[...]... interpretations of Buddhist nuns did not correspond with the historical, textual, and ethnographic evidence gathered, I revised them I bring to the surface important moments of Japanese history that help explain why Soto Zen nuns are strong today These materials elucidate the activities of the nuns fighting for and gaining opportunities in this century They also shed light upon how Soto Zen nuns practice Zen in... human religiosity, this book also addresses concerns found in historiography, Japanese studies, women' s studies, and ethnographic studies I am trying to find out what Soto Zen nuns consider important as Buddhists Close examination of a large group of nuns within Soto Zen, especially those affiliated with Aichi Senmon Nisodo, a women' s monastery in Nagoya, Japan, is the main focus of this work It is only... when I met a Japanese Zen Buddhist nun xvii xviii Prologue I met Kito Shunko in the autumn of 1987 when I sojourned to India as a scholar of Buddhism She is an elderly Soto Zen monastic woman who was returning to India for a final pilgrimage to the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya Although I had concentrated my Buddhist studies on Japan, I was not aware of an extant order of Japanese Zen nuns My first... many women Buddhists in the 9 10 Women Living Zen world: ordination lineage Some nuns "have" the lineage and other nuns do not care about the lineage There are also women who want the lineage in traditions that say they cannot have it This issue sets in high relief the complexity of cultural transformations of an ostensibly shared religions tradition Nonetheless, one thing is common There are women. .. detailed evaluations of monastic women in the Soto sect does not include the perspective of the women under consideration In Japanese Zen, two facts are striking: there are virtually no prominent women, and the condition of the Zen nun in Japan has been sorry indeed In Soto Zen, the largest Zen sect in Japan, nuns, until the very recent past, were not allowed to function as priests, could not live in... recognition Women worked hard for official status, but the moment they received such status does not mark the beginning of their intense practice or dedication to the Buddhist Path—there is ample evidence that women were active throughout Buddhist history in Japan One final note of reinterpretation is necessary In the article on Soto nuns previously cited, the final assessment of Soto Zen nuns is that,... institutional forms Buddhist monasticism has taken in Japan Each in its own way, sects of Buddhism in Japan creatively combine the qualities of the indigenous Japanese worldview with Buddhist teachings and culture as they came to Japan from India via China and Korea My study centers upon nuns in the Soto Zen sect said to be founded by Eihei Dogen Soto Zen is one of the sects of Zen Buddhism that derives... this any study of Japanese Zen nuns would be incomplete Scholarly Contexts This is primarily a study of Japanese women who have chosen a Buddhist monastic lifestyle complete with vows of celibacy and the pursuit of wisdom and compassion The structure of their lives is regulated by Soto Zen monastic practices, which means their daily lives include waking up at predawn, doing zazen, chanting, cleaning,... one is justified in wondering why nuns have been largely nonexistent in the scholarship on Japanese Buddhism Part of the reason is the now unsurprising, but nonetheless significant, androcentric bias that has dominated academic inquiry Gender has 3 4 Women Living Zen only relatively recently become a salient category in the field of Buddhist studies Furthermore, Zen Buddhist studies have primarily focused... the Soto Zen sect in the thirteenth century Monastic women also induced major advancements in the twentieth century Between these prominent moments of Japanese history, Buddhist women have been a vital and constant presence They displayed creative vision that navigated them through sometimes foul waters — a testimony to their seriousness of intention, commitment, and ingenuity The lives of many Soto Zen . w0 h0" alt="" Women Living Zen This page intentionally left blank Women Living Zen JAPANESE SOTO BUDDHIST NUNS Paula Kane Robinson Arai New York Oxford Oxford University Press 1999 Oxford . Data Arai, Paula Kane Robinson. Women living Zen : Japanese Soto Buddhist nuns Paula Kane Robinson Arai. p. em. ISBN 0-19-512393-X 1. Monastic and religious life for women Japan. 2. Monastic . Generation: Zen Master of a New Tradition 74 xiv Contents FOUR The Monastic Practices of Zen Nuns 8 2 Nuns& apos; Vision of Monastic Life 82 Daily Life in a Monastery of Zen Nuns