---| --- ---| ---| | | |---| | | | | | | | | | | -- |---| |--- |--- |---| | | | | | | | | | | | | ---- | | |--- |--- | | |---| GASSHO Electronic Journal of DharmaNet International and the Global Online Sangha Volume 1, Number 5 ISSN 1072-2971 July/August 1994 ======================================================================= Editor-in-Chief: Barry Kapke dharma@netcom.com or Fidonet: 1:125/33.0 Copy Editor: John Bullitt john.bullitt@metta.ci.net Board of Advisors: Robert Aitken Roshi Amaro Bhikkhu Carl Bielefeldt Bhikkhu Bodhi Thubten Chodron T. Matthew Ciolek Roger Corless Rev. Karuna Dharma Christina Feldman Gangcen Tulku Rinpoche Maha Ghosananda Joseph Goldstein Joan Halifax Ayya Khema Anne C. Klein Jack Kornfield Jacqueline Mandell Ken McLeod Andrew Olendzki Charles S. Prebish Alan Senauke Thanissaro Bhikkhu Christopher Titmuss others to be announced ======================================================================== GASSHO is a Buddhist newsletter, published by DharmaNet International, P.O. Box 4951, Berkeley, CA 94704-4951, a not-for-profit organization. ======================================================================== {1} EDITORIAL: Message from the Editor {2} NEWS BRIEFS {3} DHARMANET NEWS {4} NEW RESOURCES {5} CONFERENCE NEWS {6} LETTERS {7} DIALOGUE: The Fourth Precept: Deep Listening & Loving Speech (Thich Nhat Hanh) {8} ARTICLE: Conventional Women, Ultimate Woman: Gender, Nonduality, and the Goddess (Jamie Hubbard) {9} ARTICLE: The Mother Essence Lineage (Ngakpa Chogyam Rimpoche) {10} REFEREED ARTICLE: Presence With a Difference: Buddhists and Feminists on Subjectivity (Anne C. Klein) {11} PRACTICE: The Significance of Ordination as a Buddhist Nun (Ayya Khema) {12} CALENDAR: August - September 1994 {13} REVIEWS {14} RESOURCES: DharmaNet Publications By/About Buddhist Women {15} SANGHA: Greater San Francisco Bay Area Dharma Centers (USA) {16} SERVICE: Jamyang Choling {17} ANNOUNCEMENTS {18} A PARTING THOUGHT {19} ABOUT GASSHO [Ed.: Page numbers are not particularly meaningful in an electronic format. Instead, each article is demarcated by a number within braces. This allows you to use the Search feature of your newsreader or file viewer program to "fast forward" to the section you want to read. Also, italics are represented in the electronic version of GASSHO by the code "//"; while this employs two characters rather than one, it was found to be more aesthetically representative of italics for low-ASCII viewing, as well as being relatively unproblematic for using the "search and replace" features of text processors to substitute other italics codes.] ======================================================================= {1} EDITORIAL ======================================================================= The electronic format for journals is still evolving, trying to find those compromises that are broadly appropriate to readers on many platforms and which are conducive to online reading. //Gassho// has been a pioneer in these explorations, and it is a pleasure to see other journals drawing from and expanding upon our example. I am happy to see the growth of electronic journals, and particularly, to see the development of electronic resources within the Buddhist community. In this issue of //Gassho//, there are articles containing endnotes, a bibliography, and a glossary; these "appendages" to the textual "body" are elegantly served by WorldWideWeb (WWW) browsers, but present a somewhat cumbersome dilemma for traditional linear formatting and reading. Issue #5 has elected to include these supplementary materials as a part of the sequential text, rather than to separate them into accompanying documents. Insofar as endnotes, I am hoping that the search features of readers' text browsing softwares will accommodate relatively smooth switching back and forth between article text and endnote text. In Professor Anne Klein's article, "Presence With a Difference," endnote pointers occur in pointed brackets (e.g., ) and the actual endnote is notated as . So in reading the text, I come to the endnote pointer and call up my search option, designating the search parameter to be "". After reading the endnote, I again call up the search option, this time searching globally for "", which returns me to the place in the text where I had left off. Since this feature exists in *most* text readers and editors, this seemed like a reasonable solution. Your feedback on this is certainly encouraged. This issue also inaugurates a new "section" focusing on "Service." This section, or department, will highlight in each issue a selected group or organization whose activities contribute to global peace, the advancement of Buddhist values, the elimination of suffering, the promotion of world health and community. It is hoped that this section will be of benefit to individuals who are looking for ways to be of service, as well as to promote the good works of grassroots groups and underfunded projects. Moreover, it is hoped that these efforts will be inspirational in helping to establish and support a tradition of service and selfless generosity in our various cultures. Lastly, I am proud to see this issue, "Women in Buddhism," come together. As Director of DharmaNet International and Editor of //Gassho//, I have been concerned with the visible absence of women -- in the online communities, as well as in prominent roles within Buddhist communities. I don't consider it insignificant that the "Women in Buddhism" issue had to be postponed due to a dearth of submitted material. I am pleased to see this issue of //Gassho// manifest, and, even so, the predominance of male voices addressing women's issues is conspicuous. I hope this issue of //Gassho// will encourage more women to add their voices to the ongoing dialogue in our online community. With that, my appreciation and thanks goes out to all the men and women who contributed to the "Women in Buddhism" issue of //Gassho// and my encouragement for others to become involved. With metta, Barry Kapke ======================================================================= {2} NEWS BRIEFS ======================================================================= ------------------------ Ven. Nyanaponika Honored ------------------------ On 30 August 1993 the Amarapura Nikaya, one of the three branches of the Maha Sangha in Sri Lanka, conferred the honorary title of Amarapura Maha Mahopadhyaya Sasana Sobhana (= Great Mentor of the Amarapura Nikaya, Ornament of the Teaching) upon four of its distinguished elder monks, all above the age of 90. Among them was Ven. Nyanaponika Mahathera, 92, co- founder of the BPS [Buddhist Publication Society] and its present Patron, who was ordained into this Nikaya 57 years ago. The scroll and title were presented at a convocation in Colombo with Sri Lanka's President, D.B. Wijetunga, as the guest of honor. Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi received the award on behalf of the Mahathera. [From: Buddhist Publication Society Newsletter #25, Winter 1993-94] ----------------------- Anne AITKEN (1911-1994) ----------------------- Anne Aitken (nee Hopkins) was born in Chicago, Illinois USA on the 8th February 1911. She died in Honolulu, Hawaii on the 13th June 1994. Anne Aitken, a schoolteacher by training, has been an exemplary student of Zen, both in Japan and USA. Initially an unwilling and dispirited lay student, she -- nevertheless -- has resolutely studied the Dharma (and with the great success too) under such eminent Zen masters as Hakuun Yasutani Roshi, Soen Nakagawa Roshi and Koun Yamada Roshi. Despite her delicate constitution, she observed an intensive and regular zazen schedule and she eagerly took part in many tens of the sesshin and zazenkai conducted in Hawaii and elsewhere. She gracefully and deservedly carried two Buddhist names: AN (J.) = "Peace, peace of being at home" and TANSHIN (J.) = "Single mind." Together with her husband Robert Aitken (subsequently Robert Aitken Roshi), she was the founding member, and always the selfless supporter and benefactress, of one of the first western Zen Buddhist training organizations -- The Diamond Sangha (est. October 1959 in Honolulu). She is fondly remembered as a delightful and thoughtful friend to many of the Zen students who studied with Aitken Roshi or visited the Diamond Sangha's Koko An Zendo or the Palolo Zen Training Centre, Honolulu. She spoke and wrote very little. She staunchly refused to assume a role of an "enlightened Zen student" or that of the "famous wife of the famous Zen master". She loved music and flowers and birds and the paintings. She firmly loved the whole of the Diamond Sangha, with its all meandering history, complications, transformations and achievements. Anne Aitken has been a quiet, gentle and very private person. Thus we are fortunate indeed that amongst her sparse writings she has left a short autobiographical note "In spite of myself"[ Kahawaii 1(2), Spring 1979, pp 2-9 ]. Some scattered references to the life and work of Anne Aitken also can be found in: * Aitken, Robert.1982. Willy-Nilly Zen. pp. 115-132. In: Aitken, Robert. 1982. Taking the Path of Zen. San Francisco: North Point Press. * Tworkov, Helen. 1989. Chapter 1 - Robert Aitken. In: Zen in America: Profiles of Five Teachers. San Francisco: North Point Press. pp. 23-62. Anne Aitken Sensei will be badly missed everywhere -- in Hawaii and in the mainland USA; in Japan, in Europe (especially in Germany and Austria), in South America and in Australia too. I know I am very privileged to have had the chance to live a portion of my life in the inspiring and peaceful company of Anne Aitken. --T. Matthew Ciolek Sydney Zen Center & Canberra Zen Group -------------------------------- Yehan Numata, BCA Benefactor, Patron of International Buddhism -------------------------------- Mr. Yehan Numata, probably the greatest patron of Buddhism of our times, died peacefully at the age of 97 in Yokohama, Japan on May 5, 1994. He was a native of Hiroshima Prefecture. Mr. Yehan Numata came to the United States as a young student and graduated from the University of California in 1928. He studied economic statistics. During the summers he worked in the farm belt in the Fresno area, and became quite active in our [Buddhist Churches of America] local temples in central California. He was one of our earliest contributors to the establishment of a "Buddhist press" in the English language. His idealism in implanting Buddhism in America never faltered. He never forgot his student days and left a legacy by setting up a foundation to help students from our regional and national temples in the BCA jurisdiction. Numata founded the Mitsutoyo Corporation, now the world's leading manufacturer of precision measuring instruments, in 1934, solely for the purpose of raising funds which could be dedicated towards the promotion of Buddhism. The Buddhist Churches of America and its affiliate organizations have benefitted greatly from the generosity of Mr. Numata. He was a strong supporter of our programs and the academic endeavors at the Institute of Buddhist Studies [in Berkeley CA]. The IBS has received sizable subsidies each year for the //Numata Chair// and the publication of the journal, //The Pacific World.// He has established similar //chairs// in Buddhist Studies at other graduate schools, six in the United States, two in Canada, and three in Europe. For promoting better understanding of Buddhism he established the //Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai.// Through this organization he has distributed thousands of volumes of the //Teachings of Buddha// in thirty languages in hotels and schools throughout the world. Another project of the BDK is the translation of the Chinese Tripitaka (//Taisho Daizokyo//) into English, which is headquartered in Berkeley, simply referred to as //The Numata Center.// The center has already published three volumes, and one is in the hands of the printers. Four or five volumes are expected to be published each year. Mr. Numata has also constructed Ekoji temples in Japan as well as in other countries. A thirty million dollar Ekoji project is nearing completion in Dusseldorf, Germany. Mr. Numata's various activities reveal him to be a bodhisattva-like figure who gave himself freely, influencing countless lives to greater humanity by kindlier and compassionate ways. He will always be remembered in America where he gave so much. [Reprinted, with permission, from //Wheel of Dharma//, Volume 21 Issue 6 (June 1994). //Wheel of Dharma// is published monthly by the Buddhist Churches of America, 1710 Octavia Street, San Francisco CA 94109.] ---------------------------------------------------- "Reincarnation" of Tibetan great lama Kalou Rimpoche "identified" in France ---------------------------------------------------- France 2 TV (Teletext), Paris, in French 1548gmt 17 Jul 94 Text of report entitled: "'Little Buddha' in Saone-et Loire " On Sunday [17th July] two thousand people attended a ceremony in which a four year-old became a lama. It took place in the temple of Kagyu Ling, at La Boulaye [Saone-et-Loire departement, in Burgundy], the largest Buddhist sanctuary in Europe. Born in Paris from Bhutano-Tibetan parents, the child has been identified" as the reincarnation of the great lama, Kalou Rimpoche, who died in 1989. The child was only one year old when he was able to recognize several objects which had belonged to the lama. The child will soon be sent to the Sonada monastery, in India, for 12 years of training. [From: World Tibet Network News (94/07/23 22:00 GMT)] ----------------------------- Nunnery Surrounded by Troops; Rural Unrest "Intensified" ----------------------------- LONDON, July 23, TIN -- Chinese paramilitary police have placed a cordon around a rural nunnery in the mountains north of Lhasa in response to a brief demonstration by five nuns last month, according to unofficial reports from the Tibetan capital. The blockade on the nunnery comes as top Chinese politicians in Tibet call for a crackdown on the pro-independence movement, which they say is spreading into the Tibetan countryside. The nunnery was surrounded in response to a brief demonstration by five nuns in Lhasa on 14th June. The women all came from Shar Bumpa nunnery in Phenpo county, 45 km north of Lhasa. The five nuns, who were all born in the nearby county of Phenpo Lhundrup, were arrested and were named today by unofficial sources as Choekyi Gyaltsen or Choeying Gyaltsen, age 24-27, Gyaltsen Sherab, age 19-21, from Phenpo Lhundrup, Choekyi Wangmo, age 20-22, Tsultrim Zangmo, age 23, and Seldroen, age 17-18. In reprisals three days after the incident police, state security officials and members of the People's Armed Police (Wu Jing) are reported to have swooped on Shar nunnery and on adjacent monks' quarters. Some of the nuns struggled with the police and damaged a police vehicle during the raid, according to one report. "Since that day the nunnery and the monastery have been surrounded on all sides by the military and, in a way that is similar to what happened last year in Kyimshi village, they terrorized the citizens, surrounding the monastery day and night and preventing these monks and nuns from leaving the monastery," said a separate report, received from Lhasa last week. Kyimshi is a group of villages in Lhokha Gongkar county, south of Lhasa, that was taken over by troops after protests in June 1993, leading to over 30 arrests. The report said that each monk and nun at Shar Bumpa had been interrogated and that a number of arrests had been made. "According to people who come from this village at present the monastery is surrounded in such a way that the monks and nuns are totally unable to move", claimed the report, which is unconfirmed. "The situation in this area is tense," commented another source, who said the military were living in tents they had set up around the nunnery and the monks' quarters. [From: Tibet Information Network ] ======================================================================= {3} DHARMANET NEWS ======================================================================= --------------------------- //Gassho// Needs Volunteers --------------------------- Volunteers are needed to help with the various aspects of producing the journal //Gassho// -- gathering news, soliciting articles, editing, typing, proofreading, formatting. A six-month commitment is requested. Contact: Barry Kapke by e-mail (dharma@netcom.com). --------------------------------------- DharmaNet International Seeks Treasurer --------------------------------------- DharmaNet International is looking for a qualified individual to serve as Treasurer on its Board of Directors. SF Bay Area resident preferred, but not essential. Duties include: helping set up corporate accounting procedures and overseeing financial matters and reports. Contact: Barry Kapke by e-mail (dharma@netcom.com) or postal mail to DharmaNet International, PO Box 4951, Berkeley CA 94704-4951 USA. ------------ Logo Contest ------------ //Inquiring Mind: A Semi-Annual Journal of the Vipassana Community// is now being produced in an online edition, through collaborative arrangement with DharmaNet International. We are looking for an attractive logo to use for this online edition of //Inquiring Mind// and have decided to hold a contest. A winning logo must: 1. consist of printable ASCII characters in the range 32-126; 2. fit in a space 72 columns wide by 15 lines high; 3. contain the words "Inquiring Mind" or the initials "I M". Here is an opportunity to express yourself! Please send your ideas via e- mail to "im.contest@metta.ci.net"; they will be forwarded on to the IM staff for their consideration. If your logo is selected as the winning one, you'll make lots of merit, many readers will be very grateful to you, and you'll reap lots of personal satisfaction. For more information, contact John Bullitt . ----------------- Changes & Updates ----------------- The Dharma Electronic Files Archive (DEFA) is moving this summer from its original site at ftp.netcom.com to a new host at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Through the generosity of this new host site, online storage will no longer be a problem and DharmaNet can further expand its online holdings. To access DEFA via `anonymous ftp,' ftp (or ncftp) to sunsite.unc.edu and login as anonymous, using your email address as your password. Change directory (cd) to pub/academic/religious_studies/Buddhism/DEFA (see diagram below). To access DEFA via WorldWideWeb, use the Universal Resource Locator (URL): http://sunsite.unc.edu/dharma/defa.html DharmaNet will continue to maintain a scaled-down ftp library at ftp.netcom.com, to serve as a redirector to the new location and to carry general information files about DharmaNet. All Dharma texts and resources will be relocated to sunsite.unc.edu by the end of August 1994. ftp to: sunsite.unc.edu login: anonymous | password: your_email_address | academic | religious_studies | Buddhism / \ DEFA Tantric_Studies / | | / Iconography News / -------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Dharmanet Art | | Tibet | | | | | | | Inbound Journals | | | | | | | | General / Resources WTN | | | | | Abhidhamma --------------------- | | | | Vinaya / | | | | | | | | | Theravada / | | | | | Gassho | | Zen | | | | | Inquiring Mind | Vayrayana Forest Sangha | | | Blind Donkey Pureland Bhavana Society | Journal of Buddhist Ethics Clear Mind * * * * * The Buddhist Image Bank, hosted by the Society for Tantric Studies and DharmaNet International, has a change in its access path. To access the Buddhist art, ftp (or ncftp) to sunsite.unc.edu and login as anonymous, using your email address for your password. Change directory (cd) to: pub/academic/religious_studies/Buddhism/Tantric_Studies/Iconography. Thanks to the assistance of Edward Van Tassel and Gunnar Reitel, many of the Tibetan Buddhist GIFs have been identified. * * * * * The Insight mailing list has moved to a more powerful listserv. TO SUBSCRIBE: Send a message to "majordomo@pioneer.ci.net". In the body of the message, put the command "subscribe insight" (leave out the quotes). TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a message to "majordomo@pioneer.ci.net". In the body of the message, put the command "unsubscribe insight" (leave out the quotes). TO POST messages to the list: Address your message to "insight@pioneer.ci.net". * * * * * Several Buddhist periodicals have recently premiered online editions. DharmaNet International is working with the publisher of //Inquiring Mind// to produce an online edition. The first online issue is available as IM_V10N2.ZIP and is available through DEFA (ftp.netcom.com:pub/dharma), through direct dialup to BODY DHARMA ONLINE or ACCESS TO INSIGHT or other DharmaNet library sites, or through ftpmail. DI has also produced online editions of //The Bhavana Society Newsletter// and is working to produce an online edition of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery's //Forest Sangha Newsletter//. Anyone interested in helping with these online publication projects, please contact John Bullitt . //Blind Donkey// is a journal that was originally founded by Robert and Anne Aitken and has served the Diamond Sangha for over twenty years. With its latest issue the publication has been reborn under the auspices of the California Diamond Sangha where John Tarrant is roshi. An online edition is being prepared. For more information, contact blinddonkey@tigerteam.org The //Journal of Buddhist Ethics// is an electronic journal devoted to Buddhist ethics, and, like //Gassho//, exists primarily as an online publication, but will publish materials in an on-going, rather than periodic, basis. E-mail subscription does not deliver the journal itself but does ensure timely notification of new releases and access pointers. The journal material is retrieved though network tools, such as WWW browsers, gophers, and anonymous ftp. To subscribe, send email to jbe- ed@psu.edu, specifying "JBE Subscription" in the subject line. A sample "mockup" is currently online for WWW viewing: http://www.psu.edu/jbe/jbe.html or through the DharmaNet homepage: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/dharma/defa-home.html Other Buddhist journals and newsletters -- such as //Clear Mind// (of the Sakya Losal Choe Dzong Tibetan Buddhist Society of Canberry Australia), the //Society of Tantric Studies Newsletter//, the //American Academy of Religion Buddhism Section Newsletter//, the //Vipassana Newsletter// (of the International Meditation Centres) -- are archived online, and undoubtedly, many others will follow. Buddhist organizations and publishers interested in adding their publications to the DharmaNet online archives, or interested in assistance in creating online publications, please contact Barry Kapke or John Bullitt (john.bullitt@metta.ci.net>. --------------------- DharmaNet in the News --------------------- DharmaNet is mentioned in the August 1994 edition of //Wired//, the Summer 1994 edition of //Tricycle//, the Volume 14 Number 1 issue of //Blind Donkey: Journal of the Diamond Sangha//, and the Summer 1994 issue of //Hidden Agenda: The newsletter of the Ngakphang Sangha//. ======================================================================= {4} NEW RESOURCES ======================================================================= ------------------------ Thai Tripitaka CD Update ------------------------ It was announced in Issue 3 of //Gassho// that the American Academy of Religion will be the distributor, outside of Thailand, of the Siam Edition of the Pali Canon (volumes 1-45) on CD-ROM. Text is in Thai and Romanized Pali. This monumental work was accomplished at Thailand's Mahidol University Computing Center and includes BUDSIR (Buddhist Scriptures Information Retrieval) IV software for PC and Macintosh users. The BUDSIR IV edition is just now being pressed into CD-ROM and should be ready for distribution. The cost for individuals and Buddhist organizations (eg., temples, monasteries, etc) is $299 (tax and shipping not included) and $599 for institutions with multiple users. Orders may be directed by e- mail to: scholars@emoryu1.cc.emory.edu, with the following notation: Attention: Harry Gilmer RE: Pali CD ROM ------------------ WTN Address Change ------------------ The submission address to World Tibet Network (WTN) News has changed. Please do *not* use the former ctn-list@utcc.utoronto.ca address. Submissions to: wtn-l@vm1.mcgill.ca or fax to: +44-71-722-0362 (U.K.) Subscriptions to: listserv@vm1.mcgill.ca - to join, message should be: SUB WTN-L [your name] - to cancel, message should be: SIGNOFF WTN-L --------------------- New Usenet Newsgroups --------------------- A newsgroup -- alt.religion.buddhism.tibetan -- has been created and appears to have reached fairly wide propagation already. Discussion is taking place in alt.config concerning creating an alt.religion.buddhism (or, alternatively, soc.religion.buddhism) hierarchy. Also, DharmaNet International is exploring the viability of gating selected DharmaNet "newsgroups" into Peacenet. More on this in the next (Sep/Oct 1994) issue of //Gassho//. ======================================================================= {5} CONFERENCE NEWS ======================================================================= -------------------------------- Women Teachers Gather in Vermont -------------------------------- Gyokuko [Carlson] sensei attended a "conference" of five women Zen teachers in Shelburne Vermont between June 3rd and 5th. Also in attendance were the hostess, Sunyana Graef sensei, Dai-en Bennage sensei, Roko Chayat sensei, and Susan Postal. Gyokuko reports: We didn't have a schedule or an agenda and didn't need one. There was very little ice to break and so much to talk about that we could range freely and touch on many things that touch our lives. It is interesting for me to reflect on the relative harmony of the meeting given the disparity in training backgrounds and philosophical differences expressed. I enjoyed being with strong women with whom I could express my differences and be heard without fear. One teacher said the joy for her in this group was to be able to speak without being challenged or scorned. We spoke frankly about some of the difficulties in our past training, our current teaching styles, and how our families intersect with our life of practice and teaching. The frankness of our discussions and the sensitivity of subjects covered makes most of our conversation private and privileged. Through meetings like this, full of honestly and trust, I hope that we can continue to train ourselves as teachers, clarify our thinking, and affirm each other as women. Next year, Gyokuko is scheduled to host the group at DRZC [Dharma Rain Zen Center], something we all look forward to seeing happen. [From: Dharma Rain Zen Center newsletter] ----------------------------------- Electronic Buddhist Text Initiative and Workshop in Korea ----------------------------------- EBTI is an an organization set up to coordinate the efforts of the various groups involved in the input of electronic Buddhist documents. Many efforts are already under way in the field of Buddhist Studies to transfer the handwritten and printed heritage to the digital medium. It is of utmost importance to make sure that the digital texts produced by the various groups can be used in an integrated way. Thus far, the exchange of information between the institutions and individuals involved in the creation of electronic Buddhist texts has been limited. EBTI aims at informing member institutions and individuals about on-going efforts in this area and about the basic issues such as tagging, format, coding etc. The coordination of basic strategies is essential if these materials are to form an integrated body of data accessible to all readers of Buddhist textual material. The main function of EBTI is to serve as an information forum. This is achieved in the following ways: (1) An electronic bulletin board (EBTI-L@uxmail.ust.hk, please send requests for subscription to EBTI-L-request@uxmail.ust.hk, with the word 'subscribe' in the body of the message) (2) Occasional meetings and work group sessions to discuss issues of mutual concern (see below for next meeting) (3) The facilitation of the production and exchange of electronic Buddhist texts. Membership is open to any institution or individual involved in the creation of electronic Buddhist texts. There are no membership fees and no obligations except for the sharing of information with other members. EBTI was formed in April of 1993 following a symposium in Berkeley. In January, 1994, a workshop was held in Hong Kong to discuss SGML issues. A second workshop on tagging (and the first formal business meeting since the Berkeley meeting) is planned for Seoul in October, 1994 (see below). The Board is elected at each general meeting. The current Chairman is Lewis Lancaster of the University of California, Berkeley and the Coordinator is Urs App of Hanazono University, Kyoto. - Information about the EBTI Workshop in Korea - THEME: The meeting will concentrate on the tagging of electronic Buddhist texts and ways to coordinate efforts in various languages. Some input and font issues will also be discussed. LOCATION, DATE/TIME, AND MEETING SCHEDULE: * Saturday, October 1, 1994: Haein monastery, Korea Morning session: Reports about various input projects by participants. Afternoon session: Demonstrations, discussion of character code and authoring issues. Chair: