Zen Women : Chapter 3, pages 35 - 43

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  • Bokucho
    Member
    • Dec 2018
    • 264

    #31
    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

    Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

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    • Naiko
      Member
      • Aug 2019
      • 842

      #32
      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

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      • Meitou
        Member
        • Feb 2017
        • 1656

        #33
        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
        命 Mei - life
        島 Tou - island

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        • Jakuden
          Member
          • Jun 2015
          • 6141

          #34
          Originally posted by 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
          Thank you Meitou!

          Gassho,
          Jakuden
          SatToday

          Comment

          • Naiko
            Member
            • Aug 2019
            • 842

            #35
            Originally posted by 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
            Wonderful! Thank you!
            Gassho,
            Krista
            st

            Comment

            • Yokai
              Member
              • Jan 2020
              • 507

              #36
              Apologies all, I started late, so on Ch2 catch up! This book is v poignant, important reading.

              With you soon...

              Gassho, Chris satLAH

              Comment

              • Byokan
                Treeleaf Unsui
                • Apr 2014
                • 4289

                #37
                Originally posted by ChrisKiwi
                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
                展道 渺寛 Tendō Byōkan
                Please take my words with a big grain of salt. I know nothing. Wisdom is only found in our whole-hearted practice together.

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