Self-sufficient the Buddha may have been, but he benefitted from the assistance of many women throughout his life. Interspersed with original insights, fresh interpretations, and bold challenges to the status quo, lesser-known stories from Sanskrit and Pali sources are both entertaining and thought-provoking. Focusing first on Buddha's birth mother and stepmother, his co-wives, and members of his harem when he was known as Prince Siddhartha, Wendy Garling then moves on to the Buddha's first female disciples, early nuns, and to female patrons, inviting us to open our minds to a new understanding of their roles.