ELISABETH BENARD (Ph.D. Columbia University in Tibetan Buddhism) was a professor of religion and the director of the Pacific Rim/Asia Study-Travel Program at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. She is the author of Chinnamastā The Aweful Buddhist and Hindu Tantric Goddess (Motilal Banarsidass, 1994) and numerous scholarly articles, and the co-editor, with Beverly Moon, of Goddesses Who Rule (Oxford University Press, 2000). Since her retirement, she has continued to pursue her interest in goddesses and spiritual women, compiling biographies of hidden yoginis in Tibetan Buddhism. Her spiritual practice has been under the guidance of the 3rd Dezhung Rinpoche, H.H. the 41st Sakya Trizin (now Trichen), and H.E. Jetsun Kushok.