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Devdutt Pattanaik: Transgenders in Buddhism
Updated On: 25 February, 2018 07:04 AM IST | Mumbai | Devdutt Pattanaik
In Buddhist lore, we are told that Buddha's mother, Maya, died seven days after his death. After attaining Buddha-hood, the Buddha went to meet his mother in heaven, and share his wisdom with her
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Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik
In Buddhist lore, we are told that Buddha's mother, Maya, died seven days after his death. After attaining Buddha-hood, the Buddha went to meet his mother in heaven, and share his wisdom with her. In many retellings, in her new life in heaven, Buddha's mother is a god with a male body, for she had earned enough merits as Buddha's mother to gain a male body in her future life. This story, especially its retelling, where Buddha's mother becomes a male god in her next life, reveals a Buddhist myth — that gender is fluid, women can become men, and men can become women in future lives.
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