Buddhist Women and Social Justice: Ideals, Challenges, and Achievements

12. Crisis as Opportunity: Nuns and Cultural Change in the Spiti Valley MARGARET COBERLY

Chapter 12 Crisis as Opportunity: Nuns and Cultural Change in the Spiti Valley MARGARET COBERLY In this chapter, I describe several of the innovative religious education programs for women that have been introduced into the north Indian Himalayan region of Spiti. In particular, I analyze their potential impact on constructs of gender identity among Spiti women and on the reconfiguration of traditional religious institutions there. Cultural change is a multidimensional, multidynamic process in which external influences on indigenous cultures may work to strengthen traditions as well as to erode them. In the case of Spiti, amidst a crisis in which multiple forces have threatened cultural and religious values and institutions , there are also instances where these outside influences, particularly those related to the feminist values of inclusion and empowerment, are working to strengthen traditional principles by creating new institutions that contribute to equitable gender relations. The inclusion and empowerment of women in Spiti is revitalizing its ancient religious heritage. SPITI VALLEY Spiti is a remote region in the Indian Himalayas that shares a border with Tibet and was once a major trade route between India and China. The altitude in Spiti ranges from 11,000–14,000 feet, with peaks as 193 high as 21,000 feet. For nine months of the year, the two mountain passes into the isolated area are closed by snow. Travel to the isolated villages of Spiti is restricted, not only because of its geographical extremes but also because of its proximity to Chinese occupied Tibet. For centuries, Spiti looked to Tibet as the source and center of its culture . In recent years, however, the Chinese government has effectively broken the historical ties between India and Tibet by sealing the border between them. The small but self-sufficient population of Spiti is ethnically Tibetan and speaks a dialect that retains grammatical forms of classical Tibetan that have effectively disappeared from modern Tibetan. Many other aspects of Spiti’s ancient Buddhist culture also have remained intact until today. For example, the custom of the village temple, wherein families collectively support a monk to maintain the temple and perform rituals on their behalf, is still found. The village temple not only provides protection and blessings, but also serves as a cultural center where the villagers gather for Buddhist ceremonies, teachings, and celebrations.1 Spiti came under British rule in 1904 when the British drew the border of India along the top of the Himalayas (the MacMahon line). Later, in 1949, when the Indian subcontinent was partitioned, the people of Spiti became Indian citizens and eligible to apply for Indian passports. Thus, inadvertently, one hundred thousand Himalayan Buddhist people were spared the direct and brutal consequences of the Chinese takeover of Tibet. In fact, the crisis of Chinese rule in Tibet has had the unintended impact of renewing and strengthening Spiti’s cultural and religious traditions as a result of an influx of Tibetan religious teachers who fled to India. BEGINNING TRANSFORMATIONS Although it was not until 1991 that foreign visitors were permitted to visit Spiti, the Indian government laid dirt tracks along the sides of the mountains that allowed access to the isolated region in 1980. This road opened the area to more frequent contact with outside ideas and influences . As Indian and Western commodities began to trickle in, Spiti’s subsistent agricultural economy started to develop into a more lucrative cash economy. Predictably, these changes have had a significant impact on Spiti’s social structure and cultural values. The most remarkable of these has been the change in women’s roles and women’s leadership. 194 MARGARET COBERLY Women have always shouldered a major share of the labor in Spiti, both in the home and field, but today their roles are expanding. Many Spiti men have begun to leave the area to work during the winter in Shimla, Manali, or as far away as Delhi, in order to earn the cash necessary to buy Indian and Western commodities such as thermoses, tools, kitchen utensils, yarn, cloth, or even, on occasion, a jeep. Prior to this exodus, winters in Spiti were traditionally a time for prayer, meditation , and visiting with friends while staying warm around the household fire. Now, as priorities shift, so do the traditional roles of men and women in the community. As men migrate down to the Indian cities in search of work, the formerly male-dominated community leadership positions in Spiti...