Zen Women - It All Comes Back to Childcare

This just in - Buddhist Geeks interviews Grace Schireson about her new book, Zen Women which tops the list for my next trip to Powell's.

Grace Shireson has been studying the women in Zen stories, koans, literature and lineage. In the interview, she notes that often the women in the stories and koans are characters (objects), when the subjects are usually the male monks. For example, she notes that there are many stories of "mere" tea ladies whose understanding surpasses the male monks, and this aspect of the situation makes it all that much more humiliating. This is where Zen gets its macho rep. Even the women are made of iron. At least Dogen laid it down in the 1200's that women who have understanding are no different and should be respected as teachers. So you'd think this would have manifested in the history of Zen practice. Of course, reality has many more dimensions.

Teacher Hui Kong, Kuang Jiao Si

But the highlight in the interview is her discovery that the value of studying women ancestors is this: The women ancestors had to figure out how to adapt traditional monastic practice to a practice more centered around home and family.

Cutest baby in China, Second Ancestor's Village

Indeed, it is already something I can observe in Sangha members around me -- that having children requires a practice that is not centered around a monastery, long retreats, or even coming to a Zendo to sit from 7:30 - 9 :30 in the evenings (hello? bedtime!). Having children kind of takes you out of the community practice game for a few years. Hopefully there's a good foundation of practice, some semblance of Sangha support, and maybe even a dog-eared copy of Jon and Myla Kabat-Zinn's Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting lying around somewhere.

Grace Shireson posits that our female ancestors authenticate the value of lay practice as a viable Path to Awakening. Similarly, Zen in the West must address the needs of householders. And IMHO, childcare is at the top of that list of needs.

It looks like my karma does not include being a biological mother in this lifetime. My Path and work as a social worker and therapist has for many years included working primarily with women in crisis, and this overwhelmingly means supporting mothers. That is an area of need that appears bottomless. It looks like my own life Path is that of an allomother and a support person to mothers and parents to some degree. The child-free path does enable my husband and me to focus on and deepen our own practice in more traditional ways (retreats, monastic stays, frequent community practice and organizational participation). But how can this practice benefit those who are raising children?

When we did a two-day Sangha-building retreat last year called "Upholding the Sangha Treasure", we looked deeply into the needs of our Sangha and where to turn our attention to cultivating growth. We narrowed the list to ten things. Two of these things relate to the needs of parents and families in the Sangha; specifically having childcare available during practice periods, and creating a workgroup to focus on the needs of children and families in the Sangha, and how to meet those needs. But until we have our own physical space that can accommodate doing more than two things at a time (zazen upstairs, intro to meditation downstairs), this will remain an aspiration. But it is an aspiration that has been called into being, and one that I have a very strong intention to realize.

Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an, China