In Progress

Religion is the one realm where the struggle for equality and women's rights is the most difficult. All over the world, laws that recognize women as equal to men are being made. Of course, plenty still needs to be done. But even now, women cannot fully make use of the gains that have been achieved because cultural barriers stand in their way. Of these barriers, religion is the hardest to surmount.

But within the very grounds of religion, women have been carrying their struggles forward despite the hostility of religion's often male guardians. As religious scholars, women pore over every line of their sacred texts; as feminists, they take it upon themselves to use their findings to strip away mistaken notions about the relationship between women and men.

Chatsumarn Kabilsingh is one such Buddhist scholar and feminist. Chatsumarn grew up in the temples of Thailand, where she learned and practiced Buddhism under the aegis of her mother, the first ordained Thai Buddhist nun, and other venerable teachers. Chatsumarn founded the Newsletter on International Buddhist Women's Activities (NIBWA), which she also edits. She currently teaches at the Thammasat University. Recently, she applied for a grant to further study the birthplace of Buddha. Women in Action editor Lilian Mercado Carreon spoke with Chatsumarn about her life's mission as she sees it and how she is sustained by her spirituality and feminism.