Lotus Petals in the Snow: Voices of Canadian Buddhist Women
In 2017, I was honoured to edit a book in collaboration with The Sumeru Press. Lotus Petals in the Snow featured 31 unique voices, who shared their experiences while traveling on the Buddhist path.
A portion of the profits form online sales were donated to The Buddhist Compassion Tzu Chi Foundation of Canada and all profits from direct sales supporting local Dharma activities across Canada.
Lotus Petals in the Snow
Page Title
Lotus Petals in the Snow is the result of outreach across Canada with the goal of bringing together the work of scholars and stories from practitioners, scholar-practitioners, Dharma students, teachers, nuns and laywomen.
With pieces covering a vast landscape of experiences, this book is unique in focusing entirely on the voices of Canadian Buddhist Women.
The book is currently out of print. Reach out to The Sumeru Press if you require more information on this title.
Cover image: Have you heart the news? by Carol Leslie
Cover design: Anile Prakash (aka Girlfriday)
Book block design: Karma Yönten Gyatso
Reviews
The anthology is also a treasure trove for scholars of Buddhism in Canada and women in Canada, especially scholars who use an ethnographic approach to contemporary Buddhist Studies and Women’s Studies. As well, while Canadian Buddhists would be very interested in reading these stories, many of the chapters in the volume highlight the international connections developed between these Canadian Buddhist women and Buddhist groups and teachers all over the globe. Lotus Petals in the Snow is unique in its singular focus on the voices of Canadian Buddhist Women. Through keen editorial decisions, McGinnity has done an admirable job of creating a space for each author’s voice to be heard without forcing them into a restrictive literary form; they were free to offer an essay, poem or story based on their experience of Buddhism.
–Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies
McGinnity’s zine aesthetic binds the diverse writers together in a sort of community, a chorus of voices not speaking outward, but inward, toward each other. The volume as a whole feels like a Canadian conversation, with women across the Buddhist spectrum reaching out to peers, offering wisdom, pooling experiences, creating a baseline of storytelling and teaching that can be used to build community.
The chapter topics cover an impressive range; what a fantastic presentation of work – I look forward to reading it and gifting it to friends.
–Derek Rasmussen, Derek’s Dharma Blog