the Buddhist Tradition
Barbara Kazanjian, BA, MS
Beginning with the women who affected the Buddha's own life, who are the "grandmothers" in our tradition upon whose shoulders we stand? What did they teach and contribute to the culture of humankind? Let us look through the scrapbooks of other times and places for joy and encouragement in our own.
Barbara Kazanjian is a psychotherapist, artist and poet who teaches Eastern studies, t’ai chi ch’uan and meditation at local universities and workshops in Indiana.
211 T'ai Chi Chih ® : Nurturing the Nurturer
Debbie Cole
The practice of grounding and balancing the "Chi" inside the body promotes clarity and creativity to handle the multifaceted woman's many needs. This practice promotes grounding and harmonizing energy, which can be especially helpful in balancing moods and hormones and strengthening the immune system. These standing gentle movements can be enjoyed by all.
Debbie Cole is an accredited T'ai Chi Chih instructor. She practices mindfulness and meditation with her sangha in Annapolis, M.D. where she also facilitates a children's mindfulness program.
212 The Role of Women in Today's Faith Traditions
Barbara McBee
The purpose of this panel discussion is to learn about women’s impact and responsibility in the growth and perpetuation of their own traditions in our changing society. Facilitated by Barbara McBee, Treasurer, Buddhist Council of the Midwest.
The participants are Phyllis Goodson: (Buddhism), Omie Baldwin (Native American), Mazur Ahmed (Islam), Angie Buchanan (Pagan) and Surinder Kaur Singh (Sikh).
213 Buddhist Social Action in Nepal
Ven. Molini Rai, PhD & Ven. Dhamma Vijaya, PhD
The speakers are Theravadan nuns in Nepal who will share their personal history of study, ordination, and their path to Buddhist social action. They will discuss Dhamma Moli, their current project to prevent young Nepalese girls from falling victim to exploiters who will sell them to brothels in India. The sisters are building a school near the Swayambhunath stupa in Katmandu where the girls will learn basic living skills, academic subjects and vocational competence within a Buddhist monastic environment.
Ven. Molini Rai is a Burmese Buddhist nun who holds a Ph.D. from Magadh University in India. Ven. Dhamma Vijaya is a Nepali Buddhist nun ordained in Los Angeles who holds a Ph.D. in Buddhist Feminism from Magadh University. Both have also taught meditation and Buddhist philosophy in the U.S. and Southeast Asia.
