What's "Queer" got to do with Dharma?
A Letter from the Editor
Dear Tarka Readers,
Representation not only matters, it can be transformational on a personal, public, and spiritual level. The more commonplace it is to see marginalized people in entertainment, politics, business, and a variety of professional roles, the more opportunities open up for future generations. Shifts in leadership - from the first black president of the United States, to the first female/POC vice-president, to openly gay candidates - show the potential for more systematic changes in US politics and the world, even as shifts in policy continue to be gradual.
Language is also changing, with more gender inclusivity in general writing. The universal “he” is being replaced with a variety of more inclusive options, female and queer protagonists are more common in literature, and individual pronoun identification is commonplace at most universities. Conventions, seemingly immutable and lasting centuries, have rapidly shifted and opened up in a matter of a couple of decades.
Still, within religious institutions and sacred literature, the unavoidable presence of male hierarchical authority appears ingrained, and religiously justified biases against women and LGBTQ+ people continue to cause physical harm to individuals and undermine the faith and hope that are sought within devotional life. Images of God as Father, Son, Lord, King, and so forth, dominate religious literature and imagination. And, how we imagine god or the ultimate good matters for how we envision our ideal selves and for how we live and act in the world.
Nonetheless, faith traditions are shaped by the people who practice and celebrate those traditions. Iin the introduction to Tarka’s volume 5, On Queer Dharma, Embodied Philosophy’s director, Jacob Kyle, argues that, “Queer thinking, practice, art, and devotion has always been a part of the dharmic paths, even while queer individuals have often been marginalized.”
Tarka design editor and contributing author to the Queer Dharma issue, Ryan LeMere, also writes about the inherent place of queer thinking in spiritual practice in his article, “The Spiritual Path Was Never Straight: Storying the Queer-Spiritual Sensibility.” He notes, “Queerness is the opposite of political absolutism, and like the dharma, it asks: if I’m not who I thought I was, then who am I? Why am I this? What is the this? And inside of this, where is my refuge?” In this way, the path of openness and inquiry is valued above overconfident appearances.
On Queer Dharma explores a number of personal narratives related to practice, philosophy, and healing. It also delves into iconic representations of queer identity that are found within the dharmic traditions, in celebration and, at times, in a mode of scholarly critique.
Interestingly, several deities and sacred, devotional practices within dharmic traditions illustrate non-binary qualities including Ardhanārīśvara (the dancing form of Śiva that is half male and half woman), the Chinese Kuan Yin (the female bodhisattva of compassion who in India appears as the male Avalokiteśvara), and the Krishna devotional hijra’s (also known as a third sex). Articles in On Queer Dharma explore these topics, including a critical reflection by Phil Hines, “On the Perils of Becoming a Gopi,” that examines the devotional habit of cross-dressing men who become women so that they can dance as Lord Krishna’s beloveds and a visual essay by Jess Kohl, on “Koovagam,” India’s annual transgender festival.
Devotional life entails transformation, risk, and acceptance. In exploring queer religious identity and queer spirituality, Tarka’s vol 5, On Queer Dharma provides one of the more comprehensive sets of articles on the topic.
~ Stephanie Corigliano