Zen Women, Chapter 10: Pages 210-218

[Jakuden]

Hi all,

We switch gears a bit to talk about the work nuns do to support themselves and their convents. Nuns have never found it easy or even possible to follow the Buddha’s original instructions for ordained monastics not to support themselves and their Sanghas using any other means besides begging. Even today, convents are given much less financial support than monasteries from institutions such as the Japanese Soto-shu. In order to support themselves, convents have relied on various means: some teach nuns traditional arts such as calligraphy and flower arranging, through which they transmit Buddhist values to the families they teach. Others have pursued caring for children and the needy, creating orphanages, schools, and many other general caregiving resources. One respected nun, Weiju, who was not allowed to ordain until her male relatives had died, even opened a public bathhouse with an inscription that inspired those who passed through to ponder her teaching.

Do you think these practices of service are compatible with the Buddha’s original teachings? How is the relationship of service valuable to both the individual Zen practitioner and the community as a whole?

Nothing exists, so what are you bathing? If there is even the slightest bit of dust, where does it come from? Say one profound sentence, then you can enter the bath. The ancient spirits can only scrub your back; How could I, the founder, illuminate your mind? If you want to attain the state that is free from dirt, You should first let all parts of your body sweat [make effort]. It is said that the water can wash off the dust, Yet how can people understand that the water is also dust? Even though you suddenly wipe out [the distinction between] water and dirt, You must still wash it off thoroughly when you come here.

What are your thoughts about Weiju's teaching?

Gassho,
Jakuden