Rita Gross Explained

Rita Gross
Birth Date:	July 6, 1943^[1] ^[2]
Death Place:	Eau Claire, Wisconsin, U.S.
Nationality:	American
Education:	University of Chicago (PhD)
Subject:	Theology

Rita M. Gross (July 6, 1943  - November 11, 2015) was an American Buddhist feminist scholar of religions and author.^[3] Before retiring, she was Professor of Comparative Studies in Religion at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.^{[4] [5]}

In 1974 Gross was named the head of Women and Religion, a newly created section of the American Academy of Religion.^[6]  She earned her PhD in 1975 from the University of Chicago in History of Religions, with the dissertation "Exclusion and Participation: The Role of Women in Aboriginal Australian Religion."^{[7] [8]}   This was the first dissertation ever on women's studies in religion.  In 1976 she published the article "Female God Language in a Jewish Context" (Davka Magazine 17), which Jewish scholar and feminist Judith Plaskow considers "probably the first article to deal theoretically with the issue of female God-language in a Jewish context".^{[9] [10]} Gross was herself born Lutheran before converting to Judaism in her twenties.^[11]

In 1977 Gross took refuge with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, becoming a Tibetan Buddhist.^{[12] [13]}  In 2005 she was made a lopön (Tibetan (Wylie): slob dpon; Sanskrit (IAST): ācārya, "senior teacher") by Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche, and taught at Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche's Lotus Garden Center, located in the United States.^[14]

Gross grew up on a dairy farm in the Rhinelander, Wisconsin area.^[15] Gross died, of a stroke, on November 11, 2015, at her home in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.^[16]

Books written by Gross

• Buddhism beyond Gender: Liberation from Attachment to Identity, Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2018.
• Religious Diversity: What's the Problem? Buddhist Advice for Flourishing with Religious Diversity, Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2014.
• A Garland of Feminist Reflections: Forty Years of Religious Reflection, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2009.
• Religious Feminism and the Future of the Planet: A Buddhist-Christian-Feminist Conversation (with Rosemary Radford Ruether), New York: Continuum, 2001.
• Soaring and Settling: Buddhist Perspectives on Contemporary Social and Religious Issues, New York: Continuum, 1998.
• Feminism and Religion: An Introduction; Boston: Beacon Press, 1996; Korean translation, 1999; Chapter One “Defining Feminism, Religion, and the Study of Religion” reprinted in Theory and Method in the Study of Religion, ed. by Carl Olson (Belmont, CA:Wadsworth, 2004), pp. 511–20
• Buddhism After Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism; Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993; Spanish translation, Editorial Trotta, Madrid, Spain, 2005.^[17]

Books edited by Gross

• Editor (with Terry Muck):  Christians Talk About Buddhist Meditation: Buddhists Talk About Christian Prayer; New York: Continuum, 2003.
• Editor (with Terry Muck):  Buddhists Talk About Jesus: Christians Talk About the Buddha; New York: Continuum, 2000.
• Editor (with Nancy A. Falk):  Unspoken Worlds: Women's Religious Lives; Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Press, 1989; Third Edition, Wadsworth Press, 2001; Translated into French as La Religion Par Les Femmes, Edition Labor et Fides, 1993.
• Editor (with Nancy A. Falk):  Unspoken Worlds: Women's Religious Lives in Non-Western Cultures; San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1980;
• Editor:  Beyond Androcentrism: New Essays on Women and Religion; Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1977

Notes and References

1. Book: The encyclopedia of world religions. 2006. Infobase Publishing. Robert S. Ellwood . Gregory D. Alles. 22 February 2012. 148. 9781438110387.
2. http://www.lotusgardens.org/remembrance-lopon-rita-gross/ Mindrolling Lotus Gardens
3. Book: The Bright side of life. 2000. SCM Press. E. J. van Wolde. 22 February 2012. 49. Ellen van Wolde. 9780334030607.
4. News of the Society. Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies Newsletter. Spring 2011. 47. 22 February 2012. Peter A. Huff.
5. Book: Gross, Rita M.. A garland of feminist reflections : forty years of religious exploration. 2009. University of California Press. Berkeley. 978-0-520-25585-2.
6. Book: Lowe, Barbara J.. Feminists who changed America, 1963-1975. University of Illinois Press. 526 . 22 September 2006.
7. Book: Exclusion and participation : the role of women in aboriginal Australian religion. University of Chicago. 1975. Rita M. Gross. 1723873.
8. Book: Today's Woman in World Religions. SUNY Press. 1994. 459. Arvind Sharma. 16 July 2012. 9780791416877.
9. Web site: Jewish Feminist Theology: A Survey . My Jewish Learning . 2012-07-17.
10. Web site: Standing at Sinai . Dhushara.com . 2012-07-17.
11. https://books.google.com/books?id=RLFNAwAAQBAJ&dq=rita+gross+lutheran&pg=PA104 Rosemary Radford Ruether, My Quest for Hope and Meaning - an Autobiography, 2013.
12. Book: Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America . 2012-07-17. 0253346886 . Keller . Rosemary Skinner . Ruether . Rosemary Radford . Cantlon . Marie . 2006 . Indiana University Press .
13. Web site: Something Important . Tricycle . 1999-02-22 . 2012-07-17.
14. Web site: Lopön Rita Gross . Lotusgardens.org . 2012-07-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111116143628/http://www.lotusgardens.org/lopons/ritagross.cfm . 2011-11-16 .
15. http://www.leadertelegram.com/obituaries/2015/11/15/Rita-Gross.html Eau Claire Leader Telegram-obituaries-Rita Gross
16. http://www.lionsroar.com/buddhist-teacher-and-feminist-rita-gross-suffers-life-altering-stroke/ Buddhist teacher and feminist Rita Gross dies following stroke
17. Web site: Books . Rita M. Gross . 2012-07-17.