Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik

In Buddhist lore, we are told that Buddha's mother, Maya, died seven days after his death. After attaining Buddha-hood, the Buddha went to meet his mother in heaven, and share his wisdom with her. In many retellings, in her new life in heaven, Buddha's mother is a god with a male body, for she had earned enough merits as Buddha's mother to gain a male body in her future life. This story, especially its retelling, where Buddha's mother becomes a male god in her next life, reveals a Buddhist myth — that gender is fluid, women can become men, and men can become women in future lives.