Zen Women : Chapter 3, pages 35 - 43

[Bokucho]

I am here and I am reading and following the threads. I want to understand and be an ally, though it seems my thinking is often wrong. If there's too much passion I tend to dominate, and if there's not enough it feels uncaring and dismissive. Surely there's some sort of "middle way" out there eh?? My life experiences can lend very little to a lot of these topics, but I would like to help where I can, and understand what I can. Thank you all for your discussion and I continue to follow along and learn.

Gassho,

Joshua
SatToday

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[Naiko]

I was indeed surprised to learn that women were the first ordained Zen practitioners in Japan. I very much want to know much more about them and how this came to be. I find that there’s so much I don’t know about these women, about these teaching stories and history that it makes it difficult to for me to fully appreciate them.

I feel deeply inspired by all those who faced great barriers to practice, including those male-identifying ancestors who faced hardships and poverty, but especially those “outsiders” who faced huge cultural, educational and physical barriers to practice, like our female identifying ancestors. I often recall the wonderful talk by Rev Kenshin Catherine Cascade about Mahapajapati and barriers/dharma gates.

I feel we are fortunate that teachers bringing Zen out of Japan didn’t bring the whole monastic package over with a hard separation of monks and nuns. While we had/have plenty of gender discrimination to deal with here, we never questioned whether female identifying folks should practice (did we? I hope not). Despite the hurdles, that female voices tend to be ‘heard’ less, that there has been predatory behavior, etc, practicing side by side has allowed female identifying teachers and sangha leaders to be seen and accepted as teachers and leaders, not just as teachers and leaders of “women’s Zen.” Sorry, for using so many words..I often have trouble expressing exactly what I wish to say. For some time I practiced with a yoga tradition practice that did bring those gender roles over—woman and men sat on separate sides to the room, only women participated in certain rituals. It always felt wrong and weird. That said, I do think it’s beneficial for female identifying folks to practice together apart from time to time to counteract that cultural tendency to not speak up or put oneself forward in mixed company.
Gassho,
Krista
st

[Meitou]

A little further on, Schireson reflects on the many lost voices of women practitioners. Just to note that since this book was published in 2009, many of those voices have been rediscovered and included in The Hidden Lamp compilation, https://www.amazon.com/dp/0861716590...H56V7WD9XJXCF8
A review of The Hidden Lamp and other resources concerning Zen women can be found on this website https://www.zenwomen.com/, again a little dated but with some useful links.
Gassho
Meitou
sattoday

[Jakuden]

A little further on, Schireson reflects on the many lost voices of women practitioners. Just to note that since this book was published in 2009, many of those voices have been rediscovered and included in The Hidden Lamp compilation, https://www.amazon.com/dp/0861716590...H56V7WD9XJXCF8
A review of The Hidden Lamp and other resources concerning Zen women can be found on this website https://www.zenwomen.com/, again a little dated but with some useful links.
Gassho
Meitou
sattoday

Thank you Meitou!

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday

[Naiko]

A little further on, Schireson reflects on the many lost voices of women practitioners. Just to note that since this book was published in 2009, many of those voices have been rediscovered and included in The Hidden Lamp compilation, https://www.amazon.com/dp/0861716590...H56V7WD9XJXCF8
A review of The Hidden Lamp and other resources concerning Zen women can be found on this website https://www.zenwomen.com/, again a little dated but with some useful links.
Gassho
Meitou
sattoday

Wonderful! Thank you!
Gassho,
Krista
st

[Yokai]

Apologies all, I started late, so on Ch2 catch up! This book is v poignant, important reading.

With you soon...

Gassho, Chris satLAH

[Byokan]

Apologies all, I started late, so on Ch2 catch up! This book is v poignant, important reading.

With you soon...

Gassho, Chris satLAH

Thanks for reading, Chris!

Gassho
Byōkan
sat + lah