Jnanamitra: Gender as Embodied Experience

I finally got to watch this talk by Jnanamitra, given at the first Triratna Gender Diverse Buddhists retreat at Adhisthana in the UK. What a fantastic story! One of the few women to physically transition in the 70s, she was a true pioneer, not only for Triratna, but for trans people in the UK and around the world. Triratna should be very proud of her. And her teaching on how to work with difficult feelings and mental states, and complex human issues, would be useful to any Buddhist practitioner on a range of issues.

Her insight that the transgender experience is rooted in the body, and not in the mind of craving/aversion/delusion, is profound. She applies the dhammna very skillfully on the issue of embodied experience vs. mental state. She’s very clear on this point. This would be deeply relevant for issues of racism and disability as well.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2NQAMV89g0zRDBZSFVsRVJTMHc/view