Zen Women

Welcome to Zen Women

This blog gathers in one place all available stories of female Zen practitioners in Tang Dynasty China.

Sadly, only about fifty such stories have appeared in translation. If you discover additional stories, let me know and I'll add them to the collection. Thanks!

Of the women in these stories, only a few have names (and most of these are from the Sung Dynasty, not the "golden age" of the Tang). Most were simply called "a nun" or "an old woman."

Zen Women categorizes the stories in three natural groups:

Teaching All Beings
A few Tang women assumed either formal or informal teaching roles. While some of these women were named, most were not.

Equal to All Beings
Some Tang women, by virtue of their wisdom and strong centers, engaged freely in dharma discourse with male peers. While not necessarily teachers, these women were certainly equal to their male counterparts.

Learning from All Beings
Most Tang women, of course, were represented as students of the great teachers. This is how everyone begins.

While most of the cases in this blog date from the Tang Dynasty, a few come from earlier periods. I’ve also included several involving Zen Master Yüan-wu, the Sung Dynasty teacher who commented extensively on The Blue Cliff Record collection of kung-ans.

I offer this blog as a way to widen the gate of Dharma and weaken barriers to practice that arise from attachment to gender.

May these cases inspire and encourage modern women to cultivate practice in their own lives. Likewise, may this collection help men let go of ancient and subtle stereotypes. And may we together open our hearts to all beings.

Zen Women

At my first Zen retreat, a woman head dharma teacher ensured the smooth operation of the meditation room. At my third retreat, a woman teacher (Zen Master Soeng Hyang) gave interviews and encouraged us in our training. Women serve or have served the abbots of several local Zen communities.

In the west, the prominence of women in Zen communities reflects the broader egalitarian aspirations of our society. The apparent invisibility of women during the formative period of Zen in Tang Dynasty China (618 - 907 C.E.) similarly reflected the values of the larger society. The case records (kung-an) of this period seem to suggest that only a tiny handful of women practiced Zen meditation and an even smaller number had some attainment.

In the stories that have come down to us from the Tang Dynasty, only a half dozen women practitioners were attributed sufficient respect to be named; most were simply referred to as “a nun” or “an old woman.”

Yet we know that many Tang Dynasty women studied Zen and attained enlightenment. While cultural forces may have kept these women from gaining recognition in the case records, that fact that some stories were recorded at all indicates that the Sung Dynasty kung-an compilers understood the importance of women to the development of the Zen way.

In modern western Zen traditions, many women have become teachers, others have assumed peer leadership roles within their sanghas, and a great many practice as students with great sincerity and effort. It was of course the same in Tang Dynasty China.

This weblog contains stories of women Zen practitioners during the Tang. Some of these women assumed formal or informal teaching roles. Others, by virtue of their wisdom and strong centers, engaged freely in dharma combat with their male peers. Others were students.

While most of the cases in this blog date from the Tang Dynasty, a few come from earlier periods and I’ve included a few involving Zen Master Yüan-wu, the Sung Dynasty teacher who commented extensively on The Blue Cliff Record collection of kung-ans.

I offer this blog to widen the Dharma Gate and weaken any barriers to practice that might arise from notions of gender. By demonstrating that women played a role in the creation and flowering of the Zen tradition, these cases may inspire and encourage modern women to cultivate this ancient practice in their own lives. Likewise, this collection of stories may help men let go of ancient and subtle stereotypes about the role of women in the Zen tradition. May it help us all open our hearts to all beings.