Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
Journal Title
Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions
Volume Number
20
Issue Number
1
First Page
86
Last Page
98
Version
Publisher PDF: the final published version of the article, with professional formatting and typesetting
Disciplines
Buddhist Studies | Religion | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion
Abstract
Throughout decades of Soviet repression of religion and into modern times, groups of Buddhist women known as babushki matsik, or ‘‘group of old women precept holders’’ have covertly engaged in Buddhist practices in Kalmykia, following the Tibetan tantric tradition. Located to the northwest of the Caspian Sea, the Kalmyk Republic of the Russian Federation is the only region of Europe with a predominantly Buddhist population. For centuries, the region has been the site of repeated migrations, shifting political and military alliances, and Russian Orthodox conversion efforts. The devastating period of forced relocation and exile in Siberia between 1943 and 1957 cost the lives of nearly half the Kalmyk population. During that period, devoted groups of religious women secretly continued their Buddhist practices and played a key role in perpetuating Kalmyk Buddhist traditions and rituals. Their contributions to lay Buddhist society and to preserving the Kalmyk heritage continue to the present day and, while overshadowed by male-dominated Buddhist institutions, are increasingly recognized.
Digital USD Citation
Tsomo, Karma Lekshe PhD, "Prayers of Resistance: Kalymyk Women's Covert Buddhist Practice" (2016). Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship. 7.
https://digital.sandiego.edu/thrs-faculty/7
Included in
Buddhist Studies Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons
Notes
Originally published in Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions.