Rita Gross

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Rita Gross (2009)

Rita M. Gross (born July 6, 1943 in Rhinelander , Wisconsin ; † November 11, 2015 in Eau Claire , Wisconsin) was an American Buddhist religious scholar and advocate of feminist and religious pluralist approaches. As a long-time practicing Buddhist, she also represented a tradition- pluralistic and non-sectarian approach ( Rime ) as a Buddhism teacher ( Acharya ). Rita Gross was appointed Lopön in 2005 by Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche to teach the teachings of the Buddha in the Tibetan Shambhala tradition. Their concern was an integration of classical Buddhist and enlightened scientific methods. She enjoyed worldwide recognition as a pioneer of gender research in religions. Her main work, Buddhism after Patriarchy, is considered a wake-up call for a critical questioning of the historical development of gender roles in Buddhism.

Life

Rita Gross was born in 1943 as the only daughter of a farming family in northwestern Wisconsin and studied at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and the University of Chicago , where she also completed her dissertation in 1975, Exclusion and Participation: The Role of Women in Aboriginal Australian Religions .

Gross, who was born into a Protestant family, had been excommunicated by the Church ( Evangelical Lutheran Wisconsin Synod ) at the age of 21 for her interest in other religions . After a decade of affinity with Judaism , during which she was also a member of synagogues in Chicago and wrote several articles on Jewish feminist theology , Gross felt attracted to Buddhism, primarily to Vajrayana . In particular after her move to Eau Claire (Wisconsin) in 1973 and the death of her partner, an intensive discussion began with and finally in 1977 the conversion to Buddhism.

Until her retirement in 1998, Gross worked as a professor of comparative religion at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. After that she traveled a lot, gave lectures, workshops and lectures at universities and Buddhist institutes and was highly valued as a participant in interreligious events. For many years, Gross was co-editor of the Journal of Buddhist-Christian Studies and a senior member of the renowned "Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies".

Gross died of a stroke that she suffered at the end of October 2015.

literature

  • Rita M. Gross: A Garland of Feminist Reflections . University of California Press, Berkeley (California) 2009.
  • Rita M. Gross, Rosemary Radford Ruether : Religious Feminism and the Future of the Planet: A Christian-Buddhist Conversation . Continuum, New York, 2001.
  • Rita M. Gross: Soaring and Settling: Buddhist Perspectives on Contemporary Social and Religious Issues . Continuum, New York, 1998.
  • Rita M. Gross: Feminism and Religion: An Introduction . Beacon Press, Boston, 1996.
  • Rita M. Gross: Buddhism After Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism . State University of New York Press, Albany (New York) 1993.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Buddhist teacher and feminist Rita Gross dies following stroke. In: lionsroar.com . Lion's Roar, November 12, 2015, accessed November 14, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Big, Rita
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gross, Rita M.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American religious scholar and Buddhist
DATE OF BIRTH July 6, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Rhinelander , Wisconsin , United States
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 2015
Place of death Eau Claire