Urs App * Sunday, October 2, 1994: Haein monastery, Korea Morning session: Text encoding issues (SGML and TEI); demos and workshop on Document Type Definitions. Chair: Lewis Lancaster Afternoon session: Business meeting. Future projects. Chairs: Urs App and a representative of Haeinsa. Evening: Journey to Seoul * Monday, October 3, 1994: Dongguk University, Seoul Morning session: Character code issues (Chinese character codes, Unicode, etc.) Afternoon session: Drafting proposal for additional characters in Unicode. REGISTRATION: Please contact Lewis Lancaster if you are interested in participating. Registrations should be sent by fax or e-mail to Lewis Lancaster (fax +1- 510-642-6031; e-mail: buddhst@garnet.berkeley.edu). Korean contact fax numbers: 82-599-313896 (Haeinsa) or 82-2-325-0581 (Seoul). Participants are expected to arrive on Friday morning at Seoul International airport. Transportation to the monastery (Friday afternoon) etc. will be arranged depending on the needs of participants. Incidentally, the Haein monastery houses the oldest complete extant woodblock edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon-one of the largest Buddhist input projects ever (over 80+000 double-sided wooden plates). On Sunday, October 2, we will return to Seoul for the meeting at Dongguk University. The most convenient place to stay is the Sofitel Hotel in central Seoul next to Dongguk University. The Monday meeting will be closed in time for the final flights to Tokyo, Hongkong, Taipei, etc. Participants from the USA can return by late night flights. Participants wishing to speak about specific topics are encouraged to contact Lewis Lancaster (fax +1-510-642-6031) or Urs App (fax +81-75-811- 9664) We are looking forward to meeting you in Korea! --Lewis Lancaster and Urs App ======================================================================= {6} LETTERS ======================================================================= ---------------------------- Revision: DRZC Dharma School ---------------------------- I made a few minor changes in the description of Dharma School after getting input from the people who do it. The changes are minor, but factually more accurate. Thank for your interest in this program. Kyogen Carlson * * * * * Dharma Rain Zen Center, 2539 SE Madison, Portland OR 97214. Contact: Elizabeth Erin Luthy, (505) 635-8409. Dharma Rain Zen Center has a bimonthly Children's Dharma class on Sunday mornings (except during the summer) while their parents are in the zendo. The program was created and coordinated by Center Director and priest Gyokuko Carlson, and Erin. Small children meditate for about 2 or 3 minutes. Older children sit for about 10 minutes. Children set up their own altar, light incense, and time the sittings. Lessons are designed to coordinate with the western calendar and seasons as well as the Buddhist calendar. Art, skits, little ceremonies and other projects are developed to augment the lessons. There are six to eight songs used regularly, with new ones learned over the course of the year. Thich Nhat Hanh's children's Precepts and promises are also included. A Greeting circle is created in the beginning. For this particular Dharma School children may enter in Fall or January. ------------------------------------------ New Organization to Support Activist Monks ------------------------------------------ This is to let you know that a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization has been set up to support the activities of Pra Pachak and other environmentally/ socially active monks in Asia and elsewhere. We are sending out an open invitation to the engaged Buddhist community to assist in raising funds for projects ranging from legal defense for Pra Pachak and a "green walk" from endangered forest to endangered forest across Thailand. Please post suggestions, offers of assistance and other correspondence to: Joe Franke 503-977-3028 Email: jfranke@igc.apc.org ------------------------------------------------ Request of Support for Thai Conservationist Monk Facing Legal Charges ------------------------------------------------ - Background - Pra Prachak is an environmental activist Buddhist monk with an international reputation for forest conservation in Thailand. Since he settled in Dong Yai forest, he has been helping the local people of Pakham district struggle to save the province's last rain-catchment forest from illegal loggers and the governments plan to initiate commercial eucalyptus plantations. Despite the Royal Thai Government's 1988 ban on logging, destruction of the country's remaining forests has continued largely unabated. In an effort to "reverse" this process, the government devised a land redistribution program to assist the rural poor while providing foreign companies with cheap paper pulp from commercial eucalyptus plantations. This re-forestation project known as Khor Jor Kor, required the massive relocation of Thailand's rural population, directly affecting nearly 4.85 people nationwide. After a series of largely non-violent protests, the Anand administration was finally forced to shelve the Khor Jor Kor plan in 1992. While the forced relocations have largely stopped, a policy of "benign neglect" has taken its place. Many of the rural farmers, who fought so hard to retain their traditional land rights, are now finding that crushing poverty is slowly starving them off their lands. When Pra Prachak originally arrived in Dong Yai in 1989, he found that 12 villages in his area were next on the government's list for resettlement. After seeing the extent of the deforestation, he immediately decided to stay and declared the local forest a Buddhist Meditation retreat. He asked the villagers to donate a nearby mountain as a Khet Apaiyataan or "land of forgiveness", to be the heart of the sanctuary, where tree-felling and the killing of wild animals are prohibited. And with the help of local leaders, he began ordaining the largest trees by wrapping them in the sacred yellow thread of the Buddhist clergy. In this traditionally Buddhist country, even destitute loggers are reluctant to cut down these "sanctified" trees. Pra Prachak has also engaged in forest patrols. In cooperation with the village headmen from the Pakham district's 25 villages, a mountain conservation group was formed in 1990. Since then small groups of sympathetic monks and villagers have roamed the forest daily, armed only with walkie-talkies and cameras. With these simple weapons they have been able to protect nearly 20,000 rai of forest (1 rai = 1600 Sq. meters) by documenting the illegal logging and blocking the roads used to transport the timber. Tragically though, two villagers were killed in September 1992, and another in July 1993 following confrontations with illegal loggers. Pra Prachak has also conducted a number of 'Deep Ecology' forest walks and non-violence workshops for local and western environmental activists. These are to raise awareness, and explore ways in which constructive social change can occur. Since economic pressures often force the young to seek employment in the cities, Pra Prachak has helped form a number of Youth Conservation Groups. By training young adults in forest conservation and equipping them with the skills to rebuild their own shattered communities, he hopes that they will begin to see life in the countryside as a viable option. His integrated plan includes organic farming, a children's day care centre, and training the local women to weave silk in order to eliminate the villagers need to rely on logging for income. In the course of such work, Pra Prachak believes that the villagers will slowly regain control over their lives and their community, demonstrating to the government that it is not only possible, but necessary for man and the forest to peacefully coexist. - Campaign - After settling in Dong Yai Forest Pra Prachak has accumulated various charges against himself. Two of these are currently going through the court hearing process; another has recently been dropped. The two still in force are: 1.Conspiracy to cause a public disturbance, and obstructing the duty of the authorities. (Still under appeal.) This has lead to the sentence of a one-year prison term and two years probation. 2.Forest Encroachment. This originally lead to a six-month prison, and two year probation term. After appealing he doesn't have to serve any of the sentence if he doesn't get involved in activities that are considered to damage the environment. Other than these cases, Pra Prachak has had new charges brought against him although no action has yet been taken. He is accused of destroying the forest and taking dead trees in order to build a wooden Buddhist Sala (This is even after an agreement had been made with the Forest Officer and others that such trees could be utilized.); illegal use of radio (formerly supplied to him by the Deputy Interior Minister to help in a pilot project to encourage monks to get involved in forest conservation.); and building a road. From May 20th to June 4th Pra Prachak was invited to visit and to meet with activists, universities, and NGO's in Japan, to raise awareness of Thailand's forest situation in that country. After coming back to Thailand he then joined the protest in support of hunger striker Chalard Vorachat who is striking for greater democracy in Thailand, and also spoke up on stage in support of the cause. After this the governor of Nakorn Ratchasima then issued the arrest for Pra Prachak, on the previous accusation of destroying the forest. This means that Pra Prachak may be taken at any time. He is currently staying at Kao Krajeaw temple in Saraburi province. There also seems to be a general movement to discredit Pra Prachak in the eyes of the public. This has been by local people, some newspapers, and the Forest Officer. The general situation of the villagers in the 14 villages around Dong Yai is that those supporting Pra Prachak feel tired and exhausted. They feel they have no power to stop the loggers who sneak into the forest at night (and during the day whilst Pra Prachak was in not in the area.) There are also villagers who are working for the logging companies, and those openly supporting them now. Other villagers who have not paid so much attention to the situation may be swayed to believe in the negative image that has been painted of Pra Prachak The National Security Council is also now investigating the activities of Pra Prachak. It is believed that this militaristic Council may also try to mirror Pra Prachak in a negative light. We would like to ask your support to distribute this information to other organizations which may be of help. Writing a formal letter to the Prime Minister, the Local Forest Officer, and the Ministry of Interior may also help Pra Prachak. - Addresses - Prime Minister Chuan Leekphai, Government House, Nakorn Pathom, Bangkok 10300, Thailand. FAX 66-2-280-1443. Royal Forest Department, 61 Phaholothin Road, Ladyao, Chatuchak Park, Bangkok 10900, Thailand. Tel.561-4292-3. Fax.579-8611. Ministry of the Interior, Usadang Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand. Tel.221- 3835. Fax.589-3733. For further information contact: International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), PO Box 1, Onkarak, Nakorn Nayok 26120, Thailand. Tel/Fax.66-37-391-494 Fax.662-546-1518 E-mail: ineb@ipied.tu.ac.th U.S. Contacts: Tax deductable contributions to Pra Pachak's defense and information fund can be made through: First Nation's Health Project, Inc. 6563 SW Firlock Way #6 Portland, OR 97223 (503) 977-3028 Email: jfranke@igc.apc.org Buddhist Peace Fellowship P.O. Box 4650 Berkeley, CA 94704 (510) 525-8596 Email: bpf@igc.apc.org P.S. The current General Director of the Police Department (Pratin) has stated in private to our sources that Phra Prachak will be safe whilst he (Pratin) is still police chief. However, Pratin cannot guarantee the situation after October when he retires. [Forwarded to igc:bpf.ineb from the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, Thailand. July 11, 1994.] ======================================================================= {7} DIALOGUE ======================================================================= THE FOURTH PRECEPT: DEEP LISTENING AND LOVING SPEECH by Thich Nhat Hanh //Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I vow to cultivate loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I vow to learn to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy, and hope. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to criticize or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the family or the community to break. I will make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.// There is a saying in Vietnamese, "It doesn't cost anything to have loving speech." We only need to choose our words carefully, and we can make other people happy. To use words mindfully, with loving kindness, is to practice generosity. Therefore this precept is linked directly to the Second Precept. We can make many people happy just by practicing loving speech. Again, we see the interbeing nature of the Five Precepts. Many people think they will be able to practice generosity only after they have accumulated a small fortune. I know young people who dream of getting rich so they can bring happiness to others: "I want to become a doctor or the president of a big company so I can make a lot of money and help many people." They do not realize that it is often more difficult to practice generosity after you are wealthy. If you are motivated by loving kindness and compassion, there are many ways to bring happiness to others right now, starting with kind speech. The way you speak to others can offer them joy, happiness, self-confidence, hope, trust, and enlightenment. Mindful speaking is a deep practice. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is a person who has learned the art of listening and speaking deeply in order to help people let go of their fear, misery, and despair. He is the model of this practice, and the door he opens is called the "universal door." If we practice listening and speaking according to Avalokitesvara, we too will be able to open the universal door and bring joy, peace, and happiness to many people and alleviate their suffering. The universal door manifests itself in the voice of the rolling tide. Hearing and practicing it, we become a child, born from the heart of a lotus, fresh, pure, and happy, capable of speaking and listening in accord with the universal door. With only one drop of the water of compassion from the branch of the willow, spring returns to the great Earth. I learned this beautiful poem when I studied the //Lotus Sutra// at age sixteen. When you hear "the voice of the rolling tide," which is Avalokitesvara's practice, symbolizing the universal door, you are transformed into a child born in the heart of a lotus. With only one drop of the water of compassion from the willow branch of the bodhisattva, spring returns to our dry Earth. Th dry Earth means the world of suffering and misery. The drop of compassionate water is the practice of loving kindness, symbolized by the water on the willow branch. Avalokitesvara is described by the Chinese, Vietnamese, Koreans, and Japanese as the person holding the willow branch. He dips the branch into the water of compassion of his heart, and wherever he sprinkles that water, everything is reborn. When he sprinkles it on dry, dead branches, they turn green. Dead branches also symbolize suffering and despair, and green vegetation symbolizes the return of peace and happiness. With only one drop of that water, spring returns to our great Earth. In the "Universal Door" chapter of the //Lotus Sutra//, Avalokitesvara's voice is described in five ways: the wondrous voice, the voice of the world regarded, the //brahma// voice, the voice of the rising tide, and the voice of world surpassing. We should always keep these five voices in mind. First, there is the wondrous voice. This is the kind of speaking that will open the universal door and make everything possible again. This voice is pleasant to hear. It is refreshing and brings calm, comfort, and healing to our soul. Its essence is compassion. Second, there is the voice of the world regarded. The meaning of the word Avalokitesvara is "the one who looks deeply into the world and hears the cries of the world." This voice relieves our suffering and suppressed feelings, because it is the voice of someone who understands us deeply -- our anguish, despair, and fear. When we feel understood, we suffer much less. Third, here is the brahma voice. Brahma means noble -- not just the ordinary voice of people, but the noble speech that springs forth from the willingness to bring happiness and remove suffering. Love, compassion, joy, and impartiality are the //Four Brahmaviharas//, noble dwellings of buddhas and bodhisattvas. If we want to live with buddhas and bodhisattvas, we can dwell in these mansions. During the time of the Buddha, the aim of the practice of many people was to be born and to live together with Brahma. It was similar to the Christian practice of wanting to go to Heaven to be with God. "In my Father's house there are many mansions," and you want to live in one of these mansions. For those who wanted to be with Brahma, the Buddha said, "Practice the four noble dwellings: love, compassion, joy, and impartiality." If we want to share one teaching of the Buddha with our Christian friends, it would be the same: "God is love, compassion, joy, and impartiality." If you want to be with God, practice these four dwellings. If you don't practice these four, no matter how much you pray or talk about being with God, going to Heaven will not be possible. Fourth, the voice of the rising tide is the voice of the Buddhadharma. It is a powerful voice, the kind of voice that silences all wrong views and speculations. It is the lion's roar that brings absolute silence to the mountain and brings about transformation and healing. Fifth, the voice of the world surpassing is the voice with which nothing can be compared. This voice does not aim at fame, profit, or a competitive edge. It is the thundering silence that shatters all notions and concepts. The wondrous voice, th voice of the world regarded, the brahma voice, the voice of the rising tide, and the voice of the world surpassing are the voices we are to be mindful of. If we contemplate these five kinds of voices, we assist Avalokitesvara in opening the universal door, the door of real listening and real speaking. Because he lives a mindful life, always contemplating the world, and because he is the world regarder, Avalokitesvara notices a lot of suffering. He knows that much suffering is born from unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others; therefore he practices mindful, loving speech and listening deeply. Avalokitesvara can be described as the one who teaches us the best way to practice the Fourth Precept. //"Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech, and the inability to listen to others, I vow to cultivate loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering."// This is exactly the universal door practiced by Avalokitesvara. Never in the history of humankind have we had so many means of communication -- television, telecommunications, telephones, fax machines, wireless radios, hot lines, and red lines -- but we still remain islands. There is so little communication between the members of one family, between the individuals in society, and between nations. We suffer from so many wars and conflicts. We surely have not cultivated the arts of listening and speaking. We do not know how to listen to each other. We have little ability to hold an intelligent or meaningful conversation. The universal door of communication has to be opened again. When we cannot communicate, we get sick, and as our sickness increases, we suffer and spill our suffering on other people. We purchase the services of psychotherapists to listen to our suffering, but if psychotherapists do not practice the universal door, they will not succeed. Psychotherapists are human beings who are subject to suffering like the rest of us. They might have problems with their spouses, children, friends, and society. They also have internal formations. They may have a lot of suffering that cannot be communicated to even the most beloved person in their life. How can they sit there and listen to our suffering, and understand our suffering? Psychotherapists have to practice the universal door, the Fourth Precept -- deep listening and mindful speech. Unless we look deeply into ourselves, this practice will not be easy. If there is a lot of suffering in you, it is difficult to listen to other people or to say nice things to them. First you have to look deeply into the nature of your anger, despair, and suffering to free yourself, so you can be available to others. Suppose your husband said something unkind on Monday and it hurt you. He used unmindful speech and does not have the ability to listen. If you reply right away out of your anger and suffering, you risk hurting him and making his suffering deeper. What should you do? If you suppress your anger or remain silent, that can hurt you, because if you try to suppress the anger in you, you are suppressing yourself. You will suffer later, and your suffering will bring more suffering to your partner. The best immediate practice is to breathe in and out in order to calm your anger, to calm the pain: "Breathing in, I know that I am angry. Breathing out, I calm my feeling of anger." Just by breathing deeply on your anger, you will calm it. You are being mindful of your anger, not suppressing it. When you are calm enough, you may be able to use mindful speech. In a loving and mindful way, you can say, "Darling, I would like you to know that I am angry. What you just said hurt me a lot, and I want you to know that." Just saying that, mindfully and calmly, will give you some relief. Breathing mindfully to calm your anger, you will be able to tell the other person that you are suffering. During that moment, you are living your anger, touching it with the energy of mindfulness. You are not denying it at all. When I speak about this to psychotherapists, I have some difficulty. When I say that anger makes us suffer, they take it to mean that anger is something negative to be removed. But I always say that anger is an organic thing, like love. Anger can become love. Our compost can become a rose. If we know how to take care of our compost, we can transform it into a rose. Should we call the garbage negative or positive? It can be positive, if we know how to handle it. Anger is the same. It can be negative when we do not know how to handle it, but if we know how to handle our anger, it can be very positive. We do not need to throw anything away. After you breathe in and out a number of times to recover your calmness, even if your anger is still there, you are mindful of it, and you can tell the other person that you are angry. You can also tell him that you would like to look deeply into it, and you would like him to look deeply into it also. Then you can make an appointment for Friday evening to look at it together. One person looking at the roots of your suffering is good, two people looking at it is better, and two people looking together is best. I propose Friday evening for two reasons. First, you are still angry, and if you begin discussing it now, it may be too risky. You might say things that will make the situation worse. From now until Friday evening, you can practice looking deeply into the nature of your anger, and the other person can also. While driving the car, he might ask himself, "What is so serious? Why did she get so upset? There must be a reason." While driving, you will also have a chance to look deeply into it. Before Friday night, one or both of you may see the root of the problem and be able to tell the other and apologize. Then on Friday night, you can have a cup of tea together and enjoy each other. If you make an appointment, you will both have time to calm down and look deeply. This is the practice of meditation. Meditation is to calm ourselves and to look deeply into the nature of our suffering. When Friday night comes, if the suffering has not been transformed, you will be able to practice the art of Avalokitesvara. You sit together and practice deep listening -- one person expressing herself, while the other person listens deeply. When you speak, you tell the deepest kind of truth, and you practice loving speech. Only by using that kind of speech will there be a chance for the other person to understand and accept. While listening, you know that only with deep listening can you relieve the suffering of the other person. If you listen with just half an ear, you cannot do it. Your presence must be deep and real. Your listening must be of a good quality in order to relieve the other person of his suffering. This is the practice of the Fourth Precept. The second reason for waiting until Friday is that when you neutralize that feeling on Friday evening, you have Saturday and Sunday to enjoy being together. Suppose you have some kind of internal formation regarding a member of your family or community, and you don't feel joyful being with that person. You can talk to her about simple things, but you don't feel comfortable talking with her about anything deep. Then one day, while doing housework, you notice that the other person is not doing anything at all, is not sharing the work that needs to be done, and you begin to feel uneasy. "Why am I doing so much and she isn't doing anything? She should be working." Because of this comparison, you lose your happiness. But instead of telling the other person, "Please, Sister, come and help with the work," you say to yourself, "She is an adult. Why should I have to say something to her? She should be more responsible!" You think that way because you already have some internal formation about the other person. The shortest way is always the direct way. "B" can go to "A" and say, "Sister, please come and help." But you do not do that. You keep it to yourself and blame the other person. The next time the same thing happens, your feeling is even more intense. Your internal formation grows little by little, until you suffer so much that you need to talk about it with a third person. You are looking for sympathy in order to share the suffering. So, instead of talking directly to "A," you talk to "C." You look for "C" because you think that "C" is an ally who will agree that "A" is not behaving well at all. If you are "C," what should you do? If you already have some internal formations concerning "A," you will probably be glad to hear that someone else feels the same. Talking to each other may make you feel better. You are becoming allies -- "B" and "C" against "A." Suddenly "B" and "C" feel close to each other, and both of you feel some distance from "A." "A" will notice that. "A" may be very nice. She would be capable of responding directly to "B" if "B" could express her feelings to her. But "A" does not know about "B's" resentment. She just feels some kind of cooling down between herself and "B," without knowing why. She notices that "B" and "C" are becoming close, while both of them look at her coldly. So she thinks, "If they don't want me, I don't need them." She steps farther back from them, and the situation worsens. A triangle has been set up. If I were "C," first of all, I would listen to "B" attentively, understanding that "B" needs to share her suffering. Knowing that the direct way is the shortest way, I would encourage "B" to speak directly to "A." If "B" is unable to do this, I would offer to speak to "A" on "B's" behalf, either with "B" present, or alone. But, most important, I would not transmit to anyone else what "B" tells me in confidence. If I am not mindful, I may tell others what I now know about "B's" feelings, and soon the family or the community will be a mess. If I do these things -- encourage "B" to speak directly with "A" or speak with "A" on "B's" behalf, and not tell anyone else what "B" has told me -- I will be able to break the triangle. This may help solve the problem, and bring peace and joy back into the family, the community, and the society. If, in the community, you see that someone is having difficulty with someone else, you have to help right away. The longer things drag on, the more difficult they are to solve. The best way to help is to practice mindful speech and deep listening. The Fourth Precept can bring peace, understanding, and happiness to people. The universal door is a wonderful door. You will be reborn in a lotus flower and help others, including your family, your community, and your society, be born there also. Speech can be constructive or destructive. Mindful speaking can bring real happiness; unmindful speech can kill. When someone tells us something that makes us healthy and happy, that is the greatest gift he or she can give. Sometimes, someone says something to us that is so cruel and distressing that we want to go and commit suicide; we lose all hope, all our //joie de vivre//. People kill because of speech. When you fanatically advocate an ideology, saying that this way of thinking or organizing society is the best, then if anyone stands in your way, you have to suppress or eliminate him. This is very much linked with the First Precept -- that kind of speech can kill not only one person, but many. When you believe in something that strongly, you can put millions of people into gas chambers. When you use speech to promote an ideology, urging people to kill in order to protect and promote your ideology, you can kill many millions. The First and Fourth of the Five Wonderful Precepts inter-are. The Fourth Precept is also linked to the Second Precept, on stealing. Just as there is a "sex industry," there is also a "lying industry." Many people have to lie in order to succeed as politicians, or salespersons. A corporate director of communications told me that if he were allowed to tell the truth about his company's products, people would not buy them. He says positive things about the products that he knows are not true, and he refrains from speaking about the negative effects of the products. He knows he is lying, and he feels terrible about it. So many people are caught in similar situations. In politics also, people lie to get votes. That is why we can speak of a "lying industry." This precept is also linked with the Third Precept. When someone says, "I love you," it may be a lie. It may just be an expression of desire. And so much advertising is linked with sex. In the Buddhist tradition, the Fourth Precept is always described as refraining from these four actions: 1. Not telling the truth. If it's black, you say it's white. 