Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women

Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women is an 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1987 at the conclusion of its first conference and registered in California in the United States in 1988. Sakyadhita holds an international conference every two years, bringing together laypeople, nuns, and monks from different countries and traditions around the world.

The organization was founded in 1987 in Bodhgaya, India. Sakyadhita is an alliance of women and men founded at the conclusion of the first International Conference on Buddhist Women, held in Bodh Gaya, where the 14th Dalai Lama was the keynote speaker. The term sakyadhita means "daughters of the Buddha" and was first used at the conference. The initiative for creating the organization came from Ayya Khema, Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Dr. Chatsumarn Kabilsingh (now Dhammananda Bhikkhuni) and Carola Roloff (now Bhikṣuni Jampa Tsedroen). Currently, Sakyadhita has almost 2000 members in 45 countries around the world. National branches of Sakyadhita have been established in Canada, France, Germany, Korea, Nepal, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. New branches are currently being formed in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Russia, and Vietnam.

An international conference is held every two years. The conference brings together laypersons and nuns from different countries and traditions, to share their experiences, research, and to encourage projects to improve conditions for Buddhist women—especially in developing countries. Since 1987, Sakyadhita has held 13 international conferences on Buddhist women in Asia and three in North America. The conferences feature papers, workshops, and performances on topics relevant to Buddhist women. The global gatherings are open to all, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or religion. The 14th Sakyadhita conference was held in 2015 in Yogjakarta, Indonesia. The 15th Sakyadhita conference will be held in 2017 in Hong Kong.

Sakyadhita has published an annual newsletter since 1990. Papers presented at the Sakyadhita International Conferences on Buddhist Women have been published in a series of books edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo: Sakyadhita: Daughters of the Buddha (1989), Buddhism Through American Women's Eyes (1994), Buddhist Women Across Cultures: Realizations (1999), Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming Against the Stream (2000), Buddhist Women and Social Justice: Ideals, Challenges, and Achievements (2004), Bridging Worlds: Buddhist Women’s Voices Across Generations (2004), Out of the Shadows: Socially Engaged Buddhist Women (2006), Buddhist Women in a Global Multicultural Community (2008), and Eminent Buddhist Women (2014). A number of these books have been translated into other languages, including Chinese, German, Indonesian, and Vietnamese.

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