Transcending Gender: Female Non-Buddhists’ Experiences of the Vipassanā Meditation Retreat

Since the 1960s, non-Buddhist women have published memoirs detailing their personal experiences in vipassanā meditation retreats. Early writers like Marie Byles and Jane Hamilton-Smith traveled to Asia, intertwining accounts of the practice with life in Asian cultures. Later memoirists, such as Raji Lukkoor and Jennifer Howd, wrote after the mindfulness craze of the late 2000s, focusing more on personal transformation than travel, as retreats became widely available outside Asia. These writings show that although the women view vipassanā as a nongendered practice, their experiences remain embodied and gendered, with each reacting differently to gender issues on retreat—from outrage at discrimination to acceptance, and from judging female teachers to revealing a more feminine self.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Female non-Buddhists have been writing detailed descriptions of their personal experiences in vipassanā meditation retreats since the 1960s. These memoirists relate to the English-speaking world their experience of the retreat process and self-transformations. Early memoirists traveled Asia in order to learn and practice vipassanā meditation. These memoirs are as much about the meditation practice itself as living in an Asian culture. The mindfulness craze, beginning in the late 2000s, brought with it increased awareness of vipassanā practice. At this time we see a renewed interest in recording vipassanā retreat experiences, but these are even more personal and not concerned with travel, as many vipassanā meditation retreats are now available outside of Asia. I consider four female memoirists: Marie Byles and Jane Hamilton-Smith, writing in the 1960s and 1970s, and Raji Lukkoor, and Jennifer Howd, whose memoirs appeared in 2010 and 2014, respectively. These women’s writings demonstrate that, although non-Buddhist female meditators understand vipassanā meditation as a nongendered practice, it is still an embodied, gendered experience. Each of these women has different reactions to the female gender on the retreat, from outrage at gender discrimination to acceptance of it, from judgment of female teachers and meditators to revealing a more feminine self.