Rita M. Gross

Rita M. Gross (born 1943 in Rhinelander, Wisconsin) is a scholar and practitioner of Buddhism, a pioneer and author on issues concerning Buddhism and gender. She was Professor Emerita of Comparative Studies in Religion, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She was a president of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies and co-editor of the Journal of Buddhist-Christian Studies.
Currently, she is a Lopon (Acharya) at the North American centre of Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche.
In her latest book, Gross characterizes her quest for truth like this:
:"This Garland of Feminist Reflections represents my lifelong concern to live deeply immersed in exploring and understanding questions of ultimate significance. It also represents my lifelong concern with how women have pursued such questions, or have been prevented from pursuing such interests by the prison of gender roles specific to their culture. The first concern is core and the second is adventitious."
Life and work
Gross was born as the only daughter to a family of farmers in northern Wisconsin and studied at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Chicago, where she finished her dissertation in 1975 on the topic of "Exclusion and Participation: The Role of Women in Aboriginal Australian Religions".
After a decade of the study and practice of Judaism, Gross felt attracted by Buddhism in its Vajrayana expression. Having moved to Eau Claire in 1973 she entered extensive studies of Asian religion and philosophy, started to practice meditation and eventually converted to Buddhism.
Bibliography
*Rita M. Gross: A Garland of Feminist Reflections. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2009.
*Rita M. Gross und Rosemary Radford Ruethers: Religious Feminism and the Future of the Planet: A Christian-Buddhist Conversation. New York: Continuum, 2001.
*Rita M. Gross: Soaring and Settling: Buddhist Perspectives on Contemporary Social and Religious Issues. New York: Continuum, 1998.
*Rita M. Gross: Feminism and Religion: An Introduction. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.
*Rita M. Gross: Buddhism After Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993.

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