With most of the world’s religions, women
do not enjoy the same prospects for leadership
as men, although many claim that Tibetan Buddhism
comes closer than most.
"Separate but equal" might be a way to describe
the system whereby male monks confer status
to other males, and female nuns do the same
for other females.
The Dalai Lama is said to be supportive of
women in leadership roles, but formal support
for full ordination of women was not yet a
reality when, at a conference for Western
Buddhists, he was moved to tears after hearing
of the plight of women in the west from the
Venerable Thubten Chodron, a Buddhist nun
and others.
His advice to them was to not count on immediate
or direct support, but rather, to persevere
on their own and only come to him if they
reached insurmountable obstacles.
Treating this as the only permission she needed,
Chodron took what was probably decent advice
for everyone and did just that, forming a
monastery on 240 acres of land near Newport
and Spokane Washington in 2003.
It is still one of the only monasteries in
the United States where women can work toward
being fully ordained, and Chodron hopes to
make this a reality soon.
Now in her mid-sixties, she is an accomplished
writer, having published ten books, one in
conjunction with the Dalai Lama himself in
2014.
The Dalai Lama's supportive words are featured
on the monastery's website, saying: “I am
happy to give (Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron)
my support and encourage others who share
this interest to do likewise.”
He has also expressed the possibility that
the next Dalai Lama might be a woman.
There is a spectrum of Islamic traditions
in different parts of the world and in different
branches of the faith.
In some cases, women are prohibited entirely
from attending Friday prayers at a Mosque,
or they must worship separately, or they may
attend the same communal services as men but
must sit behind a curtain or other separator,
or in other instances, must watch the service
on a television screen from another room.
In the most progressive Muslim communities,
such as one in Los Angeles, women are now
leading services exclusively for other women.
The interfaith center of Los Angeles, which
was once a Jewish synagogue, is now the venue
for an all-female Friday prayer service led
by a woman.
The Women's Mosque of America, founded by
Hasna Maznavi and Sana Muttalib, held its
first service late last month, and hosted
150 women in a “first of its kind” event.
As with many aspects of Islam, not to mention
other world religions, there is often disagreement
regarding what the founders intended, as opposed
to how traditions have developed in the intervening
years.
The claim is that the Prophet Mohammed never
intended women to be isolated or excluded
from communal services, but some in authority
feel that the presence of women represents
a sexual distraction for the men.
Over the years, that has taken different forms
from physical separation to outright exclusion
of women from services.
The founders make it clear that their goal
is not to form a separate women’s only Mosque,
but to maintain a relationship with the traditional
Mosques nearby while giving women a sense
of empowerment, and to demonstrate that they
are considered equal to men in the faith.
Norse mythology has remained an active part
of modern Scandinavian imagination even though
Christianity prevailed as the primary religious
belief around a thousand years ago.
That may be about to change to some degree
as a group of people in Iceland seek to revive
formal pagan worship services there.
The collective, known as Ásatrúarfélagið
(Asatruarfelagid), is building a temple to
the gods of old, and the Reykjavik city council
has even donated land for the project, but
the group estimates that around a million
dollars will be needed for construction costs.
The Asatruarfelagid collective was formed
in 1972, and interest has been growing ever
since.
According to its Web site, the group professes
values based on tolerance, honesty, honor,
and respect for ancient cultural heritage
and nature; and also claims that each person
is responsible for themselves and their actions.
It is made quite clear that they welcome people
from other countries who wish to visit but,
in the only part written in English, the site
also offers this advice to foreigners who
might come: "We always welcome visitors from
abroad, as well as Icelanders, with an interest
in our cultural heritage and spiritual traditions.
We respect everyone‘s interest in the Asatruarfelagid
and our religious traditions, but we do not
necessarily agree with every visitor’s ideas
of the form that Ásatrú should have in our
modern world.
Visitors should not assume that we automatically
agree with or endorse their own views and
practices."
Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson, who serves as the collectives’
high priest, told Reuters: “We see the stories
as poetic metaphors and a manifestation of
the forces of nature and human psychology.”
He also stated that the group did not promote
an actual belief in the existence of these
mythical beings, but instead wants to preserve
the ideals that they represented.
The temple is expected to accommodate 250
worshipers, but the group claims more than
2,400 members.
So we assume that worshipers will be advised
to arrive early if they wish to get in.
