Dear Dharma Sisters all around the world,
As International Women’s Day is approaching, I would like to send my heartfelt greetings to all of you! On this day, women and girls are remembered, acknowledged and celebrated worldwide for their tremendous efforts and achievements both at the local and global level.
Over a 100 years ago, on 19 March 1911 International Women’s Day was honoured for the first time. In Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland more than one million women and men attended rallies to campaign for women’s rights to work, to vote, to hold public office, and to end gender discrimination. Since then great improvements have been made. There have been female prime ministers, scientists, inventors. Girls and women are welcomed into universities. Women have real choices whether they wish to work or have a family or both.
Despite these great global improvements, there are different experiences of being a woman even today. While in some countries women have achieved equality before the law and the old social norms of gender roles have been transformed in a positive way, in many countries there is still a long way to go before achieving gender equality and ending violence against girls and women. Thankfully there are countless dedicated men and women who are actively working on these issues and progress is being made every day.
In the meantime let us not sit back and wait for the world to become a better or easier place for us to go for our dreams. There is tremendous potential within you right now: you can become anything you wish, including a Buddha in this very lifetime. It is up to you and may you achieve all your dreams and aspirations.
With metta,
Brigitta Kalmar