Book Reviewed: The First Free Women: Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns by Matty Weingast

Psalms of the Sisters – A celebration of the writings of Buddhist nuns in ancient India (four stars) This is the English translation of the verses of Elder Nuns (bhikkhunis) also known as the Therigatha in Buddhist literature. Some of these writings of Buddhist women were composed during the life of Buddha in 6th century B.C.E. They detail everything from their disenchantment with their roles in society to their struggles for spiritual freedom. Numerous voices are heard from; a mother whose child has died (Therigatha VI.1 and VI.2); a former sex worker who became a nun (Therigatha V.2); a wealthy heiress who abandoned her life of pleasure (Therigatha VI.5); and verses of Buddha's aunt Pajapati Gotami (Therigatha VI.6). These verses reaffirm the view that women are equal to men for spiritual attainment. They focus on status of women in ancient India, and these stories are told with heart-breaking honesty and beauty revealing the deeply human side of the nuns. This is the fullest expression of theological and spiritual aesthetics in a woman’s relationship in earthly realities. Therigatha was first composed orally in Magadhi, an ancient Indian language. The verses were passed on orally until about 80 B.C.E., when they were written down in the Buddhist language of Pali. A poetical expression of life is not only an assemblage of words that is pleasing to the intellect, but it also consists of beauty that is ideally structured causing delight in the beholder. The beauty is produced by the unification of a multiple of symmetrical constructions into a whole. A sixth-century Buddhist scholar named Dhammapala called them Udanas or inspired utterances. The English translation must reflect the beauty contained in these verses and capture the mind and heart of the poetess. There are several English translations of Therigatha in literature and a collation of one of the poems is given below: Translated by Caroline Rhys Davids, from Psalms of the Sisters (1909) The Elephant by Bhikkhuni Dantika Coming from noonday-rest on Vulture's Peak, I saw an elephant, his bathe performed, Forth from the river issue. And a man. Taking his goad, bade the great creature stretch His foot: 'Give me thy foot!' The elephant Obeyed, and to his neck the driver sprang. I saw the untamed tamed, I saw him bent To master's will; and marking inwardly, I passed into the forest depths and there I' faith I trained and ordered all my heart. ----- Translated by Thanisaro Bhikkhu (1995) Coming out from my day's abiding on Vulture Peak Mountain, I saw on the bank of a river an elephant emerged from its plunge. A man holding a hook requested: "Give me your foot." The elephant extended its foot. The man got up on the elephant. Seeing what was untrained now tamed brought under human control, with that I centered my mind — why I'd gone to the woods in the first place. -------- Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato (2019) Leaving my day’s meditation on Vulture’s Peak Mountain, I saw an elephant on the riverbank having just come up from his bath. A man, taking a pole with a hook, asked the elephant, “Give me your foot.” The elephant presented his foot, and the man mounted him. Seeing a wild beast so tamed, submitting to human control, my mind became serene: *that* is why I’ve gone to the forest! ------- Translated by Matty Weingast (2020), Author of this book While walking along the river After a long day meditating on Vulture Peak, I watched an elephant splashing its way out of the water and up the bank. Hello, my friend, a man waiting there said, scratching the elephant behind its ear. Did you have a good bath? The elephant stretched out its leg, the man climbed up, and the two rode off like that­ together. Seeing what had once been so wild now a friend and companion to this good man, I took a seat under the nearest tree and reached out a gentle hand to my own mind. Truly, I thought, this is why I came to the woods. ----- I recommend this book to readers interested in Buddhism, Buddhist nuns, and early feminist literature.