2. Exaggerating. You make something up, or describe something as more beautiful than it actually is, or as ugly when it is not so ugly. 3. Forked tongue. You go to one person and say one thing and then you go to another person and say the opposite. 4. Filthy language. You insult or abuse people. //"I vow to learn to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self- confidence, joy, and hope."// This must be practiced with children. If you tell children they are good-for-nothing, they will suffer in the future. Always emphasize the positive, hopeful things with your children, and also with your spouse. //"I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to criticize or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the family or the community to break. I will make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small."// Reconciliation is a deep practice that we can do with our listening and our mindful speech. To reconcile means to bring peace and happiness to nations, people, and members of our family. This is the work of a bodhisattva. In order to reconcile, you have to possess the art of deep listening, and you also have to master the art of loving speech. You have to refrain from aligning yourself with one party so that you are able to understand both parties. This is a difficult practice. During the war in Vietnam, we tried to practice this. We tried not to align ourselves with either of the warring parties, the communists or the anticommunists. You will be able to help only if you stand above the conflict and see both the good and the bad aspects of both sides. Doing this, you put yourself in a dangerous situation, because you may be hated by both sides. One side suspects that you are an instrument of the other side, and the other side suspects you are an instrument of the first side. You may be killed by both sides at the same time. That is exactly what many Buddhists in Vietnam suffered during the war. We did not align ourselves with the communists, but we did not align ourselves with the pro-American side either. We just wanted to be ourselves. We did not want any killing; we only wanted reconciliation. One side said that you cannot reconcile with the pro-Americans. The other side said that you cannot reconcile with the communists. If we had listened to both sides it would have been impossible to reconcile with anyone. We trained social workers to go into the rural areas to help with health, economic, and educational problems, and we were suspected by both sides. Our work of reconciliation was not just the work of speaking, but also of acting. We tried to help the peasants find hope. We helped many refugees settle in new villages. We helped sponsor more than ten thousand orphans. We helped the peasants rebuild their destroyed villages. THe work of reconciliation is not just diplomatic; it is concrete. At the same time, we were voicing the peace in our hearts. We said the people in one family must look upon each other as brothers and sisters and accept each other. They should not kill each other because of any ideology. That message was not at all popular in the situation of war. My writings were censored by both sides. My poetry was seized by both sides. My friends printed one of my poetry books underground because the Saigon government would not allow its publication. Then the communist side attacked it on the radio saying that it was harmful to the struggle, probably motivated by the CIA. Nationalist policemen went into bookshops and confiscated the poems. In Hue, one kind policeman went into a Buddhist bookshop and said that this book should not be displayed; it should be hidden and given out only when someone asked for it. We were suppressed not only in our attempts to voice our concerns and propose ways to settle the problems between brothers and sisters, we were also suppressed in our attempts to help people. Many of our social workers were killed and kidnapped by both sides. Each side suspected we were working for the other side. Some of our workers were assassinated by fanatic Catholics who suspected us of working for the communists, and some of our workers were taken away by the communist side. Our workers were quite popular in the countryside. They were very dedicated young men and women, including many young monks and nuns. They did not have salaries; they just wanted to serve and to practice Buddhism. In the situation of war, they brought their loving kindness, compassion, and good work, and received a small stipend to live. They went to the countryside without hoping for anything in return. I remember a young man named An who specialized in helping peasants learn modern methods of raising chickens. He taught them disease prevention techniques. He was asked by a farmer, "How much do you earn from the government each month?" An said, "We don't earn anything from the government. In fact we are not from the government, we are from the temple. We are sent by the Buddhist temple to help you." An did not tell the farmer, who was not so sophisticated, that he was associated with the School of Youth for Social Service, founded by the Department of Social Work of the Unified Buddhist Church. That was too complicated, so he only said that he was sent by the temple. "Why have you come here from the temple?" An said, "We are performing merit." This is a very popular term in Buddhism. The farmer was surprised. He said, "I have learned that in order to perform merit people go to the temple. Now why are you performing merit here?" The young man said, "You know, my Uncle, during these times the people suffer so much that even the Buddha has to come out here to help. We students of the Buddha are performing merit right here, where you suffer." That statement became the ground of our philosophy of social service, engaged Buddhism. The Buddha has to be in society. He cannot remain in the temple any longer, because people are suffering too much. In a few years, we became very popular in the countryside of Vietnam. We did not have a lot of money, but because we worked in the way of performing merit, we were loved by the people. The communist side knew that and did not want us to be there, so they came to us during the night and asked us who had given us permission to work there. Our workers said that we did not have permission from either the government or the communist side. We were just performing merit here. One time the communists gave the order for our social workers to evacuate an area, saying, "We will not be responsible for your safety if you stay beyond twenty-four hours." Another time, some fanatics came from the government, unofficially, and asked our social workers if they were really social workers from the Buddhist community. Then they brought five of the students to the riverbank, and, after checking once more to be sure that they were Buddhist social workers, said, "We are sorry, but we have to kill you." They shot all five of them. We were suppressed by both sides during the night. They knew that if they suppressed us during the day, the peasants in the countryside would disapprove. One grenade thrown into my room was deflected by a curtain. Another night, many grenades were thrown into our School's dormitories, killing two young workers, and injuring many others. One young man was paralyzed, and later treated in Germany. One young lady got more than 1,000 pieces of shrapnel in her body. She lost a lot of blood, and was saved by a Japanese friend who was helping us. Later, we were able to bring her to Japan for surgery. They tried to remove the small metal pieces, but 300 pieces that could not be taken out were left in her body. One day when I was in Paris as representative of the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace Delegation, to be present at the Paris Peace Talks, I received a phone message from Saigon telling me that four social workers had just been shot and killed. I cried. It was I who had asked them to come and be trained as social workers. A friend who was there with me, said, "Thay, you are a kind of general leading a nonviolent army, and when your army is working for love and reconciliation, there surely will be casualties. There is no need to cry." I said, "I am not a general. I am a human being. I need to cry." I wrote a play six months later about the deaths of these students, entitled, //The Path of Return Continues the Journey.// [see //Love in Action: Writings on Nonviolent Social Change// (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1993)] The work of reconciliation is not diplomatic work alone. It is not because you travel and meet with dozens of foreign ministers that you do the work of reconciliation. You have to use your body, your time, and your life to do the work of reconciliation. You do it in many ways, and you can be suppressed by the people you are trying to help. You have to listen and understand the suffering of one side, and then go and listen to the suffering of the other side. Then you will be able to tell each side, in turn, about the suffering being endured by the other side. That kind of work is crucial, and it takes courage. We need many people who have the capacity of listening, in South Africa, in the Middle East, in Eastern Europe, and elsewhere. The Fourth Precept is a bodhisattva precept. We need deep study to be able to practice it well, within ourselves, our families, our communities, our society, and the world. * * * * * THICH NHAT HANH is a Zen Buddhist monk, peace activist, scholar, and poet. He is the founder of the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon, has taught at Columbia University and the Sorbonne, and now lives in southern France, where he gardens, works to help those in need, and travels internationally teaching "the art of mindful living." Martin Luther King, Jr., nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967, saying, "I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize than this gentle monk from Vietnam." This article was excerpted from //For A Future To Be Possible: Commentaries on the Five Wonderful Precepts//, by Thich Nhat Hanh. Copyright 1993. Reprinted with permission of Parallax Press, PO Box 7355, Berkeley, CA 94707. The chapter on the remaining precept will appear in the following issue (#6) of //Gassho//. The preceding four issues of GASSHO included the first chapters of this series. ======================================================================= {8} ARTICLE ======================================================================= CONVENTIONAL WOMEN, ULTIMATE WOMAN: GENDER, NONDUALITY, AND THE GODDESS by Jamie Hubbard Teaching at a women's college has given me many opportunities to discover that much of current feminist and cultural criticism meshes well with Buddhist ideas, including problematizing the boundaries of self and other, the recuperation of a "strategic self" in the face of postmodern deconstruction, and especially the pervasive discussion of interdependence found from eco-feminism to the cyborg anthropology of Donna Haraway. While I must confess that I often have the feeling that most of these theoretical issues have already been dealt with more thoroughly in the Buddhist context, the political and institutional critique included with so much of current theory is not often of much concern within the Buddhist doctrinal tradition, particularly the Mahayana. Being a somewhat hardheaded fellow, I may not have absorbed overly much in my years of teaching at a women's college, but my students have convinced me of at least two points that I think present a forceful challenge to much of the way the Buddhist treatment of women has been presented by modern writers: 1) there are no human beings that exist apart from gendered bodies and 2) institutions are crucial, particularly so for those whose gender is rendered peripheral by the society that creates the institutions. The usual interpretation found in Western writing on women in the Buddhist tradition is that there is a rift between rhetoric and reality: normative statements affirming the equality of women's potential for Buddhahood are betrayed by the limited institutional access granted women who wish to realize that potential. The old adage about the inevitable breach between ideal and actual is cited in affirmation of the glory of a trans- historical Buddhist truth while the unfortunate, messy, and all-too-human details of the historical reality are decried. But is the matter really so simple as that? Why, we might wonder, is there such an unbridgeable gulf between rhetoric and reality, doctrine and experience? Is the experience of the Buddhist practitioner necessarily so distinct from the Buddhist doctrine that informs it? It is incontestable that many elements of the Buddhist tradition can be -- and have been -- recuperated as affirmations of women's religious equality, beginning with Sakyamuni's declaration that the ultimate fruit is indeed obtainable by women no less than men. One doctrine popularly deployed in such a fashion is the Mahayana rejection of the dichotomy between male and female in the non-duality of emptiness, seen most wonderfully in the "Goddess" chapter of the //Vimalakirtinirdesa-sutra//. This chapter presents the Mahayana notion of truth beyond all dichotomies, and in the process uses the example of gender bias as a powerful demonstration of the illusion of fixed particulars in relation to the truth of the universal: like all fixed or absolute essences, gender is but a limiting dichotomy that has no basis in reality. The chapter opens with the bodhisattva of wisdom, Manjusri, questioning Vimalakirti on how a bodhisattva is to regard living beings. A Goddess, overjoyed at the profound discussion of the illusory nature of selfhood, showers the assembly with flowers, leading her to a discussion of the dharma with Sariputra, "foremost of the wise." Sariputra, impressed but unable to fathom how a *woman* could have achieved such wisdom, asks her, "Goddess, what prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state?" The Goddess replies, "Although I have sought my `female state' for these twelve years, I have not yet found it. . . With this in mind, the Buddha said, `In all things, there is neither male nor female'" (from //The Holy Teaching of Vimalakiirti//, translated by Robert Thurman [The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976], pp. 61-62). This interchange is truly delightful (especially when the Goddess mocks Sariputra's fixed notions of gender by changing him into a woman) and important as a statement of the equality of all things. At the same time, however, given the fact of the many inequalities faced by women in the real world of Buddhist institutions, we may question, as do my students regularly, the meaning of such a theoretical equality of genders. As one student put it after reading in the //Aganna Sutta// of the central role of sexual desire in the degeneration of the world: The basic focus of the Buddhist tradition has been on the renunciant males. The reason that sexuality is seen like it is, some think, is because most scriptures were written by males who were out of control (sexual lust is the most obvious desire, [accompanied by] public shame of sexual organs). In Nirvana, however, there is no gender. Is that supposed to appease the female community? You get treated like a second class citizen all of your life because some renunciant monks are afraid or obsessed with the idea of someone being sexually different from themselves, but it's okay because in Nirvana you cease to have gender? I really can't imagine this would be a big selling point to women. (Laura Carson, comments posted to class discussion list, //The Politics of Enlightenment//, Smith College, 3/94) As she notes, "selling" the dharma is a tricky point, and two questions arise from this rather typical response to the notion of a gender-free enlightenment: 1) where or what is the locus of the non-gendered reality described by the Goddess; and 2) how can such a reality be relevant to gendered beings, for whom gender constructions matter a great deal? This question also forces one to ponder what social constructs and boundaries would govern a world suddenly shorn of gender markings, a question rather pertinent in light of the virtual communities we now roam so freely, without obvious markings of gender, race, ethnicity, age, etc. Where, indeed, is this magical realm of non-gendered beings? Obviously for the //Vimalakirti// it is the realm of non-duality, the realm of emptiness taken as the equality not just of gender but of *all things*. We should keep in mind that the "Goddess" chapter opens with the question of how to regard living beings in general, a caution against assuming that the Goddess is really even concerned with gender -- gender just happens to be one of the most deeply rooted examples of ignorant, dichotomous thinking and hence extremely powerful as a metaphor or polemic, not in the service of equality for women but rather the truth of non-duality. All discrimination must be transcended in non-duality, even that which would discriminate non-duality from duality; hence too the famous "thunderous roar of Vimalakirti's silence" at the end the chapter on "The Dharma-Door of Nonduality." As with Sariputra's attempt to essentialize gender, the statements in this chapter clearly show that to say, "*This* is the entrance to non-duality" means that there is something that is *not* the entrance and hence the statement itself becomes dualistic. Just as gender discrimination is erased in nonduality so too the discriminations of linguistic representation are eliminated. This "silence" is often taken as the "ultimate" truth, and so perhaps a non-gendered woman (whatever that might mean) corresponds to the "ultimate" woman that I referred to in the title. But nonduality is a tricky business, and although many would like to simply rest with the elimination of gender discrimination, language, and other concepts and constructions, such is clearly contrary to the *critical* thrust of a Buddhist tradition that moves towards accurate discrimination rather than monistic blurs of oneness or sameness. Where is there nonduality that does not simultaneously encompass duality? Where is there an emptiness apart from the form that is empty? To assert such a transcendent realm would be to slide down a slippery slope of moral nihilism, denying the manifold world of interdependent phenomena that the Buddha asserted in place of monist unities. Does emptiness mean nonexistence and nonduality imply erasure? No, and so the location of non- gendered reality can be none other than the realm of gendered beings. In another idiom, we may all equally be human beings, but we are all equally *gendered* human beings. The discriminating wisdom of the Buddhas (prajna) is not the absence of all differentiation and representation but rather maximally accurate differentiation and representation of the way things *really are*. So too Vimalakirti was not merely silent -- he, like the Buddha, also spoke a great deal in discrimination of truth and falsity. It is for this reason that an understanding of nonduality as the elimination of distinctions is of little relevance to beings within the nondual reality of gendered existence. To think otherwise is to endorse an "equality through erasure," the sort of equality that will forever remain utopian (from the Greek //ou// + //topos//, literally "no place," that is, no place in the real world). This is to silence rather than empower women, ignore rather than face the power and importance of difference, and, ultimately, to promote indifference and hence social bias rather than eliminate suffering. Many people, for example, have thought that the lack of sex and other physical markings in Net communication would foster an egalitarian cyber-communion, but this has been far from the reality. It seems that on the net, as with erasing, ignoring, forgetting, or "looking the other way" in physical realities, ignoring and/or bending gender (re)presentations simply allows the dominant socialization to continue unchallenged rather than create equality. We might also question where such a "no-place" of non-gendered existence might lie along either the path of practice, where one's gender has a great deal to do with access to education, teachers, institutional sanctuary, and thereby realization or within the practice of wisdom, in which, if a Buddha is one who teaches uniquely to the needs of the practitioner, surely the recognition of gender difference among those practitioners would be among the most basic skills of an enlightened Buddha. Both of these realms -- the practice that leads towards wisdom and the practice *of* wisdom -- thus include the truth of conventional women, women who live with the constructions of gender. If I am wrong, however, and non-duality means "equality" in the sense of an essential sameness arrived at through elimination of conventional difference, then perhaps the historical reality does not *betray* the doctrinal ideal but rather mirrors it rather accurately. If, on the other hand, nonduality in no way denies worldly phenomena, including social constructions of gender as well as biological difference of sex, we are forced, I believe, to question not only a modern interpretation of a "nonduality" of gender but also the simplicity of the "rhetoric versus reality" model that dominates the discussion of women in the Buddhist tradition. The rhetoric forces us, inexorably, to turn towards the reality. In this context I would like to offer a few comments on the institutional reality faced by women within the Buddhist tradition. Much ink (and, more recently, Internet data packets) has been spilled on the fact that although women have equal potential for wisdom "when they have gone forth from the household life and entered the homeless state, under the doctrine and discipline proclaimed by the Blessed One," their opportunity to realize that potential was immediately limited by the imposition of eight rules which restrict access to doctrine and discipline -- that is, restrict access to that homeless life that is the precondition of wisdom. Leaving aside the question of the historical status of the text and its authorship, I tend to agree with those who feel that rather than hold the Buddha to current standards of correct thinking on and institutional implementation of gender equality we should consider the radical nature of his creation of a sanctuary and safe haven for the nurturing of women's religious dignity within the society of his time. Thus too I believe that it is of paramount importance to keep in mind that the wisdom-equality of women was not merely declared as an independent fact but rather was declared *dependent upon institutional access*, that is, dependent upon entering the "homeless state, under the doctrine and discipline proclaimed by the Blessed One." We know that early Buddhist women celebrated this institutional innovation as both a place of social as well as religious liberation from the poems produced in their exultation: "O free, indeed! O gloriously free am I, in freedom from three crooked things: -- From mortar, pestle, and from my crookback'd husband! Ay, but I'm free from rebirth and from death, And all that dragged me back is hurled away." Just as the future Buddha left the hindrances of society and family behind in order to pursue a higher duty so too women were able to quit the home and leave behind expected sexual roles in the search for wisdom: "Home have I left, for I have left my world! Child have I left, and all my cherish'd heirs! Lust have I left, and Ill-will, too, is gone, And Ignorance have I put far from me; Craving and root of Craving overpower'd, Cool am I now, knowing Nibbana's peace (adapted from //Psalms of the Sisters//, translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids [London: Oxford University Press, 19], pp. 15 & 21). To keep in mind how innovative Sakyamuni was, all we need do is call to mind how budget strictures, zoning laws, bigotry, hostility, and outright violence are used to hamper attempts to create neighborhood shelters or refuges of safety for women in our own times, in spite of the sickening violence women regularly face in North American society. Thus the creation of a women's sangha, whatever we might today think of the eight rules, is not a rejection of historical context but a recognition of it. So too today's sanghas must face today's historical context and not hide behind a rhetoric of equality if they are to create the institutional opportunities for the realization of women's wisdom that Sakyamuni envisioned, for just as there is no emptiness apart from the form that is empty, there is no equality of gender apart from the gendered beings that are, or would be, equal. * * * * * JAMIE HUBBARD is the Yehan Numata Chair in Buddhist Studies at Smith College. His major research concerns are apocryphal Chinese texts of the Three Stages movement from Tun-huang and Japan, institutional and economic history of Buddhism, new Buddhist movements in Japan, and methodological issues in religious studies and Buddhist studies. He has authored various articles on these topics and has written a BBC film titled "The Yamaguchi Story: Buddhism and the Family in Japan." Books in progress include a volume on the Three Stages movement, an edited volume on the "critical Buddhism" controversy in Japan, and a volume dealing with the apocryphal manuscripts discovered at Nanatsudera temple in Nagoya. ======================================================================= {9} ARTICLE ======================================================================= THE MOTHER ESSENCE LINEAGE by Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche - Yeshe Tsogyel - The greatest inspiration and role model for women, in terms of Tibetan Buddhism, is the enlightened yogini Yeshe Tsogyel (Ye-shes mTsho-rGyal). Yeshe means 'primordial wisdom', and Tsogyel means 'queen of the ocean- like quality of Mind'. She is the female Buddha of the Nyingma School. As an historical figure she is mother of all Nyingma Lineages. Yeshe Tsogyel, together with her incarnation and emanations are an inspiration to women as role models, and to men as teachers. According to the teachings of the Mother Essence Lineage, there are three styles of teacher-student relationship; according to mDo (Sutra), rGyud (Tantra), and rDzogs-chen (Mahasandhi). According to Sutra one needs a teacher of the same gender. According to Tantra one needs a teacher of the other, or inverse gender. According to Dzogchen the gender of the teacher is irrelevant. From the perspective of Tantra, therefore, female teachers are role models for women and teachers for men -- whereas male teachers are teachers for women and role models for men. Within the Mother Essence Lineage, the practice of everyday life is approached from the View of Tantra, and formal practice is approached from the View of Dzogchen. This account of the Mother Essence Lineage is written in a style that emphasizes View rather than practice; and so it emphasizes the perspective of Tantra. There is tremendous emphasis on what is called living the View in the Mother Essence Lineage, and this is a style of practice that is particularly suited to women. Yeshe Tsogyel was the sang-yum or spiritual consort of Padmasambhava. Padmasambhava is known in the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism as the second Buddha. Padmasambhava was the founder of Buddhism in Tibet, and the Nyingma (Ancient) School represents the first spread of Buddhism in Tibet when it surged with the spiritual dynamism provoked by Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyel. Padmasambhava's birth and activity were predicted by Buddha Shakyamuni, who said that a being of tremendous power and compassion would appear after his death, who had the capacity to transmit the teaching and practices of Tantra. The two primary aspects of the practice of Tantra consist of wisdom and active-compassion, and these are regarded as being female and male qualities respectively. Wisdom and active-compassion are fundamentally the enlightened human qualities of Emptiness and Form -- the ornaments of non-duality. (This is a teaching that is also fundamental to the Sutric teaching. It is found in the Heart Sutra, in which it is stated that Form is Emptiness and Emptiness is Form.) With regard to Tantra, Padmasambhava is Form or active-compassion, and Yeshe Tsogyel is Emptiness or wisdom. From this perspective, the whole of reality is seen as the dance of Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyel. Within the Ngakphang Sangha of the Nyingma School, every Lama and her or his spiritual consort are Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyel as far as their disciples are concerned. In the Mother Essence Lineage, Yeshe Togyel and her incarnations and emanations are of primary importance, because she is the Mother of Vision, and therefore the Mother of non-dual experience. Tantra contains methods that are particularly valuable for women, because of their emphasis on the development of Vision. It is said, within the Tantric teachings, that women have greater capacity for realization than men because of their greater natural resonance with the sphere of Visionary practice. The most inspirational example in the Tantric tradition of the profound capacity of women is Yeshe Tsogyel. She was the first Tibetan woman to achieve Buddhahood and has had numerous incarnations and emanations in Tibet and the other Himalayan countries. The Visionary origin of the Mother Essence Lineage is Yeshe Tsogyel, and her influence can be traced forward to the twentieth century through her incarnations. The incarnations of Yeshe Tsogyel include: Machig Lapdron; Jomo Menmo; Jomo Chhi-'med Pema; and, Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema -- the women who gave birth to the pure-vision revelations that are called the Aro gTer of the Mother Essence Lineage. Those interested to learn more about the life of Yeshe Tsogyel are referred to Keith Dowman's excellent book 'Sky Dancer', which chronicles her birth, life and realization -- along with a marvellous commentary on the nature of the three inner Tantras. Because this text is easily available, there is no need to discuss the life of Yeshe Tsogyel in this account of the Mother Essence Lineage. Machig Lapdron (Ma-gChig Lap-sGron) 'Unique Mother Torch of Practice' was the incarnation of Yeshe Tsogyel. Machig Lapdron was the great Tibetan yogini who was the originator of the practice of Chod -- the Visionary practice of cutting attachment to one's corporeal form (in terms of the dualistic proclivity to relate to ones corporeal form as a reference-point that proves one's existence). Machig Lapdron too, is quite well chronicled in various texts that are currently available. Jomo Menmo is regarded generally as an emanation of Yeshe Tsogyel; but specifically, in the Mother Essence Lineage, as the incarnation of Machig Lapdron. Jomo Menmo, however, is not very well known to Western audiences, and so I will give a short account of her life that was given to me orally by Jetsunma Khandro Ten'dzin Drolkar, a great hidden yogini of the Nyingma School whom I have had the good fortune to know as a friend and mentor since 1975. - Jomo Menmo - Jomo Menmo Pema Tsokyi (Jom-mo sMan-mo Padma mTsho-sKyid) was born in the Earth Male monkey year (1248 CE) and passed into the sky-dimension in 1283 CE. She was born in the magical vicinity of the cave in which both Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyel once stayed. The place was called Zarmolung which was located in an area of Tibet called E-yul, which means 'primordial-awareness country'. Her parents named her Pema Tsokyi which means 'Lotus of the Ocean'. Her childhood was relatively uneventful and her parents were fairly ordinary people. She spent her childhood helping with the general work of living in a family and also helped with herding the yaks and dris. At the onset of puberty (in the Spring of 1261), whilst she was grazing the yaks and dris in the high pasture lands, she fell asleep in a meadow. The alpine meadow was overlooked by the Dewachen- puk -- the cave of great ecstasy, in which Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyel had demonstrated attainment. The place was known as Kyungchen-ling -- the place of the great Garuda. The Garuda is the 'Space-eagle', which demonstrates, in its being: the unborn, unceasing, ever present state of enlightenment that is the fundamental ground of the Dzogchen teachings and practices. Whilst asleep, she had a dream of clarity in which she experienced a profound Vision. A sonorous voice awoke her from the unconscious dream state into a state of pure and total presence. She found herself standing in front of the entrance to a secret cave in the mountain side. She entered the cave immediately and with a sense of keen enthusiasm. She did not know what she would find there, but she was consumed with a sense of immanence without hope or fear. Once inside the cave a Vision unfolded in which Yeshe Tsogyel manifested in a phantasmagorical variety of guises. These Visions melted into each other until they coalesced into the form of Yeshe Tsogyel as Dorje Phagmo. Dorje Phagmo means 'indestructible sow' or 'thunderbolt sow'. Dorje Phagmo is the ecstatically fierce Dakini, whose head is surmounted by the head of a sow whose screech shatters illusion. The sound of the screech obliterates all concepts and sharply confides the direct meaning or ro-chig -- the one taste of Emptiness and Form. At the moment in which she apprehended Yeshe Tsogyel as Dorje Phagmo, a complete body of teaching was revealed to her. She understood its meaning in the instant of its appearance. This teaching named itself as 'The Gathered Secrets of Sky dancers'. She realized this teaching was something that she should practice in complete secrecy until its results were obtained. She knew immediately that there would be no obstacle to her fulfilment of these practices. With the arising of this knowledge the Vision of Dorje Phagmo dissolved into Cho-nyi (Chos-nyid -- Dharmata, the Space of reality). Pema Tsokyi awoke from the Vision, and went about her daily life. But wherever she went she gave teachings as the spontaneous expression of her Mind, voice and body. She gave Mind-to-Mind teaching as the natural expression of her presence. She sang teaching-songs as the natural expression of her conversation, and performed vajra-dance as the natural expression of her deportment. This had both fortunate and unfortunate consequences. Many ordinary people were astounded by her and recognized that she was a realized yogini, but the ecclesiastics of that place made people afraid of her. She was slandered as a psychotic, a mad-woman who had been possessed by a demon. Once fear had been stirred up by the jealous male ecclesiastics, people became nervous of Pema Tsokyi. The ordinary people lost their natural faith in Pema Tsokyi. They found themselves unable to have confidence in their own spontaneous devotion, in opposition to the ecclesiastical conservatism that styled her as a demoness. The people then began to make accusations against her as well; saying that she had gone to sleep in the mountains and been possessed by a Menmo -- a demonic female being from another dimension. It was then that she became known as Jomo Menmo -- the Demonic Lady. Because of the ill feeling that the bigoted and narrow-minded ecclesiastics showed toward her, she decided to leave her home and family and never return to the area. It would seem to be a common problem faced by religious ecstatics and wisdom eccentrics, that they are attacked by religious moralists, academics, and philosophers. From the view of the gradual path it is regarded as highly threatening for a simple country girl to gain realization over-night, and it is often the case that the 'uneducated' have a better appreciation of naturally-born wisdom, than those who have studied for long years in search of the same wisdom. It is also the case that men, especially ecclesiastic men, are threatened by female wisdom eccentrics. For those who study to attain wisdom there is often the problem of becoming hide-bound by conventional or traditional religious semantics, and then bigotry and anger usually arise. After a period of ecstatic wandering, she reached a place called La-yak- pang-drong in the western part of Lho-drak, where she met a great Nyingma Visionary -- the gTerton (gTer-ston) Guru Rinpoche Cho-kyi Wang-chuk (Gu- ru Rin-po-che Chos-kyi dBang-phyug). Guru Cho-wang (as his name is commonly contracted) was one of the five sovereign Nyingma Visionaries, and one of the three major emanations of Padmasambhava. As soon as Guru Cho-wang saw Jomo Menmo he knew that she was the perfect sang-yum or spiritual-wife with whom he could bring his realization to fulfilment. Through her relationship with him, Jomo Menmo was able to clear his Spatial-nerves (tsa) of subtle dualistic eddies and currents with in the Spatial-winds (rLung). Once his tsa-lung system flowed with complete freedom he found himself with the capacity of realizing the meaning of every symbolic device within the Visionary teaching he had discovered, but which he had been unable to translate. (The Innermost Secret Heart Essence Tantra of the Eight Wrathful Awareness-beings -- bKa'a-brGyad gSang-ba yong-rDzogs man-ngak-gi rGyud chen-po.) They stayed a brief time with each other, in which they shared songs of realization, and the quintessential instructions according to their individual Vision. When Jomo Menmo decided to take her leave of Guru Cho- wang, he advised her that the time was not right to divulge the Visionary teaching cycle that she had received from Yeshe Tsogyel. He said that it would be better if her Visionary teaching benefited people at a future time. He advised her, instead, to travel throughout Tibet benefiting people in a secret manner. To 'benefit people in a secret manner' is an activity that is particular to women, and does not involve any kind of describable method. Secret activity can comprise any human possibility, and can be utterly unobservable to anyone unless they are open to that style of transmission and teaching. An enlightened woman (or more rarely, an enlightened man) can simply appear to live in the style of an ordinary person with no outer sign of accomplishment, wisdom or even knowledge. Such a woman is of profound influence merely in the ways in which her everyday life causes the innate enlightenment of others to sparkle through the fabrications of their dualistic conditioning. On her wandering throughout Tibet she met many yogis who gained powerful realizations simply by meeting her. The most famous of these was Ling-je Repa (gLing-rJe ras-pa), who experienced the same profound purification of his Spatial-nerves and Spatial-winds as Guru Cho-wang. Jomo Menmo spent her life this way, as a wandering yogini; changing people's lives irredeemably merely through the fact of their adventitiously finding themselves in her presence. In this way she engendered many lineages of female practitioners, two of whom entered the sky-dimension with her at the time of her disappearance from the world. At the age of thirty-six, she climbed to the summit of Tak-lha-ri (Mountain of the Sky Tiger), and on the tenth day of the seventh month (4th of August 1283) she and her two female disciples entered the Sky-dimension and were never seen again. Her extraordinary Visionary teaching returned to the Mind of Yeshe Tsogyel, and was later re-discovered by Rig'dzin Pema Do-ngak Lingpa; who was the incarnation of Guru Cho-wang. - Pema 'o-Zer - Jomo Menmo had various emanations in Tibet, but in 1901 her incarnation was recognized by Gomchenma Pema 'o-Zer. Gomchenma Pema 'o-Zer was raised by Jomo Chhi-'med Pema (who was herself an emanation of Yeshe Tsogyel). Pema 'o-Zer was recognized by her aunt Jomo Chhi-'med Pema, to be an emanation of Tashi Chi-dren. Tashi Chi-dren was the consort of Padmasambhava who manifested in Vision as the Tigress upon which he rode in his manifestation as Dorje Trollo -- the most wrathful of the eight manifestations of Padmasambhava. Pema 'o-Zer's mother father and older brother died of small pox when she was about four years old, and she was left to be brought up by her ageing aunt Jomo Chhi-'med Pema, who was regarded as being a very eccentric old woman. Jomo Chhi-'med Pema lived alone and herded a few goats, but she was however a powerful yogini, and someone who could converse with the local Mountain Protectress and give people answers to questions about their lives and futures. There were heaps of stones all around her dwelling; mounds of pebbles from the river which she had arranged in circles and other shapes. She would carry stones, sometimes quite large ones, for many miles, because she felt that they were in the wrong place. She had some special knowledge, connected with the Protectors, about where certain stones should be. She treated them very much as living beings, and would read meaning into the positions in which she found them. One day, young Pema 'o-Zer fell over and hit her knee whilst she was playing outside her aunts dwelling. When Jomo Chhi-'med Pema heard her crying, she came out immediately with a large stick a gave the rock a severe thrashing, warning it to take very good care of young Pema 'o-Zer in future. Pema 'o-Zer was very moved by this. She felt very sorry for having got the rock into trouble by her stupidity, and thereafter treated the rock with kindness and respect. She would make offerings to the rock, and everyday apologize for the beating that it had to receive. Jomo Chhi-'med would often give young Pema 'o-Zer teaching in this style and the young girl seemed to be able to take advantage of her aunt's style with very powerful effect. She learnt a great deal from her aunt. Jomo Chhi-'med knew the positions of the larger rocks in the river very well, and made predictions about the weather and when to sow or harvest, according to what she saw. If the rocks moved, she would know immediately and it would usually portend some change in weather. The local people would always ask her advice on the weather. Sometimes they would ask her to intervene, in terms of the weather, and she had notable power as a controller of weather. This wisdom-eccentric became the adoptive mother of Pema 'o-Zer, and gave her many instructions on how to practise. She taught her the Dzogchen Long-de and many other kinds of very essential practice. She never chanted texts or used any kind of ritual implements. She had no shrine, and no thangkas in her home. People assumed that she was very poor, and ignorant of religious conventions, but always asked for her help when personal misfortunes overtook them. She did have some disciples who visited her, but they always came secretly and gave no outer sign of 'coming to visit a Lama'. Jomo Chhi-'med would attend teachings when important Lamas came to the area, but she would sit in a state of non-conceptual equipoise rather than listening in an intellectual style. She would never make mudras of any kind, or join in the recitations when empowerments were given. Because of this many people assumed that she was a pious simpleton. When the teachings or empowerments were over she would walk away giggling. She would smile at people very broadly, and laugh very loudly, which monks in particular found rather disconcerting. When asked any question she would often only reply 'Yes!' over and over again, whilst nodding her head vigorously and grinning in an insane manner. This usually had the effect of dissuading people with intellectual pretensions from asking her questions. One day when Pema 'o-Zer was in her late teens, her aunt Jomo Chhi-'med left the house and never returned. (It is not known where she went or what happened to her.) Pema 'o-Zer lived at the house of Jomo Chhi-'med Pema for a while, but one day she had a Vision during her meditation in which Jomo Chhi-'med appeared to her. Jomo Chhi-'med Pema told her to begin a life of wandering in which she would find a suitable sang-yab. Pema 'o-Zer left her aunt's house, which had almost fallen into ruins, and wandered for several years as an itinerant yogini before meeting Rang-rig Togden, a wandering Chodpa (practitioner of Chod). After wandering together through Eastern and Central Tibet, they settled in Mar-Kham where they found a cave called 'Tiger Space of Rainbow Light'. They remained there for the rest of their lives as practitioners of Dzogchen Long-de, the 'Space' or 'Vast Expanse' series of Dzogchen. Gomchenma Pema 'o-Zer's Sangyab and disciple, Rang-rig Togden, was a powerful yogi, especially of the subjugation practices of Chana Dorje (Vajrapani), Tamdrin (Hayagriva) and Khyung (Garuda) a practice he had received from Azom Drukpa. They practiced all their lives and spent almost all their elder years in retreat. When they were in their sixties, Gomchenma Pema 'o-Zer had a Vision of Yeshe Tsogyel that lasted for seven days. When the Vision dissolved back into Cho-nyi (dharmata) she was left with the knowledge that she was going to give birth to a daughter who would be the incarnation of Jomo Menmo, the great female Nyingma gTerton. Jomo Menmo was the consort of Guru Chowang -- one of the gTerton Kings. Sang-ngak-cho-dzong holds the nine prong meteorite iron Vajra made by Padmasambhava and discovered by Guru Chowang through the inspiration of Jomo Menmo, and also the Dorje and Drilbu of Jomo Menmo. - Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema - The birth of Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema was a remarkable event. She was born with great ease and without making any sound. The first thing she did was to making a very long drawn out hiss with her lips drawn up into Wrathful aspect, as if she were performing a Tsa-lung breathing exercise. A great number of eagles appeared in the sky at her birth. They swooped and glided very close to her parents' Retreat Cave entrance. All manner of sky phenomena appeared at her birth, including clouds shaped like yungdrungs and gakyils. Strong gusts of wind sprang up and subsided very quickly. The sun and moon were clearly visible in the sky at the same time. Her mother remained in a state of Vision through the birth, in which she was physically assisted by Rang-rig Togden. Khandro Yeshe slept a great deal as a child but always with her eyes wide open. It was not always easy to tell whether she was asleep or awake because often she would sleep sitting up without any support. She didn't speak until she was five years old but then spoke fluently and without effort. Up until that point she simply listened to her mother and father practising or giving her instruction on practise. She was brought up entirely in retreat and never saw another child until she was an adult woman. As a young girl, she would wander widely in the mountains around her parents meditation cave. She would disappear whenever patrons came to visit and bring food and offerings to the couple. She expressly did not want anyone to see her apart from her parents, and they were quite happy to go along with her in this wish. They never questioned anything that she did or wanted. She wanted very little and was mostly quiet apart from peals of loud and unexpected laughter. She would sometimes be gone for several days and come back with accounts of having visited other realms and of having met Yeshe Tsogyel and Padmasambhava. Her parents instructed her in Trul-khor (Yantra yoga) from a very early age and she had mastered gTu-mo by the age of nine. She could not endure to wear clothes for most of the year until she was an adult and left the retreat cave. This is why she had the name Rema or cotton wearing lady, because she had the power to generate her own inner heat. Khandro Yeshe Rema was about sixteen or seventeen years old when her parents took rainbow-body ('ja'-lus) together. She sewed them in a white tent together after receiving final advice, instructions, and predictions from them; and retired to a distance of twenty one paces to begin her practice. Seven days later she opened the tent and all that was left were their respective clothes, hair, finger nails, toe nails and nasal septum. They had taken rainbow body together. It is a highly unusual event for two people to achieve rainbow body together at the same time, but it was something that had her mother had predicted many years before. This event had a profound impact on Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema and ripened many latent faculties. She gathered the relics of her parents and set out toward Northern Kham and Golok where her Mother had predicted she would find a suitable Sang-yab for the realization of a gTerma cycle that would come into being in the future for the benefit of beings in distant lands. Her mother had given indications that this gTerma cycle would be of immense benefit in the future if certain conditions were met, but that there would also be many circumstantial obstacles to overcome. Khandro Yeshe travelled from place to place practising and living as a wandering yogini. She had the opportunity on several occasions to join up with other groups of practitioners but was intent on travelling alone. She sometimes pretended to be dumb, in order to avoid speaking with people -- especially if they were religious people. She would always speak to children and ordinary people -- especially if they appeared to have difficulties; but she always avoided religious people whenever she could. It took Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema about year to reach Northern Kham and Golok where it was predicted that she would meet her Sang-yab. It was there that she met 'a-Shul Pema Legden who was a monk and a disciple of Khalding Lingpa. She recognized 'a-Shul Pema Legden immediately as having the potential to realize Visions, and so they travelled together to Southern Tibet. 'a-Shul Pema Legden gave up his monk's vows and became her sang-yab. During their journey to Southern Tibet Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema experienced several profound Visionary experiences of Yeshe Tsogyel in which she realized the cycles of Teachings and practice that her mother had predicted. These cycles of teachings and practice came to be known as the Aro gTer -- the teaching of the Mother Essence Lineage. These teachings survive today as a very essentialized and 'very non-elaborate' body of teachings and practice. - The Mother Essence Lineage Today - Tibetan Buddhism is known in the West largely in terms of monasticism. With regard to the monastic sangha, the teaching of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism, and Bon, are accessed mostly completely through the teaching of monks. It is a small minority of Western Buddhists who are aware of Tibetan Lamas who are nuns. At present the only Tibetan nun to teach in the West is Khandro Rinpoche, a female Lama of the Kagyud School. The dominant spiritual culture of Tibet appears to be male as far as most people are aware. Although this is not an entirely inaccurate portrayal of the dominant spiritual culture of Tibet, it does not convey the spiritual dynamism that existed in terms of women, and the very small family lineages that existed -- in which women were very spiritually influential indeed. Contrary to the overt cultural impression, there were many women in Tibet who were teachers of the most profound level, and many of them had male disciples numbering amongst the highest monastic dignitaries. Some practised as ordained nuns, but many more practised both as ordained Ngakmas and lay yoginis. The Ngakmas and Ngakpas (the male equivalent) were those ordained into the Tantric Ngakphang sangha and tended to live as married couples. Both Ngakmas and lay yoginis are still to be found in the Himalayan countries that surround Tibet; but it is not an easy or simple endeavour to meet them, or even find them. One such remarkable woman is Jetsunma Khandro Ten'dzin Drolkar -- the remarkable yogini who gave me the account of the life of Jomo Menmo. I have the immense good fortune of knowing her both as a teacher and vajra-sister; and as such, have introduced several of my students to her. Jetsunma Khandro Ten'dzin Drolkar is a hidden yogini. Very few people in the West have heard of her, and even in India and Nepal she is not widely known. She is indistinguishable from any other elderly Tibetan woman you might pass on the streets of McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala where she currently lives. Despite her anonymity, she is a close friend of Ven. Sonam Sangpo Rinpoche, Ven. Tharchin Rinpoche and His Holiness Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche -- and highly respected by them for the profundity of her practice and realization. She is a Dzogchen yogini who has spent most of her life in and out of retreat. She has also raised a family, and survived a somewhat difficult husband. One of her sons Trulku Ten'dzin was recognized as an Nyingma incarnation, and currently lives in semi-open retreat with Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche in Yang-le-shod in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal. Apart from the many individual women practitioners and teachers in Tibet, there were also small lineages that existed along-side the major Nyingma lineages. These were the minor lineages of mountain recluses both male and female; and also, hidden female lineages that passed down from through children rather than through incarnation lines. The Mother Essence Lineage is one such lineage of teachings and practices. The Mother Essence Lineage is primarily a lineage of very unusual women, wisdom-eccentrics who were either solitary or married recluses. They were either itinerant Nyingma yoginis and their partners, or those who lived in communities such as the Aro Gar, where the Mother Essence Lineage was disseminated. The Mother Essence Lineage passed initially from aunt to niece, and then from mother to daughter. With this daughter, began the direct daughter-line which was destined to pass down through a succession of women, but due to the vagaries of circumstance and the intervention of the Chinese invasion, the blood line was broken. The daughter was an extraordinary Visionary by the name of Yeshe Rema (Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema) who passed her teachings on to a small group of men and women who gathered around in the final phase of her life. Amongst this small group of no more than a hundred disciples there was a predominant number of accomplished yoginis, nine of whom had remarkable yogic abilities. A-ye Khandro and A-she Khandro in particular manifested yogic powers such as telepathy, clairvoyance and the ability to converse with animals and beings in other dimensions. Yeshe Rema was a pure-vision gTerton, that is to say a discoverer of spiritual treasures. She received several cycles of practice directly from Yeshe Tsogyel the female Buddha and consort of Padmasambhava. These practices were unique and extraordinary, as they consisted of Awareness- being (meditational deity) forms that were all manifestations of Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyel. Together with these practices were methods of the three series of Dzogchen and their ancillary psycho- physical practices. Yeshe Rema was advised by her mother to practice these in secret, and only to teach the practices to her daughter. It would then be her daughter who would transmit these teachings to the world. Unfortunately, due to inauspicious circumstances, Yeshe Rema gave birth to a son, and the blood-line was broken. Her Sang-yab (spiritual husband) died, and she never took another consort. Her mother had advised that she should only have one Sang-yab. She also advised that she should only have one child; otherwise her life would be considerably shortened, and she would thus have little time to make sure of her daughter's spiritual training. Her Sang-yab, 'a-Shul Pema Legden, was an old Lama. He died whilst Yeshe Rema was still quite young, and before she had conceived a daughter. This could have meant that Yeshe Rema's cycles of Visionary teaching would have disappeared from the world, but through her yogic power she was able to conceive shortly before 'a-Shul Pema Legden's death. She guided him through the Bardo visions of the intermediate state between lives, and gave birth to him as her own son. It was not possible, for 'a- Shul Pema Legden to be re-born as a woman due to his own remaining karmic obscurations, and so the opportunity was lost in terms of these teachings being made widely known. Yeshe Rema's mother had given her advice about the inauspicious advent of giving birth to a son, and as a result of maintaining these instructions very exactly was able to pass the teaching on to her son by appearing to him in Visionary form after her own death, and whilst he was in solitary retreat at the age of eight. The son of Yeshe Rema was called Aro Yeshe, and she left instructions that the Visionary practices that he would give would be called the Aro gTer. Aro Yeshe was the name that she would have given to her daughter, had she been able to give birth to a girl. During the childhood of Aro Yeshe he was kept away from other boys and from men in general. He was brought up, after the death of his mother, by five yoginis that she had appointed to attend to his education. His childhood friends were two sisters called A- ye Khandro and A-she Khandro who later becomes his Sang-yums. These two girls were the two first disciples to whom he transmitted the Aro gTer, and it was they who actually passed the