Meditation in Contemporary Monastic Life

Meditation serves multiple roles in the lives of contemporary Buddhist monastics in Britain, especially for women. Drawing on ethnographic data from six Buddhist groups and lineages, the chapter examines the history, function, and value of meditation practices among ordained women. It compares approaches across traditions and challenges the assumption that meditation is primarily individualistic, instead emphasizing its communal role among monastic women in Britain.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines the multiple roles that meditation plays in the lives of contemporary Buddhist monastics. Specifically, and drawing on rich ethnographic data, it focuses on the experiences of women who have taken Buddhist ordination within six different Buddhist groups and lineages in the British Isles. This chapter provides a brief history of the lived experience of meditation among emerging and established Buddhist monastic groups in Britain and an analysis of the role, function, and value of meditation practices, particularly among women. It makes comparisons between women of different Buddhist traditions in their approach to meditation and considers the implications of this for understanding the function of meditation in the Buddhist monastic tradition. Underpinning this approach is a challenge to assumptions about the individualistic nature of meditation in the contemporary West, emphasizing its communal role among monastic women in Britain.