Women of the Way Discovering 2,500 Years of Buddhist Wisdom

Abstract

Iwant to especially acknowledge my sangha at Dharma Rain Zen Center, for making room for these names in our daily services and listening to me talk about them these many years. I would also like to thank my many other friends in the Dharma who have helped with this project, including the community of Great Vow Zen Monastery; Blanche Zenkei Hartman, Roko Chayat, Dai’en Bennage, Abbess Aoyama Shundo, and Zuiko Redding for important leads and information; Alison Yuko Krieger, who brought me warmth when I was cold and lots of chocolate; Fathai Fasue of the Miao-Fa temple; John Wong; Jan Chozen Bays and Laren Hogen Bays for hospitality; Tomoe Katagiri; and Katherine Thanas, Wendy Egyoku Nakao, Mitra Bishop, and Grace Jill Schireson for support and encouragement early in the project. Many scholars and librarians have contributed to this book. I wish I could name them all, but as is often the case, many helped me graciously and anonymously. I am especially grateful to Patricia Fister, Miriam Levering, Tom Kirchner, William Bodiford, Ding-hwa Evelyn Hsieh, Amy Ching-fen Tsiang and the research librarians at the University of California at Los Angeles; Yongping Guan and the research librarians of Lewis and Clark College; Linda Walton and the librarians of Portland State University; Willow Zheng; Rosario Aglario; and especially Judith Boltz, for her selfless offer of time and experience in translation. In Japan, one is always treated with courtesy, but I offer my humble thanks to Goda Tetsuzo¯ at Yo¯ko¯ji; Yashki Chijo¯ of So¯senji Temple, who showed me where the Enzu¯in had stood; Kensho Miyamae and his whole family for hospitality and guidance; Maeda Naomi at the Institute for Zen Studies; Tadahiro Kondo for guidance in Kamakura; and Hiroko Takada of the Nara National Museum for spending many hours doing what I couldn’t do, and for a new friendship. I was aided in my nascent study of Japanese and Japan by Mikio Daicho Ohgushi, who also helped with the translation. Friends who read and commented on this manuscript include Sylvan Genko Rainwater, Jeffrey Kenryu Binns, David Kakumyo Lowe, and Dawn Domyo Sater. Domyo has been instrumental in shaping the final form of the dedication chant. David Choten Robinson read between the lines. Portions of the essay, in substantially different form, originally appeared in Tricycle magazine and Buddhist Women on the Edge (North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, 1996). My editors at HarperSanFrancisco were Anne Connolly and Gideon Weil, and, as always, Kim Witherspoon was my agent and knight in armor. I owe a debt to the many nameless guides, security guards, taxi drivers, temple attendants, train conductors and bus drivers who steered me in the right direction—sometimes by sending me in the opposite direction than I had intended to go. Lastly, I cannot say the words to thank my teacher, Kyogen Carlson, for all the ways he has thwarted me these many years.