teachings on to the other disciples of Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema. Aro Yeshe himself taught very rarely because the transmissions were seen as more powerful if they were received from women. Since the death of Yeshe Rema, the tradition was continued by a male lineage holder, supported by two powerful female consorts. This became called the indirect son line. It was called indirect because it came through a male lineage holder, and in this tradition male practitioners have less power of lineal blessing. There is a prediction however, that the direct daughter line will re-emerge with greater power if sufficient women become accomplished in the Visionary methods of the Mother Essence Lineage. My work as a Lama is dedicated to ensuring that such lineages as the direct daughter line can re-emerge. To that end Sang-ngak-cho-dzong has been established as a spiritual organization dedicated to the creation of opportunities for women. Special emphasis is placed on practice in the context of family life, and on encouraging women to engage in teacher- training within this lineage. There are now a group of significant women practitioners within Sang-ngak-cho-dzong who have had inspirational contact with Jetsunma Khandro Ten'dzin Drolkar, three of whom have been ordained into the Vajra commitment of the Ngakphang Sangha. Of the three, one is called Khandro Dechen Tsedrup Yeshe; she is my wife and Sang-yum. She is a great inspiration to me, and we work together as a 'teaching couple'. As a 'teaching couple', an important aspect of our role is to provide an example of the dance that exists as the marriage of two Tantric practitioners. This is one of the most crucial and fundamental features of the Mother Essence Lineage, and one which I will describe at a later point in this essay. Khandro Dechen specializes in the practice of sKu-mNye, a system of psycho-physical exercises which are unique to the Mother Essence Lineage. She is currently preparing a three volume series of the one hundred and eleven exercises that comprise the cycle that stems from the Dzogchen Long-de system. Another of the three ordained women, is Ngakma Nor'dzin Rang-jung Pamo. She is a mother of two, whose husband has also taken ordination. Ngakma Nor'dzin is a craft potter who makes gTer-bums (treasure vases), wonderful drums, and other practice artifacts for Sang-ngak-cho-dzong. She is also a healer and a woman whose simplicity and directness of explanation touches all those who come to her for advice in their lives and practice. The third ordained woman is Ngakma Pema Rig'dzin Zangmo. She is the thangka painter, or visionary artist, of Sang-ngak-cho-dzong. She is responsible for making the visualization practices of this Lineage possible by bringing them into existence through her remarkable talent. She is an extraordinarily gifted artist, who has the unusual capacity to continue to improve at a rate that her Vajra sisters and brothers find surprising. Her husband is also an ordained Ngakpa. All three women are experienced practitioners who have engaged in retreats and accomplished signs of practice. At present, Ngakma Nor'dzin and Ngakma Pema Zangmo do not have students of their own, but they give regular teaching input on the 'Open Teaching Retreats' that are held in Britain. When these two yoginis begin to take their own students (at some point in the future) they too will work as teaching couples along with their husbands. This was very much the style in which the Mother Essence Lineage functioned in Tibet, and my female and male students all share the hope that it will develop in this way in the West. - Khandro/Pawo Mirroring, or Cutting Through Spiritual Chauvinism - Central to the Aro gTer is a teaching on practising as couples, in order to realize the hidden female and male qualities within men and women. In order to have some understanding of how such teachings function, it is necessary to have some understanding of duality and non-duality and of the functioning of the psycho-physical elements. To this end some explanation of the idea of Pawo and Khandro in Tibetan Tantra are crucial. When the beginningless Empty essence of what we are gives rise to the vibrant display of our nature; we manifest a physical form -- the energy that shimmers between wonderment and bewilderment. Bewilderment is the momentary loss of confidence in the open dimension of our being. If we try to 'return' to the open dimension of our being (rather than finding confidence in the recognition that we've never moved from that Spaciousness) we create the illusion of duality. As soon as the illusion of duality is coaxed into illusory existence, 'groundless anxiety' arises -- like wind from an empty sky. 'Groundless anxiety' is the root of paranoia; and when paranoia becomes the pattern of perception, the sense of 'isolation' is sparked -- and fanned into flames. 'Isolation'; is the root of 'clinging' to focuses of comforting proximity -- and when this 'clinging' and 'attachment' becomes the pattern of our perception, we experience our reality as flooded by 'fear' of loss. 'Fear' is the root of 'anger' which freezes our perception -- dividing substance from substancelessness. Experiencing this division, we evolve elaborate divisive strategies in order to align ourselves with ground, and reject groundlessness. These strategies are the root of 'obduracy', the need to fix, control and concretize everything within our sense fields. Everything within this array of perceptual horizons is then manipulated as a reference-point, in order to prove that we are: 'defined', 'continuous', 'separate', 'permanent' and 'solid'. In this web of growing confusion and alienation, we continuously cling to whatever momentary pattern arises as a perception. We then try to force these perceptions into fixed definitions of 'what we cannot be'. Because we wish to accept and prolong certain definitions, (and wish to reject and curtail others) it becomes impossible to relax into the true nature of what we are. We become increasingly divided against ourselves (which is not actually possible) through the struggle to deny our Spacious nature. Because it is not actually possible to be divided against ourselves (or to split Emptiness and Form) we find ourselves engaged in a potentially never ending struggle to remain unenlightened. Through our struggles to deny our Spacious nature we experience the pain of illusion (of being divided against ourselves). From this illusion all divisions and divisiveness arise! When we manifest human form we experience Form-reality in terms of gender. We become female or male. In our 'physical frames of reference' as women and men, we experience the division that always stems from dualistic perception. In order to feel whole, we have to experience separation and distinction in order to re- unite with what we sense that we have lost. This is where it gets complicated. Our relationships with each other as women and men, reflect the complexities of our estranged relationships with our own Spaciousness. Our Beginningless Enlightenment is continually inviting us to be the enlightened beings that we actually are; but we're very ambivalent about this kind of invitation. From the perverse perspective of 'unenlightenment', this sort of invitation seems to betoken annihilation. Our primary dualistic intention is to distract ourselves from the Spacious nature of being; because, somehow, that doesn't seem like a condition in which we could survive. We want to snuggle down into a dim cosiness where the whole idea of Spaciousness might disappear. But however horribly snug we try to make our experiential environment, our innate wisdom always sparkles through. Enlightenment continually sparkles through the fabric of our distracted-being, unravelling the threads of our contrived perception, and making it difficult for us to obscure what we really are. The difficulties involved in playing this game of hide-and-seek with Spaciousness, constitute the pain that we experience. These difficulties are the patterning of our conditioning -- our karmic vision. Within the sphere of karmic vision we are cut off from our own wholeness. This wholeness, according to the Vision of Tantra, can be described as the interplay of outer and inner qualities. These manifested qualities of being are the twin aspects of realization -- wisdom and active-compassion. Wisdom is the realization of the clear self-luminous nature of all phenomena, and active-compassion is the energy or spontaneous arising of enlightened activity. The primary difference between women and men from this perspective, lies in the reversal of the outer and inner manifested qualities of Being. Women have outer wisdom qualities and inner compassion qualities. Men have outer compassion qualities and inner wisdom qualities. When women and men realize these qualities they dance together as Khandros and Pawos; and their energies brilliantly mirror each other. But when this realization is not present women and men teeter and clump, as beings distracted from Being. In this kind of confused dancing; the man usually wants to lead, and the woman usually wants to be led. However, the man can become unsure of where he is leading and feel resentful at having to lead, and the woman can feel dominated and cease to want to be lead. Whichever way there is no freedom for either. The word Khandro is the phonetic adaptation of what is transliterated from the Tibetan as mKha'-'Gro. mKha' means 'sky' and 'Gro means 'going' and signifies 'movement' or 'unobstructedness' can be loosely rendered into English as Sky-Dancer. This word has a very special meaning in Tibetan, because it suggests the ability to experience the innate freedom of the Sky-like Cho-ying (Spatial dimension or dharmadhatu). This term signifies the unobstructed play of wisdom-Mind in the limitlessness of wisdom-Space. The quality of unobstructed play, is the Wisdom-activity that spontaneously arises from the unconditioned state of our beginningless enlightenment. Within the Tantric Vision, all women are secretly Khandros, and men are secretly Pawos. Pawo means hero or warrior, and signifies the pure appropriateness that has no need for the illusory security of firm ground. The word Pawo is the phonetic adaptation of what is transliterated from the Tibetan as dPa-bo. The Sanskrit origin of this word is Daka as the counterpart to the female Dakini; but in Tibetan, rather than there being Khandroma and Khandropa, there are Khandro and Pawo. The idea here is that rather than speaking of a male Sky-dancer, we speak of a hero or warrior in order to emphasize activity and power. The warrior is fearless, not because death has been objectified into a future event which is regarded with nonchalance, but because death is experienced with every moment. For the warrior the Birth and Death of every Mind- moment are fully experienced -- enabling him to live with totality in the present moment. (The word Khandropa applies to a Daka who manifests his inner wisdom-display in the external dimension. There is also the female aspect of Pawo, which is Pamo. The word Pamo applies to a Khandro who manifests her inner method-display in the external dimension.) The Khandro quality of women, manifests as outer wisdom-Space in which her internal compassion plays. In relative terms, outer wisdom/sensitivity reflects itself in both the overt and subtle appearance of women as displayed through: intuition; fluidity; flexibility; resilience; adaptability; versatility; reflexiveness; empathy confluence; allowance; facilitation; resonance; sensitivity; receptivity; harmony; euphony; ideation; sensibility; delicacy; softness; obliqueness; devotion; laterality of apprehension; plurality of perception; inchoate understanding; radiance and openness. But when the connection with inner compassion/power is obscured through dualistic perception, the outer wisdom/sensitivity becomes weak, aimless and prey to manipulation. The Pawo quality of men manifests as outer compassion/power, which arises energetically from inner wisdom/sensitivity. In relative terms his outer compassion/power, reflects itself in the overt and subtle appearance of men displayed through: strength; intellect; objectivity; productivity; capacity; performance; durability; angularity; acuteness; accuracy; precision; sympathy; steadfastness; methodology; systematization; drive; skillfulness; inventiveness; resourcefulness; creativity; persuasiveness; directiveness; conclusiveness; linearity of apprehension; singularity of perception; constructiveness; reductivity; discrimination; discernment; exertion; capability and rationality. But when the vital connection with inner wisdom/sensitivity is obscured through clinging to dualistic perception, the outer compassion/power stiffens into aggression, intolerance and manipulation. Unless a man is a true warrior, he finds the Sky-dancer terrifying because she completely undermines him with her inchoate Spaciousness. Unless a woman recognizes her Sky-dancing potential she finds the Pawo overpowering because she is utterly overawed by his unending effectiveness. We need only examine our own sexual fears of penetration and engulfment to get some inkling of how pervasive these qualities are in all our existential interactions. Emptiness and Form are continually performing within the fabric of our psychologies. The 'self preservation instinct' and the 'death-wish' go hand in hand -- we are continually riding the energy of duality; whether we do so with Awareness or through distraction is a matter of commitment to the raw texture of the moment. The assertion sometimes made within Sutric Buddhism, that women cannot attain Enlightenment until they are re-born as men, can be looked at in two ways. At face value such a statement is reflection of male delusion which springs from the neurotic need for protection against the threat of Spaciousness. Men are afraid of the inchoate or that which lies beyond rationality. But at a deeper level -- in order to attain Enlightenment, not only do women have to be re-born as men, but -- MEN MUST BE RE-BORN AS WOMEN. What needs to be re-born or discovered is the secret male in women, and the secret female in men. Both men and women need to re-discover their beginningless connection with their inner qualities -- in order to be complete. From this perspective, women and men are either a constantly available source of teaching for each other -- or, a constant source of conditioning. This is the reason for monasticism within the Sutrayana. Because the goal of the Sutrayana is Emptiness, its principle is renunciation. The method of renunciation is to work with attachment to the world of form through celibacy, non-ownership, and many forms of abstinence. Within Tantrayana however, there is no insistence on celibacy or any form of abstinence with regard to engaging with the world of form -- because the basis of Tantra is Emptiness. There is no insistence on celibacy or abstinence unless you are a monk or nun who practices Tantra as an internal discipline, whilst maintaining the monastic vows. The principle of Tantra is transformation and its method is one of achieving the realization of the innate purity of all phenomena. With realization of Emptiness, there is no need for celibacy, because the Pawo and Khandro principles are emergent -- they're no longer occluded through fear of Emptiness. It is very important to understand this distinction between Sutrayana and Tantrayana, because otherwise there can be confusion over why celibacy is advocated in one vehicle and not by another. In Sutra men and women are seen as being sources of conditioning for each other, whereas in Tantra women and men are seen as sources of inspiration for each other. So in Tantra, relationships are definitely described as being a support for practice rather than as a distraction. However, there needs to be the experiential basis of Emptiness. This is the fundamental qualification. If women and men reflect their true outer and inner qualities they provoke each other into relaxing their habits of division and divisiveness. When these habits are relaxed, through the practice of Tantric View -- men and women can realize their completeness. The practice of Tantric View entails the maintenance of pure-vision. Pure-vision is experienced through receiving Empowerment from the Lama, and maintaining that experience in everyday life by hearing all sound as Awareness-spell (mantra) and all phenomena as the radiated quality-sphere of the Awareness-being (mandala of the deity). But if men and women only reflect their outer qualities, divorced from their inner qualities, then inequalities arise. Then all that is provoked are patterns of dependency and domination, with the woman as the 'sex object', and the man as the 'success object'. Men need to be in contact with their sensitivity, and women need to be in contact with their power. Without this contact we forget what we are and become distracted from Awareness in the continuity of our essential nature. From this condition of dualism, our Energies become distorted and we flounder in the fog of forgetfulness with which we have all become so tediously familiar. We become confused and out of balance with ourselves, so that our outer qualities become, discordant and harmful to each other. The man or woman who could be our opportunity for liberation merely becomes our co-dependant imprisoned prisoner. When a man loses contact with his inner-quality sensitivity, his outer- quality becomes distorted. Disconnected from his inner Khandro (his secret Wisdom), his outer-quality of Being which should spontaneously manifest active-compassion, manifests assertiveness. This assertiveness then ranges from force to brutality and violence; depending to what extent the inner Khandro has become occluded. With regard to his spiritual life, he could 'grow' into some kind of 'cosmic gorilla'. The 'cosmic gorilla' is some man who has developed 'spiritual muscles', someone who has learnt a few tricks and knows how to win bananas with his performance. He has some sort of 'power of his own', derived from being very linear, which is then bolstered by the power he is lent by others. The 'cosmic gorilla' might even be in search of Siddhis -- extra-normal powers, through which he could expand his carefully sharpened and polished ego, until it looked like a bullet. When a woman loses contact with her inner quality power, her outer quality becomes distorted. Disconnected from her inner Pawo (her secret compassion) her outer quality of Being which should spontaneously manifest as encompassing wisdom, manifests decorativeness. This decorativeness then ranges from the inconsequential to superficial obsession with surface appearance, depending to what extent the inner Pawo has been occluded. With regard to her spiritual life, she dwindles into insignificance and insipidity, satisfied to arrange the flowers in the shrine room. She becomes a mindless devotee -- the kind of delicate presence who hovers around the teacher. At the teacher's discourse, she continually fills his glass of water; but she does so in such a way as to be noticed by everyone. There is no sense that she will ever practice, but she is always there as a very obvious and omnipresent nonentity. If she does meditate she wants to cultivate 'beautiful experiences' with which to ornament her psyche. She may consider herself to be a 'sensitive', and 'feel' things that are 'deeply mysterious'. She may sit attempting to feel serene and very special in a way that she would not define. This is a depressing picture; but, in the Tantric Vision, no matter how far we wander into the intricacies of duality -- we're just toying or torturing ourselves with endless distortions of what we actually are. This means that whatever our perception is, it is not removed from Enlightenment. So, however our Energies have become distorted we simply need to allow them to relax into their natural condition. To allow our Energies to relax into their natural condition is the purpose of meditation -- we simply need to stop producing unenlightenment. As soon as we let go of our fear of our own Spacious nature our inner qualities manifest spontaneously. Men and women are attracted to each other; this is not an unusual statement to make, but that attraction is composed of the openness to our innate Enlightenment and our fear of our innate Enlightenment. Attraction is both a very simple fact and a very complex issue. This is always the condition in which we find ourselves. As long as we attempt to create a division between Emptiness and Form, everything we do has this dual quality; there is always attraction in our aversion and aversion in our attraction. This is why the love-hate relationship can manifest, and why ambivalence is one of the prime keys to understanding the nature of Tantra. Women are attracted to the distorted male image because they seek to reconnect with power in some way. Women have a natural relationship with power. But if they fail to realize that their inner quality is the very nature of power, they will find no other solution but to seek it externally. However, women are also attracted to men through the recognition of the reflection of their own inner Pawo. Both happen simultaneously -- enlightenment and unenlightenment flicker. Men are attracted to the distorted female image because they seek to reconnect with sensitivity in some way. Men have a natural relationship with sensitivity; but, if they fail to realize that this is because their own inner quality is the very nature of sensitivity, they will find no other solution but to seek it externally. However, men are also attracted to women through the recognition of the reflection of their own inner Khandro. Both happen simultaneously -- enlightenment and unenlightenment flicker. As long as a woman attempts to find her inner Pawo vicariously through seducing (or making herself available to) a man by means of her distorted outer sensitivity, she is likely to lose even what small conventional power she had. She stands the chance of being dominated by an insensitive emotionally inarticulate aggressor. As long as a man tries to obtain his inner Khandro through wooing or coercing a woman by means of his distorted outer power, he is likely to trap himself with some fading glamour-puss with little on her mind but demands for the provision of endless chintz and tinsel. These are obviously extreme examples -- caricatures of how people can be if they work very hard to obscure their inner qualities. But everyone finds themselves on the continuum that includes these caricatures, and it is possible that everyone could see some dim reflection of themselves in this pattern of dissatisfaction and incomprehension. This is a situation in which nobody gets what they want. Nobody gets 'what they want', because 'what they want' is not possible to obtain through getting 'what they want'. We see 'what we want'; but, when we get it -- it turns out to be something else. It turns out to be something that seems almost entirely different from what we initially saw. Men and women need to look within themselves for completion, rather than trying to find it in an-other incomplete person. Men and women fail to get what they want from each other, because it's not actually there to be had; unless, they have it already anyway. Another paradox. It is only possible to get what we want if we have it already. If we already have the connection with our inner Pawo or inner Khandro then we no longer need to find anything outside ourselves. But it is just at this point when the need is no longer there that we can really begin to dance with each other. Something else arises, which replaces our unrequitable neurotic need. Once this need (which is born of disassociation with our own inner qualities) dissolves into its own Empty nature; a tremendous appreciation for each other can arise. This sense of appreciation arises, because people catch glimpses of their completeness and can begin to relate to each other in an authentic way. No matter how distanced we are from our inner qualities, our enlightened nature continually sparkles through. The frequency of sparkling depends on how much we cooperate with the sparkling or how much we resist it. The nature of this cooperation is our practice of the Inner Tantras. For a Ngakpa, one of the most important vows is never to disparage women. For Ngakpas women are the source of wisdom, and their practice is to See the phenomenal world as female -- as wisdom-display; the dance of the Khandros. When the world is Seen as the scintillating sparkling dance of the Khandros, the inner Khandro is incited. When the inner Khandro is incited, the elements begin to relax into their own condition and the fabric of duality begins to dissolve. The vow for a Ngakma is to regard the entire phenomenal world as male -- as method-display as the powerfully direct dance of the Pawos. When the world is seen in this way, the inner Pawo is incited. When the inner Pawo is incited, the Elements begin to relax into their own condition and the fabric of duality begins to dissolve. Men and women who can enter into this kind of reality have the capacity to relate with each other; not through neurotic need, but through a fundamental appreciation of each other's inner qualities and outer qualities. When we waken to the nature of our inner qualities, we are able to mirror each other in a delightful manner. In this way we are able to undermine each other's conditioning rather than entrenching each other further in our respective patterns of conditioning. It is not possible to describe or explain how it is possible to See the world in this way, because fundamentally this capacity itself arises from realization of Emptiness. For relationships to have any spiritual meaning, or even any worthwhile purpose, it is essential to maintain the View of one's partner as either Pawo or Khandro. Some remote sense of this is often artificially arrived at through creating mystery or by absence (which makes the heart grow fonder); but, both these are simply reflections of Emptiness. Any authentic glimpse of the Inner Pawo or Khandro can only come through meditative experience and Openness to the insecurity or fundamental chaos of each moment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GLOSSARY ~~~~~~~~ 'a-Shul Pema Legden:: The sang-yab of Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema, and the father of Aro Yesh 'a-Shul Pema Legden was a monk-yogi who was a gTer scribe and Visionary artist for Khalding Lingpa the previous incarnation of His Holiness Kyabje Khordong gTerchen Tulku Chhi'm.d Rig'dzin Rinpoche Aro Gar:: The Aro Gar, was the encampment where the Mother Essence Lineage was received in Vision by Aro Yeshe from his mother Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema. These teachings were first taught at the Aro Gar by Aro Yeshe who transmitted the teaching to his two sang-yums -- the sisters A-ye Khandro and A-she Khandro Aro gTer:: The Visionary Teaching cycle of Aro Yeshe, which was received directly from Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema, the incarnation of Jomo Menmo Aro Yeshe:: Ngakchang Drupchen Aro Yeshe was the son of Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema and discoverer of the Aro gTer. The incarnation of 'a-Shul Pema Legden Bon:: The shamanic systems that existed in Tibet before Buddhism. Bon in Tibet within the last five hundred years is theoretically indistinguishable from Tibetan Buddhism. Both Buddhism and Bon incorporated each others practises to such a degree that there are only superficial differences between them. These differences exist at the symbolic level, and at the level of Lineage. Bon lays historical claim to a lineage of Dzogchen that pre-dates the entry of Buddhism into Tibet. Chatral Rinpoche:: Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche is an important Nyingma Lama who lives in Yang- le-shod in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal. He is one of the teachers of Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. Chod:: The charnel ground practice in which the practitioner severs attachment to his or her corporeal form. The practice originated by Machig Labdron, the great Tibetan yogini. See Machig Labdron Cho-nyi:: Chos-nyid -- Dharmata, the Space of reality. Cho-ying:: Spatial dimension or dharmadhatu. This term signifies the unobstructed play of wisdom-Mind in the limitlessness of wisdom-Space Dorje Phagmo:: Indestructible sow' or 'Thunderbolt sow'. She is the ecstatically fierce Dakini, whose head is surmounted by the head of a sow whose screech shatters illusion Dorje Trollo:: Indestructible Rage - the most wrathful of the eight manifestations of Padmasambhava Dri:: Large Tibetan ox -- the dri is the female of the yak Dzogchen:: The Great Completion. The innermost Tantra, which transcends ritual and symbol Dzogchen Long-de:: One of the three series of Dzogchen -- the 'Space' or 'Vast Expanse' series. It deals with subtle-sensation as the focus of meditative absorption, and employs a great variety of yogic postures and corresponding physical pressure-points that stimulate the rLung, prana, or Spatial-winds of the vajra-body. Details of such practices are kept highly secret and can only be received through transmission from a qualified Lama E-yul:: Land of primordial awareness Gar:: Encampment. The place where Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema settled in Southern Nepal was called the Aro Gar. See Aro Gar. Garuda:: See Khyung Golok:: Northern Kham, a very wild area of Tibetan which is notorious for brigandry. There are many nomads in this area, and yogic encampments as well as tent monasteries. Gomchenma:: Gomchenma means 'greatly accomplished female meditator' rGyud:: Tantra, Tantrayana, Vajrayana or Secret Mantrayana. The vehicle which derives from Long-ku (Sambhogakaya) Visionary transmission. The path of transformation -- in distinction to the Sutric path of renunciation. See Sutra Ja-lu:: 'Ja'-lus -- the rainbow body. Dzogchen practitioners who have mastered the Trek-chod phase of Dzogchen in which pure and total presence is stabilized, are able to practice To-gal. To-gal is the final practice of Dzogchen, which enables the yogi or yogini to dissolve his or her physical body into the essence of the elements at the time of death. The yogi or yogini then disappears into a body of light, leaving only hair toe & finger nails, and nasal septum behind Jetsunma Khandro Ten'dzin Drolkar:: A great living Dzogchen yogini who lives in Himachal Pradesh North India Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema:: The incarnation of Jomo Menmo whose Visionary teachings are called the Mother Essence Lineage or the Aro gTer. Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema was the daughter of Gomchenma 'o-Zer Pema and the niece of Jomo Chhi-'med Pema who was an emanation of Yeshe Tsogyel Jomo Chhi-'med Pema:: Emanation of Yeshe Tsogyel who was the aunt and adoptive mother of Gomchenma Pema 'o-Zer. See Gomchenma Pema 'o-Zer Jomo Menmo:: The incarnation of Machig Lapdron, and emanation of Yeshe Tsogyel who was the consort of Guru Chowang. The previous incarnation of Jetsunma Khandro Yeshe Rema, mother of Aro Yesh See Aro Yeshe, Yeshe Tsogyel and Machig Lapdron Kagyud:: One of the four Schools of Tibetan Buddhism. One of the three Sarma, or New Translation Schools, that is closest in practice to the Nyingma School Karmic vision:: The way, or style, in which we see things. The karmic vision of every type of being is distinct. Every being's Karmic vision is comprised according to the particular style in which they maintain the illusion of duality. Khalding Lingpa:: The incarnation of Nuden Dorje Drophang Lingpa whose incarnation line goes back to Kye-chung Lotsa, one of the twenty-five siddhas of Chhimphu -- the twenty-five disciples of Padmasambhava. He was the twin incarnation, with Dudjom Lingpa of the line that came from Nuden Dorje, Shariputra, Hungkara, Gagasiddhi, and Kye-chung Lotsa. H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche was the incarnation of Dudjom Lingpa, and His Holiness Kyabje Khordong gTerchen Tulku Chhi'med Rig'dzin Rinpoche is the incarnation of Khalding Lingpa Khandro:: Literally 'sky-goer'. Either the outer quality of a women or the inner quality of a man. A wisdom-display manifestation Khandropa:: A man who has recognized his 'inner Khandro' and manifests this realization in terms of his external activity in the world Khandro Dechen Tsedrup Yeshe:: The sang-yum of Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche Khandro Rinpoche:: A female incarnate Lama of the Kagyud School, currently teaching in Europe sKu-mNye:: Literally -- 'subtle-dimension massage'. sKu-mNye in the Aro gTer system, is associated with the Dzogchen Long-de teachings (see Dzogchen Long-de). The Aro gTer sKu-mNye comprises of exercises that stimulate the tsa-lung system (see rLung and Tsa-lung). These exercises are divided into six animals that relate with the elements. There are one hundred and eleven exercises -- twenty-one for each elemental animal: lion / earth; vulture / water; tiger / fire; eagle / air; and garuda / space. These add up to one hundred and five. The remaining six exercises belong to the dragon, which represents the unified sphere of all the elements Khyung:: The Space-eagle. An Awareness-being (meditational deity) who embodies the unborn nature of the Dzogchen teachings. The Khyung is born from its egg full grown, symbolizing the self-existent maturity of the enlightened state, which is the natural unfabricated condition of all beings. Lama:: Teacher, especially of Tantra. The word Lama pertains not only to the external teacher, but to the inner teacher or enlightened nature. The Lama, therefore, is one who reflects the beginningless enlightened nature of their students. La-yak-pang-drong:: The western part of Lho-drak, where Jomo Menmo met Guru Cho-wang Ling-je Repa:: A gTerton of the Nyingma School who gained profound spiritual experience from his meeting with Jomo Menmo. See gTer and Jomo Menmo rLung:: Spatial-wind or prana in Sanskrit. Machig Lapdron:: 'Unique Mother Torch of Practice', the incarnation of Yeshe Tsogyel who originated the practice of Chod. See Chod Ngakma Pema Rig'dzin Zangmo:: The thangka painter of Sang-ngak-cho-dzong. A female disciple of Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche who has taken ordination into the Vajra commitment of the Ngakphang sangha Ngakma Nor'dzin Rang-jung Pamo:: A female disciple Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche who has taken ordination into the Vajra commitment of the Ngakphang sangha Ngakphang Sangha:: The White Sangha, or non-monastic Sangha. Ngakphang means 'Mantra- holding' and applies to those who have taken Tantric ordination rather the Sutric ordination of monks and nuns Nyingma:: The Ancient School of Tibetan Buddhism -- the 'early spread' of Buddhism in Tibet which grew under the enlightened inspiration of the second Buddha -- Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyel Pema Tsokyi:: The name given to Jomo Menmo by her parents Padmasambhava:: The second Buddha who brought the Tantric teachings to Tibet Pamo:: A woman who has recognized her 'inner Pawo' and manifests this realization in terms of her external activity in the world Pawo:: Literally 'warrior' or 'hero'. Either the outer quality of a man or the inner quality of a woman. A method-display manifestation Rang-rig Togden:: The yogi who became the sang-yab of Gomchenma Pema 'o-Zer. He practised the subjugation practices of Chana Dorje (Vajrapani), Tamdrin (Hayagriva) and Khyung (Garuda) a practice he had received from Azom Drukpa Rema:: Cotton wearer. The female of Repa, as in Milar.pa. A Rema, or Repa, is one who is accomplished in the practice of gTu-mo -- the practice of Spatial-heat, one of the Naro-cho-drug (six yogas of Naropa). These practitioners wear white cotton and often live naked above the snow- line Rinpoche:: Literally 'precious one'. Rinpoche is used as a respectful form of address to one's teacher. It is a mistaken assumption that the term Rinpoche indicates an incarnate Lama; although all incarnate Lamas are called Rinpoche by their students Sang-ngak-cho-dzong:: The spiritual association dedicated to the preservation of the Mother Essence Lineage and the Ngakphang sangha. It was founded by Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche, and named by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche. Sang-yab:: Secret Father - spiritual-husband or consort Sang-yum:: Secret Mother - spiritual-wife or consort Sonam Sangpo Rinpoche:: The Nyingma Lama who is the abbot of the Vajrayana Retreat Centre in Yang-le-shod, Nepal. He is the friend of Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche, Jetsunma Khandro Ten'dzin Drolkar, and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche of Pema Osel Ling in Santa Cruz Sutra:: The teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha: Sravakabuddhayana; Pratyekabuddhayana; and Boddhisattvabuddhayana. Known in the New Translation Schools as the Hinayana and Mahayana Tak-lha-ri:: Mountain of the Sky Tiger. The place from which Jomo Menmo and her two female disciples entered the Sky-dimension. Tantra:: Continuum, continuity or thread, see rGyud Tashi Chi-dren:: One of the spiritual consorts of Padmasambhava Tharchin Rinpoche:: Nyingma Lama and current Holder of the Repkong Ngakpa Lineage. Friend of Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche, Jetsunma Khandro Ten'dzin Drolkar, and Lama Sonam Sangpo Rinpoche. Tharchin Rinpoche is a married Lama who is an ordained member of the Ngakphang sangha gTer:: gTer is the shortened form of the word gTerma, which refers to a cycle of teaching and practices that have been discovered in visionary form gTerton:: A discoverer of gTerma Thinley Norbu:: His Holiness Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche is the elder son of His Holiness Kyabje Jigdrel Yeshe Dorje, Dudjom Rinpoche, and one of the most important living Lamas of the Nyingma School. Trul-khor:: Literally 'apparitional circle' or 'magical-wheel'. Called yantra yoga in Sanskrit, it is a system which resembles hatha yoga combined with pranayama and linked by movement. The Trul-khor of the Aro gTer is allied to the practice of Dzogchen Sem-de (see Dzogchen). In this practice, one moves between different physical postures in a rhythmic manner linking the movement with the breath. This system is designed to purify the rLung (see rLung) Togden:: Possessor of accomplishment. A yogi or yogini with matted hair Tsa-lung:: Yogic exercises involving breath and visualization. The Tsa-lung system is the Vajra-body of Spatial-nerves and the Spatial-winds that move within them Yak:: Large Tibetan ox - the yak is the male of the dri Yeshe Tsogyel:: The female Tantric Buddha, and sang-yum of Padmasambhava ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES ~~~~~ 1. Sang-ngak-cho-dzong is spelt with an umlaut over the "o" in "cho" this has been removed in this version as have various other accent marks. 2. For more information about Sang-ngak-cho-dzong, please contact: the Secretary, Sang-ngak-cho-dzong, 5 Court Close, Whitchurch, Cardiff, CF4 1JR, Wales, U.K. tel: 0222 620332. 3. Sang-ngak-cho-dzong is a Registered UK Charity, No. 1019886. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NGAKPA CHOGYAM RINPOCHE is the Spiritual Director of Sang-ngak-cho-dzong. An English-born Lama of the Nyingma Tradition, Ngakpa Rinpoche was recognized by H.H. Chimed Rigdzin Rinpoche as the rebirth of 'a-Shul Pema Legden. He is the author of //Rainbow of Liberated Energy// and //Journey into Vastness// (published by Element Books). Rinpoche is a Tantric artist, poet, singer, healer, and Doctor of Tibetan Tantric Psychology. ======================================================================= {10} REFEREED ARTICLE ======================================================================= PRESENCE WITH A DIFFERENCE: BUDDHISTS AND FEMINISTS ON SUBJECTIVITY by Anne C. Klein Postmodernist narratives about subjectivity are inadequate. -- Jane Flax, //Thinking Fragments// Without mindfulness there will be no reconstitution of already acquired knowledge and consciousness itself would break to pieces, become fragmentary. -- Soma Thera, //The Way of Mindfulness// What is a woman? Simone de Beauvoir initiated a fruitful period of reflection on this issue with her famous statement, "One is not born a woman, but, rather, becomes one" (Beauvoir 1974, 301). Her emphasis on "becoming" can be seen as prefiguring an entire corpus of feminist postmodern reflection on the elusive nature of self and subjectivity. But, as Judith Butler puts it in her rejoinder to Beauvoir's comment, "How can one become a woman if one wasn't a woman all along?" (Butler 1990, 111). With this she expresses a crucial piece of the essentialist resistance to postmodern theories. Much of contemporary feminist theory falls somewhere between the essentialist and postmodern positions suggested by these statements.<1> I suggest that the apparently irresolvable antipathy between these positions rests in part on the incorporation of Western philosophical assumptions on subjectivity, that is, on categories associated with awareness. I also propose that two other elements in Western thought, incorporated by feminists, contribute to this antipathy: (1) the strong tendency in Western philosophy to structure inquiries into how things are and how they are known as separate branches of investigation and (2) the profoundly embedded contemporary Western assumption that subjectivity is to be understood solely through its engagement with language. Although I focus here on feminist writing, much of what follows is relevant also to nonfeminist Western reflection. The central dilemma of the essentialist-postmodern debate among feminists is clear: How can contemporary Western women frame a sense of self that is neither overly essentialized nor so contingently constructed that its very existence and power is in question? The stakes of this debate are high. These are not questions of theory only, but speak to deeply rooted visions of what it means to be a "woman." How does one live with the powerful pulls toward the different experiences that "essentialisms" and "postmodernisms" suggest? How can a woman claim the kind of solid self that gives her strength while still recognizing the multiple social, economic, political, and gendered vectors that condition and constitute this self? Through postmodern perspectives, for example, I can articulate the complex processes of becoming by which identity is configured and thereby honor the endless movement and connections between my life and thoughts and those of myriad others, but I do not thereby recognize a depth or "place of her own" in any individual subjectivity. Essentialists tend to privilege such a place, thereby extolling the rootedness in self that many find crucial to a sense of well-being, but essentialists also tend to overlook social, political, or psychological particularities. Thus, naming an essential identity can be empowering but also limiting, and it is certainly philosophically problematic.<2> These issues of personal power, connection, independence, and relationship lie at the heart of the feminist essentialist-postmodern debate. The way a women understands subjectivity is critical to her understanding of the tensions between feminist essentialist and postmodernist orientations. By "subjectivity" I mean to include the specific functions and categories of knowing associated with the human mind. These, I propose, have been unnecessarily curtailed in recent debates between essentialists and postmodernists. I want to suggest a way of expanding the scope and vocabulary of feminist discussions on subjectivity by drawing from a religious and philosophical matrix especially rich in this regard. My pivotal thesis is that an expanded understanding of subjectivity can change the nature of the tension between feminist essentialist and postmodern perspectives and, in the process, uncover and challenge a bias toward mastery implicit in postmodern narratives. To explore this thesis I here use selected material from Indian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. I propose that these traditions recognize positions analogous to the essentialist and postmodern positions, yet read the relationship between these positions quite different, understanding them as far more compatible than contemporary feminists tend to do. The difference in these readings is due largely to their different ways of understanding subjectivity. Fundamental to Buddhist characterizations of subjectivity is a mental state known as mindfulness, here meaning the ability to retain clear and stable attention on a chosen object. Mindfulness gives evidence of both essentialist-like and constructionist-like orientations, and will here serve as my prime example of how a Buddhist discussion of subjectivity can relate to feminist concerns. Mindfulness facilitates an "essential" type of centering and at the same time is compatible with constructionist or postmodern sensibilities because it perceives how the flux constitutes the mind-body complex. Paradoxically, the more one's mindful concentration develops, and the more grounded one is in present experience, the clearer one is about the fragile and constructed nature of the self. I say "paradoxically," but the tension of paradox is only in description, not in the experience. In this way mindfulness and associated states of calm and concentration can ameliorate the nature of the tension between essentialist and postmodern perspectives in feminist contexts. My discussion therefore begins with classic Buddhist descriptions of mindfulness. I then consider how the particular affinity mindfulness has with what Buddhists call the "unconditioned" relates to postmodern emphases on the complementary processes of deferral, differentiation, and supplementation as the only context in which narratives of selfhood occur. From most postmodernist perspectives, the fact that context and meaning is never complete and can always be further supplemented is evidence of the impossibility of any person, object, or narrative being fully present. Because meaning and subjectivity are in this sense never fully present, they are always deferred. This is a critical observation for feminist reflection on self and identity. Paul Ricoeur once said that in the United States deconstruction is especially prominent among literary critics but that it is in fact a way of addressing religious issues. In this context he described deconstruction as a way of unmasking the questions behind the answers of a text or tradition.<3> Can we speak of the mind in any way except in terms of what it knows? This is a question I see as implicit in Buddhist traditions and one that becomes explicit when we juxtapose Buddhist and feminist perspectives. A mental state such as mindfulness is not described in terms of what is understood, but rather in terms of the mode of awareness itself. When we look at feminist essentialist-postmodern debates through a Buddhist lens, it appears that what most feminist reflections on subjectivity have in common is their focal concern with the contents of the subject: what she knows, what feelings she has, how she differentiates and constructs herself through these. Buddhist traditions also take enormous and explicit interest in what one knows and how one knows it. They differ from most feminist reflections, however, in devoting much attention to exploring the type of mind that knows various objects; this interest is to be distinguished from an investigation of the ideas, emotions, or other "contents" of the mind. Seldom discussed in Western feminist discourse on subjectivity, mental states such as mindfulness and concentration are difficult to map onto Western categories of subjectivity. - Dimensions of Subjectivity - Teresa de Lauretis says that subjectivity arises from "a complex of habits resulting from the semiotic interaction of 'outer world' and 'inner world,' the continuous engagement of a self or subject in social reality" (1984, 182.) <4> Judith Butler, equating the subject with the "I," finds that identity is something that cannot pre-exist linguistic signification, and that identity is above all a practice. What kind of practice? One that "inserts itself in the pervasive and mundane signifying acts of linguistic life" (1990, 145). Both positions are in keeping with postmodernists' emphasis on the formative role of language in self-experience. I propose, however, that it is insufficient to conceive of subjectivity and selfhood only in relation to language and that the insistence on doing so is itself a particular construction of Western intellectual history. As Jane Flax has observed, philosophy privileges knowledge so exclusively that other alternatives are not explored (1990, 194). Moreover, knowledge in feminist postmodern contexts refers almost entirely to conceptually based knowing, as opposed to visceral knowledge of the body, for example, or a capacity to experience feeling vividly. Indeed, the split between feminist essentialist and postmodern positions is often a split between emphasizing the body (as do Mary Daly, Helene Cixous, and Adrienne Rich, for example) or the mind (Judith Butler, Chris Weedon, Teresa de Lauretis). In this way the feminist debate replicates a cultural tendency to bifurcate mind and body, even though most feminists decry this tendency. To go beyond this bifurcation requires that we recognize forms of subjectivity which are viscerally connected to the body and for which "knowledge" in the sense of information is not the sole criterion. There are sources in recent Western reflection for such visceral awareness, though they have not often been brought to bear on discussions among essentialists and postmodernists. Flax, for example, points to Melanie Klein's discourse on an infant's instinctive curiosity about her mother's body. I would mention also a telling passage in Emily Martin's discussion of the subjective state of women in the process of giving birth. This is a time when what is known is not the central experiential criterion. But what is? Michael Odent, whose clinic in Pithiviers, France, has pioneered an especially supportive environment for women giving birth, describes it like this: "Women seemed to forget themselves and what was going on around them during the course of an unmedicated labor. They get a faraway look in their eyes, forget social conventions, lose self-consciousness and self- control. . ... I have found it very difficult to describe this shift to a deeper level of consciousness during a birth. I had thought of calling it 'regression,' but I know that the word sounds pejorative, evoking a return to some animal state. 'Instinct' is a better term, although it, too, resonates with moralistic overtones" (quoted in Martin 1992, 163). Indeed, the terms we have are limited. The problem with words such as "instinct" is also part of the problem with essentialist vocabularies; they imply the demise of the kind of individual personhood valued in North American and European cultures, and they seem to identify the self with an "acultural" body. Martin herself suggests a more positive frame for what Odent describes: Instead of seeing the Pithiviers women as engaged in a "natural" lower-order activity, why can we not see them as engaged in a higher-order activity? The kinds of integration of body and mind fostered by the psychophysiological approach and others, the kinds of wholly involved activity captured by the metaphors of the journey and the trance, could well be taken as higher, more essentially human, more essentially cultural forms of consciousness and activity. Here, perhaps, are whole human beings, all their parts interrelated, engaged in what may be the only form of truly unalienated labor now available to us. (Martin 1992, 164). In order to encompass subjectivity more fully and to dissolve barriers between essentialist and postmodern positions, we need to include among our categories of subjectivity a dimension of mind that is not primarily linguistic or conceptual, and yet (unlike Klein or Martin's examples) is capable of being cultivated, and therefore is to be included among "higher-order" and "cultural" human activities. This is a possibility that promises to reframe many areas important to women -- from how birthing and motherhood are valued, to relieving the ancient dualisms between mind and body, to gaining a new perspective on contemporary essentialist-postmodern antagonisms. - Mindfulness: Coherence and Constructedness - In ancient India, would-be surgeons were presented with a leaf floating on water and a sharp cutting instrument. Their challenge was to sever the leaf without sinking it. Too strong a stroke, and the leaf was submerged; too timid an effort, and it remained uncut. "One who is clever shows the scalpel stroke on it by means of a balanced effort (Buddhaghosa 1976, I:141). The balance of the surgeon serves as a model for the balance required in mindfulness. This criterion of balance, like the related criteria of alertness, laxity, and excitement, suggests ways to reflect on how the mind is, apart from its knowledge or feelings. This is not to deny the profound intertwining of language and subjectivity, but to say that the mind is not only its linguistic associations; it has a depth and dimension to it not entirely governed by language or analysis. This dimension is not clearly accounted for in either feminist essentialist or postmodern discussions of subjectivity. In Indian, Tibetan, and other Buddhist traditions, however, subjectivity is not simply a concatenation of details, but has a "visceral" existence of its own. Mindfulness is also important because it is said to entail a focusing capacity beyond the level of ordinary flickering attention. Theravada, the Buddhist tradition still extant in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma, takes the Foundations of Mindfulness Sutra as central to its meditation practice. This text teaches mindful observation first of the breath, in order to stabilize the mind, then of the body and mind, along with the existential attributes of these, such as impermanence.<5> This focusing capacity makes it possible to notice particular details to which one was previously impervious. For example, one's arm usually feels solid and constant. With practice it comes to feel, at least during a meditation session, like an ongoing flux of mini sensations with no overarching "arm" except as a name given to these myriad sensations. If one turns attention to other mental processes, "mind" too is experienced as only flux. Whether one places attention on breath, body, or mind itself, what was formerly experienced as solid and cohesive is revealed as quite the opposite, so that the object seems to dissolve, and "having seen the dissolution of that object, one contemplates the dissolution of the consciousness that had that as its object" (Buddhaghosa 1976, II:751). As Buddhaghosa wrote in his fifth century work //Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga)//, a classic expression of Theravadin phenomenology, "all formations [e.g., the person's mental and physical constituents] which keep on breaking up, [are] like fragile pottery being smashed, like fine dust being dispersed.... Just as a man with eyes standing on the bank of a pond or on the bank of a river during heavy rain would see large bubbles appearing on the surface of the water and breaking up as soon as they appeared, so too he sees how formations break up all the time" (Buddhaghosa 1976, II:752). Mind and body are revealed as nothing but a great disappearing act. The more one's mindful concentration develops, the clearer one is about one's fragile and constructed nature. At the same time, one is physically grounded in present experience. No matter how intense the insight into flux, one's own steady focus vouches viscerally for meaningful personal continuity. Fredric Jameson has suggested that modern Westerners, unable to grasp their social context in its entirety, instead satisfy themselves with focusing on their own particular place in that larger whole; coherence in terms of social situatedness has been replaced by this exercise of cognitive mapping. In feminist postmodern reflection as well, the idea that mind is always and primarily constituted by context crowds out the possibility of any sense of completeness, or wholeness; hence, perhaps the fascination with supplementation. By contrast, mindfulness, and the mental focus that develops from it, is described as a unifying dynamic and seen as lending coherence to the subject even as it reveals the endless flux of self and world. Put another way, mindfulness and the dimensions of concentration related with it simultaneously demonstrate the self's constructedness and its fully viable agency. This too is not just a theoretical issue; it is perhaps the fundamental existential oxymoron: all my life I am changing (getting older, dying) and at the same time remaining the same (retaining a sense of identity). Mindfulness, even of dissolution, is grounding. It is an experience of being strongly centered in the present and in oneself. Such grounding in the face of dissolution is the beginning of constructive personal strength. In its function as a witness, mindfulness is characterized as a silent subject, saying nothing itself. This silence is not an inability to speak, but the ability to not speak, and thereby sometimes to be free from domination by the patternings of language and thought. If we can understand mind as having such a silent dimension, then mindfulness is not yet another voice, yet another information-bearing strand, in the internal dialogue.<6> It resembles the "evenly hovering attention" of a psychoanalyst (something no one in the profession would wish to call "instinctive" even though this is a subject state which, like that of the Pithiviers women, suggests a "shift to a deeper state of consciousness").