The occasion of one of Zhaozhou's harshest remarks to a woman was in response to a Zen granny who brings up the Buddhist superstition about women's bodies and the five hindrances [a reference to the Buddhist doctrine that women can't reincarnate as Buddhas].
An old woman asked, "I have a body with the five hindrances. How can I escape them?"
[Zhaozhou] said, "Pray that all people are born in Heaven and pray that you yourself drown in a sea of hardship."
Ouch! A tough pill to swallow for women of Zhaozhou's era, after thirteen hundred years of Buddhist discrimination.
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ewk book note index -I've pointed out before that the author of this text is struggling to reconcile Zen Masters' treatment of women as equals with a history of Buddhist discrimination against women.
The author is a priest in a Buddhist cult, which appears to be the motivation for reconciliation. She goes on to interpret Zhaozhou's instruction as "forget yourself, pray for others" and an injunction to stop crybabying about oppression... clearly her church isn't much on studying Zhaozhou.
This teaching is similar to Zhaozhou's "why escape?" teaching. Why escape? If you are a priest in a Buddhist cult, why do you need Zen Masters?
Submitted January 27, 2018 at 05:40PM by ewk http://ift.tt/2EgUuD2
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