Monastic and Religious life; 禪宗=Zen Buddhism=Zazen Buddhism; Japan; Buddhist Nuns; Women in Buddhism
摘要
This study explores the history and patterns of life of Japanese women in monastic Soto Zen Buddhism, a religious movement that has flourished in Japan since the thirteenth century. Despite academics of Zen Buddhism having treated the religion as though it were only a male monastic tradition, original historical and anthropological research reveals the experience of female monastics in modern Japan to be at stark variance with that of their male counterparts. Zen nuns maintain the practices espoused by Dogen (1200-1253), the founder of Soto Zen in Japan. Although academics are divided over the significance of Dogen's egalitarian teachings, Soto nuns are not. In the twentieth century they were not daunted by the male-dominating authorities that circumscribed their lives. On the contrary, with the knowledge that their founder supported women, Zen nuns fought relentlessly with the Soto sect administration. In a few decades they succeeded in institutionalizing equality into all sect regulations.
Reflecting upon the historiographic and interpretive issues involved in scholarship on the history of women and on women's religious practices are integral aspects of the quest to restore women's contributions to the content and history of Zen Buddhism. Through the original documents and historical texts I procured, the history, practices, and recent advances of Zen nuns is emerging. Based upon information I gathered from an extended period of participant-observation in a Zen monastery for women, extensive interviews, and responses to my national survey of female monastics, I present the first scholarly examination of the lives and self-perceptions of Zen monastic women. My work offers an overview of their personal backgrounds, motivations, religious values, spiritual practices, perceptions of society's views of them, attitudes towards male monastics, thoughts on social responsibility, and self-reflections on life as a Zen nun.
In the face of competing impulses coursing through modern Japanese society, Soto Zen nuns choose to maintain a traditional monastic lifestyle, not allowing the currents of modernity to dilute their religious commitment. This study explicates the dual role of Soto Zen monastic women as preservers of religious and cultural traditions and as active participators in the progressive movement for the independence and equality of women.
目次
Abstract Table of Contents Dedication Acknowledgments Transliteration Guide Prologue
Chapter 1. Buddhist Nuns: Whither, Why, and How? 2. Treasures Hidden in the Landscape: Women in Japanese Buddhist History 3. Restoration in the Twentieth Century 4. The Refining Discipline of Zen Nuns 5. The Living Truth: Zen Nuns' Motivations, Commitments, and Self-Perceptions 6. Innovators for the Sake of Tradition
Epilogue Appendix A. Questionnaire Appendix B. Glossary of Japanese Terms Bibliography
