Bow To Women's Wisdom

Bow to Women’s Wisdom

“Those who are extremely stupid think that women are merely the objects of sexual desire and treat women in this way. The Buddha’s children should not be like this. If we discriminate against women because we see them merely as objects of sexual desire, do we also discriminate against all men for the same reason?” ― Dōgen, The Essential Dogen: Writings of the Great Zen Masters

Enlightenment,
actualizes buddha nature
through practice.
~ Dogen

"Dogen suggests that if a monk recognizes an awakened female teacher and bows to her in homage, he demonstrates his “excellence as a stu­dent.” Here Dogen also recalls how two Chinese nuns, Moshan and Miaoxin, otherwise little known in Zen lore, taught a number of male monastics and outsmarted them in Zen dialogues.

What caused Dogen to take such a bold stance in medieval Japan, a time when the role of women was suppressed both inside and outside Buddhist tem­ples? One rationale suggests he had observed a more open-minded approach toward women in mainland China and wished to foster the same in his own movement. Another possibility is that like other teachers in the new wave of Japanese Buddhist schools (including Nichiren, Shinran, and Eizon), Dogen wanted to appeal to a wider audience. A third explanation holds that Dogen, who had renounced his aristocratic background to pursue the dharma, remained committed to the doctrine of nonduality in all of its manifestations. This included supporting gender equal­ity and resisting any tendency to demean or marginalize any demographic group...

Chozen Bays makes good sense of some of the thorniest writing in Dogen’s world of contradictions. In an essay about the udambara flower, the legendary blossom symbolizing the Bud­dha’s enlightenment, Bays examines the plant species in both ancient and mod­ern times. Her essay is based on the Udonge fascicle.

Despite Dogen’s egalitarian teach­ings, it remains a matter of historical debate whether monks in ancient China or Japan would have ever bowed to their female counterparts to receive the marrow. However, it is high time that men do..."

~ Steven Heine reviews 'Receiving the Marrow Teachings on Dogen by Soto Zen Women Priests'
Edited by Eido Frances Carney