How a Poetry Collection Masquerading as Buddhist Scripture Nearly Duped the Literary World

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Ever heard of a white American man trying to disguise himself as a Buddhist Elder Nun? Matty Weingast did just that. Weingast’s controversial book, The First Free Women: Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns, was initially marketed as a translation of the Therigatha, an important Buddhist scripture composed by the first enlightened women. Weingast’s book got the biggest names in American Buddhism enthused until the truth came out: it was only a collection of his own poems, with zero accurate references to the Therigatha. Read full article here

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