Reexamining the Feminine in Mahayana Buddhism: A Critical Lens on Tradition and Representation

Feminism and religion often find themselves in uneasy conversation, especially when egalitarian ideals confront longstanding spiritual texts steeped in hierarchy and tradition. Nowhere is this tension more palpable than in Mahayana Buddhism, a tradition that champions enlightenment for all yet often portrays women through a lens of spiritual inferiority or symbolic ambiguity.

Diana Y. Paul’s seminal 1979 work, Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in the Mahayana Tradition, offers a rigorous and deeply insightful exploration of this contradiction. Drawing from canonical texts, Paul examines how religious imagery and narrative structures reflect and reinforce gendered assumptions. Her work probes critical questions: Can a tradition rooted in transcendence accommodate the full spiritual potential of women? How do symbolic archetypes, often cloaked in metaphor, shape real-world attitudes toward gender?

What emerges is a complex portrait of evolving belief, where historical, literary, and doctrinal shifts have both challenged and upheld patriarchal interpretations. This critical intersection of gender and religion remains deeply relevant today, as modern readers and practitioners seek a more inclusive spiritual discourse.

This post was inspired by a literature review I wrote in 2009 as an Undergraduate student at Drury University. As a writer and researcher, I’m drawn to these nuanced intersections, where philosophy, culture, and identity meet. Revisiting texts like Paul’s not only sheds light on how spiritual systems have treated the feminine but also invites us to question how contemporary movements can reconcile with inherited narratives. It’s in this space—between critique and curiosity—that I aim to write with clarity, integrity, and purpose.