Abstract
Dōgen’s gender-egalitarian stance on women to attain awakening in their zazen practice is well known. At the same time, a nagging suspicion lingers on among some scholars that he grew increasingly misogynistic in his old age. In this present study, which focuses on Dōgen’s sermons compiled in the Record of Eihei (Eihei kōroku), the Shōbōgenzō, and other writings related to women, we find that even after Dōgen moved to Eiheiji, his stance on women remained consistent. Not only did he readily respond to his female disciples’ requests to give special sermons in memory of their parents, but also positively saw women’s presence in the development of the Buddhist tradition. Through this study it also becomes clear that Dōgen came to embrace a more flexible view on filial piety in his later years, as he deepened his reflection on this matter—the sense of gratitude one feels for one’s parents is concomitant with nurturing one’s compassion. The aspect of compassion that sustained Dōgen’s life of teaching begins to loom large. It was his Chinese master Nyojō (Rujing) who emphasized compassion as the pillar of the zazen practice. Two sermons Dōgen delivered on the anniversary of his father’s death, moreover, have given the scholars new information concerning his parentage. The focus on the aspect of "feminine presence” in Dōgen inadvertently (or naturally?) leads to the heart of Dōgen’s own identity.
Highlights
IntroductionReading the writings and sermons of Dōgen 道元 (1200–1253) by paying close attention to his references to women—or “feminine presence,” defined less strictly and more broadly—is expected to bring out a side of his teaching that has received relatively little (scholarly) attention in Japan
Reading the writings and sermons of Dōgen 道元 (1200–1253) by paying close attention to his references to women—or “feminine presence,” defined less strictly and more broadly—is expected to bring out a side of his teaching that has received relatively little attention in Japan.1I should mention here that my interest in female disciples practicing under Dōgen was first piqued by P
The story goes that before appointing her to the position of kaiinju, Kyōzan had made an inquiry among the former officers and senior monks, who all recommended Myōshin to this position. Kyōzan warmly described her as “ a woman, she has the mettle of the true vessel.”45 Dōgen refers to an anecdote in which seventeen monks, who were on their way to visit Master Kyōzan to train under him, stayed at the guest dormitory, which was overseen by Myōshin
Summary
Reading the writings and sermons of Dōgen 道元 (1200–1253) by paying close attention to his references to women—or “feminine presence,” defined less strictly and more broadly—is expected to bring out a side of his teaching that has received relatively little (scholarly) attention in Japan.. By assuming the perspective that encompasses Dōgen’s female disciples and practitioners, one gains a glimpse into how women practiced Buddhism in the thirteenth century Japan, and how Dōgen, a male. At the start of his career as a zazen master, he was convinced that “male and female, the noble and the lowly—everyone can understand and embody the Buddha’s teaching.”5 In his sermon “Raihai tokuzui” 礼拝得髄 [“Rendering obeisance and thereby gaining the marrow of teaching”], he famously declared: What is so precious about being born a male? The sheer fact is that female students and disciples were among the members of his original sangha, even after he moved from Fukakusa to Echizen
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