<7> Again, what is important about such a mind is how it flows, rather than what it knows. And this importance resonates throughout the mind-body complex. A number of feminist women have written about the importance of mindful clarity. The wandering that Mary Daly chronicles requires immense awareness and self-knowledge (1985, xii, 89). Doris Lessing, herself influenced by the meditative traditions of Sufism, makes awareness the starting point of Martha Quest's spiritual odyssey in //The Four Gated City//. Martha learns how to make herself "alive and light and aware" (37) she knows the advantages, walking in the London rain, of having "her head cool, watchful, alert" (38). She knows too the sense of "a quiet, empty space, behind which stood an observing presence." Here also mindfulness is described in terms of mental characteristics other than knowledge. But from a Buddhist perspective there is little in the way of an epistemological clarification of what this is or how it is cultivated. Mindfulness is physically centering. Quieting the processes of distraction stills the breath and soothes the body. Indeed, acknowledging the intimate relationship between bodily and emotional or cognitive experience is vital to many meditative traditions. Physical and mental processes are not two halves of a whole, but two avenues of access into the fully integrated complex in which they participate. Subjective shifts, in this view, always involve the entire person. Calming, for example, is associated with a variety of pleasurable physical sensations, from feeling one's body as preternaturally soft or light, to -- far more rarely but also more famously -- intense sexual pleasure. Mindfulness, says Buddhaghosa, reveals mind and body as functions in constant communication, always shaping and responding to the other "like a drum and the sound of a drum" (690). Tibetan Buddhists describe mind as inseparable from the inner currents (rlung, prana) on which it rides. As the inner currents flow through the body, they facilitate physical as well as mental movement. Watching the breath affects the movement of these currents, as does regulating the breath through slow and rhythmic chanting, another important technique for soothing the mind. These traditions also emphasize that consciousness is never fully disembodied; it is always associated with the subtle physicality of internal currents.<8> This is why some esoteric traditions teach a variety of postures to enhance their meditation practices: the placement of body directly affects the way in which currents of energy course within it, and these energies in turn affect all manner of internal experience -- emotional, spiritual, conceptual. Mindfulness is grounding because of the way it globally affects one's experience of self and world. Mindfulness allows one to accept the present and to accept oneself in the present. This is accomplished not by altering, accessing, or restructuring the contents of the mind, but by altering the tone of consciousness. For all these reasons, the subject is not to be understood only as a language-constituted instrument. Focused attention reveals depth as well as informational breadth, a depth not wholly navigable through the language-bearing coordinates articulated in postmodern reflections. The difference between experiencing one's state of mind and experiencing its "contents" is one of the most important subjective differences in Buddhism; it is a distinction that has no real parallel in contemporary theory. From a Buddhist perspective, postmodernists have a strangely disembodied notion of mind, precisely because there is no room to take account of the state of the subject, apart from the constructs that are its contents. The absence in contemporary feminist theory of specific attention to the kinds of subjective shifts Buddhist traditions describe partly results from the already mentioned separation, in the West, of investigation into how things are and into how they are known, that is, the distinctness of epistemology from ontology.<9> Feminist theory both perpetuates this separation and, in some quarters, protests it, observing that such separation contributes to the abstractness of modern philosophy, against which feminists seek theory anchored in experience.<10> Most Indo-Tibetan Buddhist traditions intimately and explicitly entwine ontological and epistemological issues. That is, the attention given to ontological descriptions of persons or things is generally matched by detailed consideration of what happens to the subject who knows this. Buddhists must have categories of mind which are not linked with language since they do not find all epistemological error to be a function of language.<28> Thus, in the Buddhist traditions considered here, silence in the face of language suggests a subjective dimension not primarily governed by language, a dimension that offers a coherence that is not necessarily a narrative or cognitive coherence. From a Buddhist perspective, the subjectivity described in postmodern literature as lacking a coherent narrative, or as emerging through a play of language-based differences, is inappropriately thin. Little attention is paid to its broader dimensions, meaning something other than its conceptual, ideational, or emotional activities. Failure to consider such dimensions seems to me a crucial factor in making the postmodern self seem too thin or monodimensional <12> to provide a proper basis for feminist agendas. If, however, subjectivity is not limited to conceptual and emotional functioning, there opens up a new dimension of performance, a new source of personal power, and a different arena from which to connect with the world's diffuseness. In these ways, mindfulness eases the sense of being caught "inside" oneself, as if isolated from the wider world. Its subjective space need not entirely be localized inside the body, because to go deep enough "inside" is also sometimes to touch a point that connects with a vast neither-external-nor-internal-world. For all these reasons I believe it is important for women to acknowledge and be on intimate terms with an experience of personhood that is not simply a constellation of learned codes, assorted information, and unique personal expressions. These latter must not be lost, but they cannot be the sole basis for selfhood either. Postmodern theories, unlike Buddhist theories, are very articulate about a subject's position among the coordinates of race and class and other historical, socio-economic, and political realities. The kind of "constructedness" of which classic Buddhist forms of mindfulness take note is not this sort of constructedness. Mindfulness is not a matter of interpreting one's position. Thus Buddhists would be unlikely to find the subject reduced to a "site of competing discourses," as it often is in postmodern descriptions, both feminist and nonfeminist. There are no explicit Buddhist analyses of class, race, or gender, for example. Buddhist perspectives we consider here could agree that social positioning through race, class, or gender, combined with one's interpretation of these, significantly affects consciousness, but they do not understand the whole dimension of subjective functioning to be constituted by these. However, insofar as Buddhist philosophical traditions are often concerned with the process by which thoughts and images shape the self, the matter of culturally produced "ideals" is a form of self-construction important for both Buddhist and feminist reflection. Therefore let us consider the relationship between ideals and subjectivity from a Buddhist perspective. Might mindfulness and concentration suggest ways to avoid treating the self as a territory to be conquered, governed, or colonized by ideals? - Mindfulness and Ideals - I once overheard a conversation between two American Buddhist practitioners. An apparent newcomer asked a more seasoned student, "How has meditation changed you?" She appeared to expect a triumphal story of vanquishing unwanted personality traits by embracing a more ideal style of personhood. The object of this inquiry, responding not at all to her air of anticipation, said with mild surprise, "Change? I don't want to change. I just want to be there." Ideals are problematic philosophically as well as experientially. To assume any type of overly simple relation to an ideal is also to assume a unitariness of subject belied by both postmodernists and Buddhists; it also suggests, untenably from most feminist perspectives, that the appropriate ideals are already fully conceived. To have mindfulness, Buddhists often say, is to accept what is and to offset the unbalancing future-orientation that occurs when one is focused primarily on the ideal one would like to become, at the expense of noticing or appreciating what one is.<13> The potential disadvantages of a quest for self, or any religious quest, being dominated by ideals are fourfold: (1) hindering self-knowledge, (2) demeaning the self, (3) providing a means for manipulation, and (4) continuing the type of oppositional style that feminists explicitly seek to overcome. Merely a gentle observer, mindfulness is a way of being there. It does so by fostering a capacity to relate to oneself without trying to oppose, judge, or change what is observed. Because it permits self-knowledge without the crippling presence of an ideal against which one inevitably falls short, mindfulness can be understood as departing from the urge to master, override, rein in, or otherwise manipulate the self. In this way mindfulness' quality of self-acceptance provides an important counterweight to the narrative of ideals and to the paradigm of mastery often associated with the implementation of ideals. - Being There: Presence with a Difference - Buddhist descriptions of subjectivity in connection with mindfulness and meditation suggest the possibility of a subjectivity not wholly governed by words and therefore not subject to the kind of fracturing associated with feminist postmodern or constructionist perspectives. The Buddhist descriptions of subjectivity referred to here also suggest a self that has the kind of unified strength described by essentialists yet, unlike the selves they describe, is also characterized by a coherence that does not deteriorate when one recognizes the self's constructed nature. These descriptions, and associated practices, offer one a sense of her mind as an extensive, even inexhaustible, resource of strength and fresh perspectives. Such a subjectivity is of particular interest to women, because women are today explicitly concerned with finding modes of expression and reflection that are as free as possible from the internalized cultural restraints on women's being. We have said that the silent subject of Buddhist epistemological description has an ontological analogue, which Buddhists variously call emptiness or selflessness, meaning the absence of existing independent of causes and conditions. All persons and things are qualified by this unconditioned absence. The category of the unconditioned is here, unlike in postmodern theory, considered compatible with a theory that emphasizes the conditionality of phenomena in general. Knowing emptiness requires a considerable measure of clarity, stability, and intensity,<14> together with associated shifts in breathing, posture, and other physiological processes. It is this absence which is engaged by the "wisdom" for which Buddhist traditions are so famous. Insight into emptiness is an experience replete with meaning because it is empty of content. This is not a matter of putting together conceptually organized bits of information, but of reorienting to a cognition that viscerally unites mental and physical dimensions. What kind of presence is possible in relation to this absence which is emptiness? Should Buddhists be judged naive for claiming that the "truth" of emptiness can be fully present to consciousness? What kind of "truth" is at issue here anyway? And what kind of consciousness?<15> Direct and full realization of emptiness does not mean that emptiness is completely known in the sense of the subject having mastered or observed some "thing" in a way that brooks no supplementation.<16> Developing an experience of emptiness does not involve further knowledge "about" it but rather increased concentration and focus on it. Concentration, like the mindfulness that makes it possible, is not governed by language. This concentrated and nonverbal witness does not have the same relationship to traces of difference as do other more language-based modes of awareness. Postmodern philosophers argue against what they characterize as the essentialist assumption that a thing is just what it is, and nothing else, and can be known as such (Derrida 1976. 7-8, 20-158-9).<17> For Jacques Derrida, writing is the archetypal situation of shifting differences which characterizes every aspect of our lives; it is a performance of the impossibility of presence (Derrida 1982; 1981, esp. 17-32). For him, however, as for feminist theorists influenced by him, the impossibility of presence rests on premises not relevant to the Buddhist claim we are considering.<18> For Middle-Way and other philosophical traditions within Buddhism, the salient criterion is not how much of an object one knows, or how much information one has captured, but how focused, intense, and clear the knowing mind itself is. The unconditioned emptiness cannot be communicated fully through language, but neither can ordinary things be fully expressed by language or known by thought. Indeed, much of Indo- Tibetan Buddhism understands language to be a system of imperfect and indirect representation.<19> Both Buddhists and postmodern feminists reject naive theories of representation or "pipeline" models of meaning wherein a word or thought is considered "fully" to express or convey that to which it refers.<20> In this way, Buddhist epistemology agrees with feminist and other postmodern emphases on the limitations of linguistic representation. But when emptiness is known directly, thought and language are absent. At the same time emptiness, the absence of independent, unconditioned existence, is fully present to one's experience. Nothing about emptiness is deferred or differentiated from one's mind. Yet, there is nothing particular in emptiness to be assumed present in the first place. It is a mere absence. Buddhist descriptions of awareness suggest that no matter how many thoughts, feelings, or sensory impressions it accesses, these can never fully characterize or dominate the mind. There is always room for something else. In other words, as I have already emphasized, Buddhist traditions are inclined to understand a concentrated mind as fully "present" to its object, regardless of whether or not that object is fully known. This is because the critical issue here is stability and attentiveness, rather than the amount of information gathered. The fact that ordinary objects of the senses can never be fully known is in fact something on which most Buddhist and postmodern theories agree. However, this inability of the conceptual mind to fully know an object and the impossibility of an object being "just what it is" are for Buddhists not disruptive of subjective coherence, whereas they are often described as disruptive by feminist postmodernists. These latter do not accept presence because no matter how broadly the boundaries of a person are drawn, there is always something included and something excluded. Descriptions can always be further supplemented; they are never complete. <21> This is where the issues of presence and the problem of ideals converge. Both are predicated on mastery; both are philosophically problematic. On the other hand, a feminist such as Helene Cixous, whose work partakes of both essentialist and postmodern orientations, celebrates the impossibility of circumscribing woman. She rejoices in woman's "endless body, without 'end,' without principal 'parts'" (Cixous 1986, 87). Yet what she says is also a cause of concern. How can an endless and therefore shapeless subject shape an identity? How can one avoid being wholly colonized by a limited set of ideals or roles? - Mindfulness and Mastery - Only a tradition that acknowledges the significance of internal silence can feature its ontological analogue, the unconditioned emptiness, as part of a path to liberation. This kind of subject is yet to be situated within Western understandings of subjectivity. The silent subject united with an "emptiness" that is the absence of its own previously misconstrued status occupies a position distinct from either of the narratives which, according to Lyotard, have dominated the modern West: the Enlightenment narrative, exemplified by Kant, and the narrative of the Spirit, exemplified by Hegel. In both of these, knowledge of is key. Knowledge is the ideal, the legitimizer, and the redeemer. Who would deny the significance of knowledge? Not feminists, certainly, and not Buddhists either. Without in any way undermining the significance of various types of knowledge, the subject, need not be defined only by what it knows. The subjective dimension of silent concentration offers a space for the subject apart from its dominating knowledge, and the dimension of the unconditioned is the arena in which it functions. Women, and men as well, need an epistemology that allows room for multiple incoherencies and incongruities. The type of coherence suggested by attentive focusing in no way contradicts engagement with a multiplicity of ideas, stories, histories, of race, class, gender, or personal style. One remains physically centered and focused in the midst of observing this. When the mind is understood as an open expanse, there is always room for something more. When that same mind has a dimension that retains its open, unlanguaged status even -- or especially -- in the face of dissolution and multiplicity, its dynamic of coherence cannot be interrupted by particularity or incongruency. This dimension is greatly facilitated by an ontology which expresses the inessential essence -- for example, emptiness -- considered an attribute of persons and things but which is not itself governed by their particular qualities. In brief, such subjective spaciousness becomes available through subjective processes not rooted in language and through engaging an object not governed only by particularity. This points to a sharp distinction between Buddhist and contemporary feminist sensibilities. Again, the crucial issue for the Buddhist traditions is not the extent to which one is master of the details of an object, but the way in which one is centered in awareness itself. By contrast, agency and mastery are focal concerns for those who propose language and writing as the governing metaphor of experience, as evidenced by the near-hysteria (highly intellectualized) at the possibility of their dismantling or demise. From a Buddhist perspective the contemporary fascination with diff‚rance suggests an intellectual history that did not take sufficient note of the interdependent and conditioned nature of persons or things in the first place.<22> To that extent, Buddhist philosophers would be in sympathy with the kind of correction postmodernists seek. But, why make such a fuss about diff‚rance except for the desire of complete possession thwarted by it? The bias toward "mastering" against which postmodernism poses itself resurfaces here. Partly because of this fascination with mastery, the unmasterability of the textualized world becomes, in postmodern reflection, the most mysterious and interesting thing about it. This at least is my reading of the "question" behind the "answer" of diff‚rance, including its insistence on not really being an answer. Such fascination is a compelling undercurrent of the postmodern deconstruction of Enlightenment sensibilities. The glory days of old when individuality, agency, and truth could be enshrined as cultural icons only lend drama to their present dethroning. I agree with Flax that women are by definition left outside this story-line (Flax, 1990, 215).<23> Like the unconditioned and the nonverbal, women too are "other" to the deconstructive network, for the unconditioned and the nonverbal, like women, are unmasterable through the ordinary channels of power, especially language; they all lie outside the male-ordered fascination with agency, legacy, and its demise. Is it an accident that women, mother, mater, maternal ground, and foundations are all excluded or severely limited by contemporary theory? As Nancy Hartsock put it, "Why is it, just at the moment in Western history when previously silenced populations have begun to speak for themselves.... that the concept of the subject and the possibility of discovering/creating a liberating 'truth' become suspect?"<24> Useful as some of Derrida's observations and other postmodern insights have been to feminist theory, women and others who would think new thoughts must make claims outside this "story-line" by swimming past its boundaries into the deeper dimensions of subjectivity. The Buddhist story-line we are following here is different. It requires the possibility of subjective silence and objective absence. Silence and its analogue, the unconditioned emptiness, as well as the compatibility between the conditioned and unconditioned, suggest a constellation of connections that contemporary theory as presently constituted does not recognize. Its suspicions of foundationalism conspire against this. The subjective dimensions proposed in Buddhist materials suggest a centeredness that is essentialist-like in its power and uncomplicated identity, and yet avoids the overly narrow definitions of "female essence" that lead many feminists to cast aside essentialist aspirations. At the same time, I believe it is critical for women to acknowledge the need for groundedness and for some degree of personal "presence." Yet, when capturing or occupying is not at issue, the question of presence loses its punch. So does the poignancy of women's position as object. Feminist descriptions have yet to develop a vocabulary for functions other than capture or knowledge by which subjects engage their objects. Perhaps here lies a clue to a unique womanly gesture, one that, like mindfulness, proceeds in ways other than through the differential of frustrated mastery. I call it a gesture, because in gestures, words are not all that matter. Persons communicate through language, but also through the flesh, blood, and rushing currents of feeling and energy by which they are also constituted. This womanly gesture, in which language may participate without becoming the ruling metaphor, neither masters, succumbs to, nor even excludes, its male audience. In this way, it avoids being a "master" narrative. Postmodernists in general and feminist postmodernists in particular have opened up an enormous intellectual space in which to reconsider the relationship of self and knowledge. Feminists have integrated gender concerns into this space as well. But a subjective experience that moves from textuality to a different style of subjectivity altogether is not available in postmodern thought as currently constituted. Feminist appropriations of postmodernist structures have, by and large, conceived of themselves as opposed to essentialist feminist perspectives.<25> For Buddhists, the possibility of subjectivity not anchored in language or oppositionality suggests a way in which the strength and agency associated with essentialist perspectives can be integrated with a full acknowledgment of the complexity of a woman's identity in the contemporary climate. Thus, I think it extremely worthwhile to recognize a dimension or category of subjectivity that is not bounded, constructed, or defined solely by language. Contemporary women's lives, replete with incongruous elements of culture, race, religion, or worldview, can be a cause for celebration so long as one's entire possibility for coherence does not lie with a verbalized narrative coherence. The mastery of detail and nuance that this would require is impossible. But this impossibility need not stand in the way of subjective or personal coherence, for keen and focused attention inevitably reveals that multiplicity makes the only kind of whole that can be one. NOTES ~~~~~ Condensed from my forthcoming book, //Meeting the Great Bliss Queen: Buddhists Feminists, and the Art of the Self// (Boston: Beacon Press, Fall 1994), which discusses Buddhist and feminist understandings of self, subjectivity, and compassionate relationship in the light of their respective cultural contexts, and introduces ritual and philosophical elements associated with a female Buddha known as the Great Bliss Queen (bde chen rgyal mo) in order to express and sometimes bridge critical differences between modern secular feminist voices and traditional Buddhist ones. In attempting to mark out major connections and dissonances between Buddhist and Western ideas of subjectivity, it is impossible to find language not already embedded with either Western or Buddhist philosophical intent. Nonetheless, one proceeds. I am grateful to readers of the chapters of my book from which this article is drawn: Harvey Aronson, Lauren Bryant, Elizabeth Long, Helena Michie, Michael Fischer, Janet Gyatso, Katherine Milun, Meredith Skura, Sharon Traweek, and Philip Wood. In addition I am grateful to the two anonymous readers for Hypatia and its editors. I also thank Steven D. Goodman for very helpful comments on a penultimate draft of this article. <1.> It is, of course, well known that there are many differences among essentialists themselves, as among postmodernists. See, for example, Schor (1989). In my references to these positions, I extract principles that are common, though not necessarily universal, to feminist essentialists or postmodernists respectively. Some writers, for example, Luce Irigary and H‚lŠne Cixous reflect both essentialist and postmodern orientations. Luce Irigaray describes a kind of postmodern essence when she writes: "Woman is neither open nor closed. She is indefinite, in-finite, form is never complete in her" (Irigaray l985, 229). Julia Kristeva, on the other hand, flatly finds any sort of coherence to be a mistake, observing that "the belief that 'one is a woman' is almost as absurd and obscurantist as the belief that 'one is a man'" (Kristeva 1981, 137). <2.> Linda Alcoff observes that minority voices in the West are particularly sensitive to the dangers of essentialism, and for this reason Black, Hispanic, Chicana, and other women of color overwhelmingly reject essentialist conceptions of gender (Alcoff, l988. 412). See Anzaldua (1987), Walker (1982), and Moraga (1987). My colleague Angela Valenzuela has pointed out in conversation the complexity of the one hand, minority persons' need to define themselves in opposition to a majority, and, at the same time their objections to having an identity solely defined by that context. Nonetheless some theorists such as Paul Smith call for a reassessment of essentialism's political efficacy (See Smith 1988, 44). See also Fuss's discussion of this in connection with Irigaray (Fuss, 1989, 70ff). <3.> Paul Ricoeur in colloquium with Harvard Divinity School Faculty, Fall, 1983 <4.> For de Lauretis's main sources for her interpretations of Lacan, Eco and Peirce see Alcoff (1988. 424 n. 45). <5.> For a translation and discussion of this sutra see Thera (1984). For further discussion of mindfulness by modern Theravadins see Thera (1984) and Rahula (l980). <6.> Mind is then not to be understood only through the metaphor of "conversation" and the differentiating play of words as it often is today, as, for example in the work of Bakhtin (the "dialogic consciousness" and Rorty's work on Freud). See Flax (1990, 217) with reference to Rorty (1986). <7.> This is a kind of quiet mental scanning that allows the analyst to listen closely and clearly to the analysand, and allows the analysand to be aware of what is coming to her own consciousness. (Thanks to Meredith Skura for this observation in the course of a seminar sponsored by the Rice Center for Cultural Studies, Fall 1990.) <8.> This internal energy, however, does not fit into the usual categories by which contemporary feminists consider the extent to which thought or consciousness is affected by bodily experience. Therefore, whereas in some contemporary theories the acknowledged difficulty of locating any aspect of mind that is not affected by bodily experience is associated with skepticism regarding the possibility of "pure" consciousness, in the Buddhist traditions considered here it is not. See Flax (1990, 62). Consider also Cixous' emphasis on the body and Kristeva's alignment of feminine and masculine uses of language with feminine and masculine libidinal energy. See discussion by Weedon (1987, 70ff). <9.> For an excellent discussion of this see Jane Flax (1980, 21ff). See also Bateson (1982, 313-14). <10.> Jane Flax observes that, given the repressive contexts that Western women are likely to encounter, feminism has a special interest in theories that construct self while taking account of the full complexity of subjectivity (Flax 1986, 93). <11.> This is because Buddhist traditions are not simply philosophical systems that purport to describe the world and knowledge of it, but are soteriological systems that claim the ability to describe the world in such a way that one can become freed from it (conversation with Steven Goodman, March 1, 1994, Houston Texas.) Language is not the only reason one is caught up in the world. For example, the Gelukba Consequentialist (Prasangika) school regards the errors it seeks to correct as not only mental or conceptual but also as pervading sensory perception. Moreover, sensory perception can, at least in Buddhist theory, operate without conceptual overlay. For a discussion of Buddhism's claim to deal with a level of error more primal than language, see Napper (1989, 92ff.). <12.> This term derived in conversation with Steven Goodman. <13.> In the literature on calm abiding, "mindfulness" is distinguished from the function of introspection (samprajanaya, shes bzhin); this latter is the factor of mind that notices whether faults such as laxity or excitement are present. See Hopkins (1983, 74-76). A classic Mahayana distinction between mindfulness and introspection is made in Shantideva's //Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds,// Chap. 4. See Cox (1992, 67-108). <14.