Chinese Bhiksunis in the Ch'an Tradition(7)
Iron Grindstone Liu had another encoutner with yet another Ch'an teacher named Tsu-hu.
Tsu-hu said, "Are you Iron Grindstone Liu?"
She answered, "Yes."
Tsu-hu said, "Turn right and turn left."
She said, "Venerable, don't be upside down (meaning unreasonable)."
Tsu-hu then struck her.32
An encounter between the great master Chao-cho and an anonymous nun is recorded in the Wu-teng hui-yuan33. One day the nun asked Chao-cho, "What is the meaning of the secret meaning?" Chao-cho made a gesture of pulling out something. The nun said, "Your Venerable still has this." Chao-cho said, "It is you who still have this."34
The secret meaning here refers to the ultimate truth, which according to Buddhist teaching transcends words. This is why Chao-cho used a gesture, instead of words, to express the inexpressible truth. However, the nun disagreed that Chao-cho still needed a gesture to point out the ultimate truth, for the use of an action to indicate truth is unnecessary and, in fact, an attachment. Chao-cho refuted her by saying that her attachment to the notion of unattachment is an even greater attachment.
As we can see from the above disscussion, the tension between sexual discrimination and Buddhist ideals of egalitarianism exists throughout Buddhist literature, including the Chinese Ch'an tradition. Comparatively speaking, the Ch'an School espouses the most sympathetic and liberal attitude toward women. In a tradition full of misogynist prejudice, as found in Chinese society, it is very significant that Chinese Buddhist women not only found their places on the path leading to religious fulfillment and self-realization, but also have played an active and instructive role in helping their male counterparts to achieve their religious goal. When one's genuine spiritual achievement, rather than human gender and social status, is taken as the sole criterion, human civilization makes a great step forward. For making this contribution, the Ch'an School deserves recognition.
NOTE
1. I.B. Horner, Tr. The Book of the Discipline, Pali Text Society, London, 1975, vol.5, p.354.
2. In the Sutra of Forty-two Sections, the Buddha said to the monks, "Be careful not to look at women. If you happen to see them, do not look at them . Be careful not to talk to them. If you talk to them, be sure to guard your minds and behaviors.
3. There have been many studies of Buddhist women by scholars in recent years. The following are just a few. Dianna Paul, Women in Buddhism, Lancaster-miller, 1980. Rita M. Gross, "Buddhism and Feminism? Toward their Mutual Thansformation," Eastern Buddhist, no.1. (spring, 1986). pp. "Changing the Female Body? Women and the Bodhisattva Career in Some `Maharatnakutasutra` ," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 1981.
4. Pual, Women in Buddhism, pp.169-171.
5. T. 11, p.543.
6. F. Max Muller, Tr. The Bon-so-wa-ei Gappei Jodo Sun-bukyo, Taitong Press, 1961, p.390.
7. The Miao-fa lien-hua ching (the Lotus Sutra), T. 9, p.35.
8. The Wei-mo-chi ching (`Vimalakirti-nirdesa sutra`), T.14, p.574b.
9. T.85, pp.1283-1291.
10.Ta-hui p'u-chueh ch'an-shih yu-lu, chuan 23, T.47, p.909b.
11.Ta-hui p'u-chueh ch'an-shih p'u-shuo, Dainihon zokazokyo 1, 31, 5, p
12.The Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu (thereafter abbreviated as CTCTL) , T.51, p.219b-c.
13.Mo-shan is also the name of the mountain where Liaojan lived. It is a Chinese Buddhist custom that monks and nuns are referred to by either the name of the place or the monastery where they live.
14.For chin-hsien's biography, see CTCTL, chuan, 12.
15.CTCTL, T. 51, p
16.Hsu Ju-chi, comp., Chih-yueh-lu (Taipei: Chen Shanmei cn'u pan she, 1959), chuan 13 (vol.2), pp. 932-933.
17.The famous Japanese Zen master Dogen was also very liberal with regard to paying respect to women or bhiksunis. He said, "When you make Dharma-inquiries of a nun who transmits the treasury of the eye of the true Dharma,....who has reached the stages of the bodhisattva's last ten stages, and you pay homage to her, the nun will naturally receive your homage."(Levering, p.30).