The First Free Women: Original Poems Inspired by the Early Buddhist Nuns

An Ancient Collection Reimagined

Composed around the Buddha's lifetime, the original Therigatha ("Verses of the Elder Nuns") contains the poems of the first Buddhist women: princesses and courtesans, tired wives of arranged marriages and the desperately in love, those born into limitless wealth and those born with nothing at all. The authors of the Therigatha were women from every kind of background, but they all shared a deep-seated desire for awakening and liberation.

In The First Free Women, Matty Weingast has reimagined this ancient collection and created an original work that takes his experience of the essence of each poem and brings forth in his own words the struggles and doubts, as well as the strength, perseverance, and profound compassion, embodied by these courageous women.

Author: Matty Weingast
Publisher: Shambhala
Published: 06/22/2021
Pages: 160
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 7.20h x 5.00w x 0.60d
ISBN13: 9781645470564
ISBN10: 1645470563
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Buddhism | General (see also Philosophy | Buddhist)
- Poetry | Subjects & Themes | Inspirational & Religious
- Poetry | Women Authors

About the Author
MATTY WEINGAST is co-editor of Awake at the Bedside and former editor of the Insight Journal at Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. With almost two decades of medita­tion experience, Matty completed much of the work on The First Free Women while staying at Aloka Vihara Forest Monas­tery in northern California.