The Sakya Jetsunmas: The Hidden World of Tibetan Female Lamas

Elisabeth A. Benard, Columbia University PhD (1990), studied Indo-Tibetan Buddhism with Professor Alex Wayman and Tibetan language with Lozang Jamspal in the 1980s. Her interest in Ma Chig Labdron led her to pursue a possible connection to the female tantric figure of Chinnamasta for her dissertation research and first book. With the support of the Sapan Fund, Khyentse Foundation and Sachen Foundation, she researched and has recently published The Sakya Jetsunmas: The Hidden World of Tibetan Female Lamas—the first full treatment of the role of remarkable Tibetan Buddhist women in the Sakya Khon family. Elisabeth's research took her to India and Nepal, where she collected an abundance of oral histories and archival materials to help fill a significant gap in the underreported biographies of women in Buddhism.

The first printing, released in January 2021, has already run out. To be notified of the second printing, please go to www.sapanfund.org.