> These are characteristics classically associated with calm abiding, the minimal level of concentration required for actual insight into the unconditioned emptiness. See Lodr” (1986, 166). Calm abiding is acquired developmentally, culminating the "nine mental states" (sems gnas dgu). Facility with mindfulness, "the power of mindfulness," is said to be completed at the fourth of these states. <15.> Indeed, a synonym for a nonconceptual mind is a "complete engager" (sgrub 'jug; *viddhi-pravrti) because it is considered to engage every aspect of its object. In this sense it is fully present to the aspects of the object which present themselves to consciousness. Discussed in Napper (1980) and Klein (1986 Chapter 3). For a detailed discussion of the idea that sense consciousnesses "take on the aspect" of the objects they know, see Klein (1986, Chpt. 3). <16.> I draw here primarily from the Middle Way (Madhyamika) philosophy in the tradition of the Indian scholars Nagarjuna and Candrakirti as interpreted by Tsong-kha-pa, founder of the Gelukba order, and other scholars in his tradition, who incorporated many elements of the epistemology of the Indian scholastics Dignaga and Dharmakirti. <17.> For an interesting discussion of this aspect of presence see Culler (1982, 105). <18.> As Flax observes, for Derrida writing is not bound up with the myth of an "originary or modified form of presence." See Derrida (1978, 211- 12). <19.> Words do not elicit the actual emptiness, any more than the word "table" elicits a complete table. See Klein (1986, 134-140). <20.> See for example, Culler (1982, 92ff.) and Derrida (1976, 12.ff). See also Derrida (1976, 7-8; 20, and 158-159). Indeed, presence and absence derive from the same Latin root //es//. (American Heritage Dictionary [1973, 1515]). For an accessible discussion of this aspect of presence see Culler (1982, 105). <21.> Derrida discusses this under the rubric of two well-known topics: supplementation and diff‚rance (1982). <22.> And indeed Derrida is partly reacting against Hegel's idea of an absolute subject, or absolute spirit. <23.> This, as Flax observes, does not arise due to the logic of language, but through a failure of gendered analysis (1990, 214-15). She eloquently describes how Derrida's system mirrors the exile of women, and all she represents, from the world of "man," "culture," and "center" (213). <24.> Hartsock (1987, 186-206; paraphrased and discussed by Di Stefano (1990). <25.> For highly articulate critiques of this opposition, see Fuss (1989) and Schor (1989). REFERENCES ~~~~~~~~~~ Alcoff, Linda. l988. "Cultural feminism versus post-structuralism: The identity crisis in feminist theory," //Signs,// 13 (3). Anzaldua, Gloria. 1987. //Borderlands/la frontera: The new mestiza.// San Francisco: Spinsters/Aunt Lute. Bateson, Gregory. 1972. //Steps toward an ecology of mind.// New York: Ballantine Books. Beauvoir, Simone de. 1974. //The Second Sex.// Trans. and ed. H. M. Parshley. New York: Vintage Books. Buddhaghosa. 1976 (rept). //Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga).// tr. Bhikkhu Nyanamoli. Berkeley and London: Shambhala. Butler, Judith. 1990. //Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity.// New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Cixous, H‚lŠne and Catherine Cl‚ment. 1986. //The Newly Born Woman.// Trans. by Betsy Wing. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Cox, Colette. 1992. "Mind and memory." In //In the mirror of memory,// ed. Janet Gyatso. Albany: State University of New York Press. Culler, Jonathan. 1982. //On deconstruction.// Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Daly, Mary. 1985. //Pure lust: Elemental feminist philosophy.// Boston: Beacon Press. de Lauretis, Teresa. 1984. //Alice doesn't.// Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Di Stefano, Christine. 1990. "Dilemmas of difference: Feminism, modernity, and postmodernism." In //Feminism/Postmodernism,// ed. Linda J. Nicholson. New York and London: Routledge. Derrida, Jacques. 1976. //Of grammatology.// Trans. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ____1978. //Writing and Difference.// Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ____1981. //Positions.// Trans. and annotated by Alan Bass Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ____1982. "Diff‚rance." In //Margins of Philosophy.// Trans. Alan Bass, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Do-drup-chen (//rdo grub chen// III, a.k.a. Jig-may-den-ba-nyi-ma ['Jig- med-bstan-ba'i nyi-ma, 1865-1926]) 1975. //Rig 'dzin yum ka bde chen rgyal mo'i sgrub gzhung gi zin bris bde chen lam gzang gsal ba'i gron me (Notes on the Basic Text for Emulating the mother knowledge, Bearer, the Great Bliss Queen: A lamp clarifying the good path of great bliss)// in the //Collected Works of Do-drup-chen.// Gantok, Sikkhim: Do-drup-chen-Rinboche [IV], Vol. 5. Eisenstein, Hester, and Alice Jardine eds. 1980. //The future of difference.// Boston: G. K. Hall. Flax, Jane. 1986. Remembering the selves: Is the repressed gendered? //Michigan Quarterly Review// 26 (1). ____1980. Mother-daughter relationships: Psychodynamics. In //The future of difference.// ed. Hester Eisenstein and Alice Jardine. Boston, Mass: G.K. Hall. ____1990. //Thinking fragments: Psychoanalysis, feminism, and postmodernism in the contemporary West.// Berkeley: University of California Press. Fuss, Diana. 1989. //Essentially Speaking.// London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Gyatso, Janet, ed. 1992. //In the mirror of memory: Reflections on mindfulness and remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism.// Albany: State University of New York Press. Nancy Hartsock. 1987. "Rethinking modernism: Minority vs. majority theories." In //Cultural critique// 7,186-206. Hopkins, Jeffrey. 1983. //Meditation on emptiness.// London: Wisdom Publications. Irigaray, Luce. l985. //Speculum of the other woman.// Trans. Gillian C. Gill. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Klein, Anne C. 1985a. "Non-Dualism and the Great Bliss Queen." In //Journal of feminist studies in religion// 1(1). ____1985b. "Primordial purity and everyday life: Exalted female symbols and the women of Tibet." In //Immaculate and Powerful: The Female in Sacred Image and Social Reality,// ed. Clarissa Atkinson, Constance Buchanan, and Margaret Miles. Boston: Beacon Press. ____1986. //Knowledge and liberation: Buddhist epistemology in support of transformative religious experience.// Ithaca: Snow Lion Press. ____1994. //Meeting the Great Bliss Queen: Buddhists, feminists, and the art of the self.// Boston: Beacon Press. Kristeva, Julia. 1981. "Woman can never be defined." In //New French Feminisms,// ed. Elaine Marks and Isabelle de Courtivron. Amherst: University of Massachustts Press. Lessing, Doris. 1980 (rept.) //The four gated city.// New York: Bantam Books. Lodr”, Geshe Gedun. 1986. //Walking through walls: A presentation of tibetan meditation.// Trans. and ed. Jeffrey Hopkins; co-edited by Anne Klein and Leah Zahler. Ithaca: Snow Lion Press. Marks, Elaine, and Isabelle de Courtivron, eds. 1981. //New French feminisms.// Amherst: University of Massachustts Press. Martin, Emily. [1987] 1992. //The Woman in the body: A cultural analysis of reproduction.// Boston: Beacon Press. Moraga, Cherie. 1987. //This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color.// New York: Kitchen Table, Women of Color Press. Napper, Elizabeth. 1980. //Mind in Tibetan Buddhism.// Ithaca: Snow Lion Press. (rept). ____1989. //Dependent arising and emptiness.// London: Wisdom Publications. Ngawang Denzin Dorje (Ngag-dbang-bstan-'dzin-rdo-rje, 18th century). 1972. //kLong chen snying gi thig le'i mkha' 'gro bde chen rgyal mo'i grub gzhung gi 'grel pa rgyud don snang ba a.k.a. Ra Tig// (Commentary on the Practice for Emulating the Sky Woman, the Great Bliss Queen, from the "Very Essence of the Great Expanse" tradition of Long-chen-rab- jam). New Delhi: Sonam Topgay Kazi. Rahula, Walpola. l980. //What the Buddha taught.// New York: Grove Press. Rorty, Richard. 1986. "Freud and moral reflection." In //Pragmatism's Freud: The moral disposition of psychoanalysis,// ed. Joseph H. Smith and William Kerrigan. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Schor, Naomi. 1989. "This essentialism which is not one: Coming to grips with Irigaray." In //Differences// 1(2). Smith, Paul. 1988. //Discerning the subject.// Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Thera, Nyanaponika. 1984. //Heart of Buddhist meditation.// New York: Samuel Weiser. Walker, Alice. 1982. //The color purple.// New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Weedon, Chris. 1987. //Feminist practice and poststructuralist theory.// Oxford: Basil Blackwell. * * * * * This article appears by permission of //Hypatia// and will appear in volume 9(4), Fall, 1994, Special Issue on Feminist Philosophy of Religion. ANNE C. KLEIN is an Associate Professor at Rice University, where she teaches in the Department of Religious Studies and in the interdisciplinary Women's Studies major. She also offers occasional workshops bringing meditation practice to bear on contemporary women's issues. In 1982-83 she was a Research Associate and Lecturer in the Women and Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School. In addition to a number of articles in the area of women and Buddhism, she has published three books on issues in Buddhist philosophy and epistemology. //Meeting the Great Bliss Queen: Buddhists, Feminists, and the Art of the Self// is her first booklength work on Buddhism and feminism. ======================================================================= {11} PRACTICE ======================================================================= THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ORDINATION AS A BUDDHIST NUN by Sister Ayya Khema To be ordained as a Buddhist nun is such a major step in a woman's life that one should be well aware of its significance before undertaking it. Up to the moment of ordination, one can, of course, have no idea what being a nun entails, since only lay status has been experienced. Naturally, one will have expectations, hopes, and views, most of which may have to be rectified as one goes along. One could compare it to getting married; not having known beforehand what it means to be a married woman, many unrealistic ideas are entertained. Because of a strong commitment of love and togetherness, however, one takes the step, regardless of fears and anxieties. Then, as years go by, if love, commitment, understanding, and devotion wane, the marriage suffers, deteriorates, and eventually collapses. The same applies to becoming and remaining a nun. While at first there may be a flush of excitement and anticipation, if love, devotion, commitment, and understanding are not constantly cultivated until they become intrinsic qualities in one's heart, the nun status will not flourish and will eventually disintegrate, either into disappointments and dissatisfactions or a return to lay life. There is a significant difference between being a laywoman and being a nun, however, which has great meaning for those who are ordained. I am not talking about status or importance within the community. I am speaking about my own experience, having been a practicing laywoman in the past, and then having become a nun. It is a matter of priority and commitment. When one practices as a laywoman, one can certainly meditate, live according to the precepts, and practice generosity. One can do many things, but one's daily life is beset with so many other duties and responsibilities that very often, as I have experienced myself, practice comes last. There are only so many hours in a day, and everyone does have to sleep and eat and clean up and wash. And there are so many other items of importance that seem to beset one's mind and also one's time, that the energy allotted for practice becomes minute. When the time comes that one can see clearly that there is nothing more important to do than to practice the path of the Buddha in order to eliminate //dukkha// (suffering) forever, then comes the moment when ordination seems to be the only possible step. That certainly does not mean that all //dukkha// is eliminated, but it does mean that one should have clearly in mind that the priority, the main objective of daily activity, now is the practice of //Dhamma//. If that is clearly in mind, one must also be careful not to use one's time in a way which will interfere with that priority. In Pali, we call that //samvega//, "urgency": to remember every single day why we have put on these robes, namely, to practice. It is also important to determine what it means to practice. In the Theravada tradition, we say it consists of two things -- study and meditation. When we see, for instance, that these are the two most important things to do, that does not mean tat we do not sleep at night, eat our meals, or wash our clothes. There are, of course, situations where food needs to be cooked, pathways have to be swept, floors have to be cleaned. We often find women saying, "This is not //Dhamma// work." They only want to do //Dhamma// work. That is a mistaken view. If we practice, then we can do //Dhamma// work in every activity, yet we must not allow the activities to become so overwhelming that we do not have time for study and meditation. So it means a balancing act, which is often found to be very difficult to maintain. That is why, in the beginning of one's practice as a nun, one needs an experienced teacher to tell one what to do and to follow this instruction with humility. There is another aspect to being ordained as a nun, namely, to become a professional at it. Wearing the robes should not be wearing some special costume, but it should be a declaration of being a servant to humanity. In our tradition it is //anatta// (non-self). We are not trying to be something. We are trying to become "selfless." So in the last essence, wearing the robes means that one is proclaiming the fact that one is trying to become absolutely nobody. There are many obstacles in the way, as we all know. One great obstacle is being a teacher! People either love you and think you are wonderful or hate you and think that you are terrible. Another obstacle is building monasteries. Another obstacle is going on trips. And the greatest obstacle of all is the mind itself. But never mind, obstacles are to be overcome. The only thing that counts is that we know why we are wearing the robes and that we know what we are doing while we are wearing them. I have often thought of women in robes as //Dhamma// warriors. A successful army has to have the best weapons. What are the most important weapons that this army of //Dhamma// can possibly carry? It is a female prerogative, and sometimes also a female difficulty, that we deal very frequently with our emotions. These emotions can be purified to become real //metta//, "loving kindness," that the Lord Buddha spoke about. This //metta// is the most useful and effective weapon that we can have. The world that we know, the world that we live in, has an enormous amount of fear, hatred, unhappiness, anxiety, and animosity between people. If we want to be true disciples of the Buddha, then it is our privilege to develop within our own hearts that love which is totally non- discriminating. Most people in the world are looking for someone to love them. It is our privilege to learn that this is not meaningful, but that developing loving kindness within our own heart and going out to others with it is the real practice. Why should one not be able to do that as a laywoman? No reason at all, except that one's own family is always there to grasp at and be attached to. Wearing the robes is the first step of a renunciation process which can and will one day end in //nibbana// (liberation). Living as a nun in a nunnery, one's own family becomes part of the whole of humanity. So that is one step in the renunciation of one's grasping and attachment. By not being attached in that way, we have the possibility of an expansion of the heart toward all beings, not because they need love, want to be loved, are lovable or otherwise, but because the heart can do nothing else. This practice can be the first step of our renunciation. After having renounced our hair, our clothes, our jewelry, our belongings, the next step is the renunciation of that attachment which especially women know -- the attachment to their near and dear ones. These robes have been called the banner of the //arahants// (liberated ones). Even though we may not all be //arahants//, we are flying their banner. That is one part of making a nun a professional and not an amateur -- realizing that we are flying this banner. Another aspect of being a professional, rather than an amateur, is knowing. Knowing here means knowledge -- the knowledge of one's own tradition, its history, its implication, and its practice. And the most important aspect is then transferring that knowledge into wisdom. To transfer knowledge into wisdom means to practice through the meditative path, and to experience with the heart that which one knows with the head. I call that "the understood experience." When we practice in such a way, we find that we, in ourselves, can prove Lord Buddha's words correct. Then comes the time when we can actually //be// the //Dhamma//, rather than simply reading or listening to the //Dhamma//. So the main difference between wearing ordinary clothes and wearing the robes of a nun is that the greatest priority, the total aspiration, is the //Dhamma// within oneself. Lord Buddha said, "Who sees me sees the //Dhamma//, who sees //Dhamma// sees me." This seeing is the inner vision of the //Dhamma//, which is a different reality from what we live in ordinary life. To see that different reality, to listen to a different drummer, gives life a far more profound stability and depth. Much of the value of being a nun lies in the example given to other women of a female independent of the approval or the empowerment of males, being instead totally imbued with spiritual aspirations. If a nun finds peace and happiness in her vocation and is able to impart some of that to others, her contribution towards a better humanity becomes of the greatest value and can, in fact, change the quality of life amongst many people. * * * * * Excerpted from //Sakyadhita: Daughters of the Buddha//, edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo. Copyright 1988. Reprinted with permission of Snow Lion Publications, Inc., PO Box 6483, Ithaca NY 14851. SISTER AYYA KHEMA was born in Berlin in 1923. In 1949 she became an American citizen, married and had two children. She migrated to Australia in 1964, then travelled to Burma and Thailand to study Buddhism, later continuing her study in the U.S. and Australia. She co-founded Wat Buddha Dhamma, a monastery in the Theravada tradition in Sydney in 1978, and a year later was ordained as a nun. In Colombo she set up the International Women's Centre as a training centre for Sri Lankan nuns and Parappuduwa Nuns' Island for women of all nationalities who want to live a monastic life temporarily or permanently. In February of 1987, Ayya Khema coordinated and spoke at the first International Conference of Buddhist Nuns in Bodh Gaya, India, at which the Dalai Lama gave the keynode address. In May of 1987, she was invited as a lecturer at the United Nations Staff Recreation Council in New York, the first Buddhist speaker ever to have addressed the U.N. In 1989 Sister Ayya Khema established Buddha Haus in South Germany, where she is currently its spiritual director. ======================================================================= {12} CALENDAR: ======================================================================= ======================================================================= BUDDHIST MEDITATION RETREATS & EVENTS CALENDAR ======================================================================= AUGUST ======================================================================= DharmaNet International revised: 8/2/94 ======================================================================= 5/29-8/28 SUMMER ANGO (PEACEFUL DWELLING) RETREAT - Taizan Maezumi. Attend all or part. Zen Mountain Center, PO Box 43, Mountain Center CA 92561. (909) 659-5272. 1-3 8th EUROPEAN SHIN CONFERENCE Vienna. Contact: Mrs. Simone Zotz (Shin Conference), Hauptstrasse 27, A- 7372, Weingraben, Austria. 2-21 SUMMER KYOL CHE - Zen Master Su Bong. Providence Zen Center, 99 Pound Road, Cumberland RI 02864. (401) 658-1464. Fax: (401) 658-1188. Internet: kwanumzen@aol.com 4-9 FAMILY RETREAT - Christina Feldman. Insight Meditation Society, Pleasant St, Barre MA 01005. (508) 355-4378. 5-7 WEEKEND RETREAT - Bhante Gunaratana or Bhante Rahula. Bhavana Society, Rt 1 Box 218-3, High View WV 26808. (304) 856-2341. 5-13 8-DAY ZEN RETREAT - Yvonne Rand. Goat-in-the-Road, Muir Beach CA. Contact: Yvonne Rand, 1821 Star Route, Sausalito CA 94965. (415) 388-5572. Fax: (415) 388-9615. 5-14 VIPASSANA RETREAT - Gil Fronsdal, Mary Orr, John Travis. Santa Cruz CA. Contact: Eileen Phillips, 2911 Gwendolyn Way, Rancho Cordova CA 95670. (916) 361-7128. 5-14 VIPASSANA RETREAT - Steven Smith & Michele McDonald-Smith. Sante Fe NM. Contact: Nancy Shonk, 2502 Alamosa Dr, Sante Fe NM 87505. (505) 471-0422. 6-12 INSIGHT & OPENING: THE POWER OF THE BREATH & MEDITATION - Stan Grof & Jack Kornfield. Bennington VT. Contact: David Carr, (707) 895-2856. 7-10 7-DAY SESSHIN - Abbot Tenshin Reb Anderson. Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, 1601 Shoreline Hwy, Sausalito CA 94965. (415) 383-3134. Fax: (415) 383-3128. 7-27 METTA & VIPASSANA RETREAT - Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Fred von Allmen. Mannenbach, TG, Switzerland. Contact: Dhamma Gruppe, Postfach 5909, CH-3001 Bern. 9-14 THE ZEN GARDEN - Stephen Morrell. Zen Mountain Monastery, Box 197MR, Mt. Tremper NY 12457. (914) 688-2228. 12-19 KALACHAKRA RETREAT. Open only to those who have taken the Kalachakra initiation. Namgyal Monastery, PO Box 127, Ithaca NY 14851. (607) 273-0739. 12-21 INSIGHT MEDITATION & INQUIRY - Christopher Titmuss, Sharda Rogell, & Jose Reissig. Insight Meditation Society, Pleasant St, Barre MA 01005. (508) 355-4378. 12-21 EXPLORING THE WAY OF DEVOTION - Kittisaro & Mary Weinberg. Gaia House, Woodland Rd, Denbury, Nr. Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 6DY, England. Tel: Ipplepen (0803) 813188. 12-21 VIPASSANA RETREAT - Ruth Denison & A. Zinser. Germany. Contact: Waldhaus am Laachersee, D-56643 Nickenich, Germany. 17-21 ZEN ARTS INTENSIVE - Clark Strand, Marcia Shibata, Joan Yushin. Zen Mountain Monastery, Box 197MR, Mt. Tremper NY 12457. (914) 688-2228. 18-21 HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE STUDENTS' RETREAT - Bhante Gunaratana or Bhante Rahula. Bhavana Society, Rt 1 Box 218-3, High View WV 26808. Contact: Dr. Arvoranee Pinit, (410) 744-9295. 19-20 MINDFULNESS RETREAT - Khan Le Van. Near Sydney Australia. Contact: Lotus Bud Sangha, 83 Queen St, Ashfield NSW 2131. Tel: (02) 798-4056. 19-21 WISDOM MEETING WISDOM: A ZEN MEDITATION RETREAT FOR THOSE 55 AND OLDER - Pat Leonetti & Lee de Barros. Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, 1601 Shoreline Hwy, Sausalito CA 94965. (415) 383-3134. Fax: (415) 383-3128. 19-28 VIPASSANA RETREAT - Michele McDonald-Smith & Steven Smith. Cloud Mountain Retreat Center, 311 W. McGraw, Seattle WA 98119. (206) 286-9060. 19-28 ALASKA WILDERNESS RETREAT: VIPASSANA & DEEP ECOLOGY - Christopher Reed & Michele Benzamin-Masuda. Contact: Ordinary Dharma, 247 Horizon Av, Venice CA 90291. (310) 396-5054. In Alaska, call: (907) 463-5019 or 789- 0140. 20 FAMILY DAY OF MINDFULNESS - Wendy Johnson. Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, 1601 Shoreline Hwy, Sausalito CA 94965. (415) 383-3134. 20 FOUR FOUNDATIONS OF MINDFULNESS #1 - Gil Fronsdal. Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Box 909, Woodacre CA 94973. (415) 488-0164. 20-21 YONG MAENG JONG JIN RETREAT. Cambridge Zen Center, 199 Auburn St, Cambridge MA 02139. (617) 576-3229. 22-27 MEDITATION RETREAT FOR WOMEN - Sylvia Wetzel. Hartlisberg, BE, Switzerland. Contact: Dhamma Gruppe, Postfach 5909, CH- 3001 Bern. 22-28 SESSHIN - John Daido Loori. Zen Mountain Monastery, Box 197MR, Mt. Tremper NY 12457. (914) 688-2228. 23-25 TRANSFORMING ANGER: NIGHTLY DHARMA TALKS - Ven. George Churinoff. Land of Medicine Buddha, 5800 Prescott Rd, Soquel CA 95073. (408) 462- 8383. 24-25 DO I ACCEPT MYSELF? - Christopher Titmuss & Sharda Rogell. Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Box 909, Woodacre CA 94973. (415) 488-0164. 26-28 VIPASSANA DAYLONG - Gil Fronsdal. Los Gatos CA. Contact: Leelane Hines, (415) 968-2887. 26-28 YAMANTAKA AND PALDEN LHAMO INITIATIONS - Geshe Lobsang Tsephel. Vajrapani Institute, PO Box I, Boulder Creek CA 95006. (408) 338-6654. 26-31 YOGA & INSIGHT MEDITATION - Dan Lupton & Yanai Postelnik. Gaia House, Woodland Rd, Denbury, Nr. Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 6DY, England. Tel: Ipplepen (0803) 813188. 26-9/2 INSIGHT MEDITATION & INQUIRY - Christopher Titmuss & Sharda Rogell. Santa Rosa CA. Contact: Janet Hewins, 173C Parnassus, San Francisco CA 94122. (415) 759-6461. 27 MEN'S RETREAT DAY - Jack Kornfield, Robert Hall & Wes Nisker. Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Box 909, Woodacre CA 94973. (415) 488-0164. 27 LIVING WITH DYING: A DAY OF CARING FOR THE CAREGIVERS - Furyu Nancy Schroeder & Grace Damman. Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, 1601 Shoreline Hwy, Sausalito CA 94965. (415) 383-3134. Fax: (415) 383-3128. ======================================================================= SEPTEMBER ======================================================================= 28-10/5 MAHAMUDRA RETREAT - Ven. Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso. Rigpe Dorje Center, PO Box 690995, San Antonio TX 78269. (212) 698-0529. 2-5 LABOR DAY INSIGHT WEEKEND - Christopher Titmuss & Sharda Rogell. Santa Rosa CA. Contact: Janet Hewins, 173C Parnassus, San Francisco CA 94122. (415) 759-6461. 2-5 LABOR DAY WEEKEND VIPASSANA RETREAT - Rodney Smith. Cloud Mountain Retreat Center, 311 W. McGraw, Seattle WA 98119. (206) 286-9060. 2-5 MINDFULNESS RETREAT - Anh Huong Nguyen. Claymont Court, WV. Contact: Anh Huong, (703) 938-9606. 2-5 LABOR DAY SESSHIN - Hawaii Diamond Sangha. Palolo Zen Center, 2747 Waiomao Road, Honolulu HI 96816. (808) 735-1347. 2-5 LABOR DAY SESSHIN - Sanbo Kyodan tradition. Maria Kannon Zen Center, 7422 Villanova St., Dallas TX 95225. (214) 360- 0595. Contact: Dawne Schomer, (214) 414-8637. 2-5, 2-11 VIPASSANA RETREAT - Ruth Denison. Insight Meditation Society, Pleasant St, Barre MA 01005. (508) 355-4378. 2-8 LAM.RIM RETREAT - Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche and Robina Courtin. Vajrapani Institute, PO Box I, Boulder Creek CA 95006. (408) 338-6654. 9-11 VIPASSANA RETREAT - Kamala Masters & Steven Smith. HI. Contact: Yuklin Aluli, 415C Uluniu St, Kailua HI 96734. FAX: (808) 262-5610. 9-11 MINDFULNESS RETREAT - Jack Lawlor. Spring Green WI. Contact: Lakeside Buddha Sangha, PO Box 7067, Evanston IL 60201. (708) 475-0080. 9-11 KALACHAKRA INITIATION - Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche. Vajrapani Institute, PO Box I, Boulder Creek CA 95006. (408) 338-6654. 9-18 VIPASSANA RETREAT - Ajahn Sumedho. Amaravati Buddhist Centre, Great Gaddesden, Hemel Hempstead, Herfordshire HP1 3BZ, England. Tel: Intl. code + 44 44284-3239; in UK: 044284-3239. 10 WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL: WHERE MIND AND SPIRIT MEET - Jack Kornfield, Joanna Macy, Ram Dass, Jennifer Welwood, John Welwood, Jai Uttal. A special benefit. Contact: The Living/Dying Project, 20 Sunnyside Avenue, Suite A243, Mill Valley CA 94941. (415) 332-2033. 11 FOUR FOUNDATIONS OF MINDFULNESS #2 - Gil Fronsdal. Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Box 909, Woodacre CA 94973. (415) 488-0164. 11-14 VIPASSANA RETREAT - Christopher Reed & Michele Benzamin-Masuda. Ordinary Dharma, 247 Horizon Av, Venice CA 90291. (310) 396-5054. 12 NUMATA LECTURE: The Development of American Buddhism: Two Overviews - Professor Charles Prebish. Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1900 Addison Street, Berkeley CA 94704. (510) 849-2383. Fax: (510) 849-2158. Free. 15-18 VIPASSANA RETREAT - Shinzen Young & Shirley Fenton. Encino CA. Contact: Vipassana Support Insitute, 4070 Albright Av, Los Angeles CA 90066. (310) 915-1943. 16-18 THE JATAKA TALES - Rafe Martin. Zen Mountain Monastery, Box 197MR, Mt. Tremper NY 12457. (914) 688-2228. 16-19 VIPASSANA RESIDENTIAL RETREAT - Mary Orr. Contact: Joy Fox, 147 East Spring, Fayetteville AK 72701. (501) 444- 6005. 16-26 WILDERNESS FAST: PRACTICING ECOPSYCHOLOGY - Joan Halifax. Upaya, 1404 Cerro Gordo Rd, Santa Fe NM 87501. (505) 986-8518. Fax: (505) 986-8528. 17 VIPASSANA DAYLONG - James Baraz. Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Box 909, Woodacre CA 94973. (415) 488-0164. 19 NUMATA LECTURE - Rick Fields. Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1900 Addison Street, Berkeley CA 94704. (510) 849-2383. Fax: (510) 849-2158. 19-25 SESSHIN - John Daido Loori. Zen Mountain Monastery, Box 197MR, Mt. Tremper NY 12457. (914) 688-2228. 21-11/3 PARTIAL #1 RETREAT - Joseph Goldstein, Carol Wilson, Steven Smith, Michele McDonald-Smith, Steven Armstrong. Prerquisite is one 9-day retreat with an IMS teacher or special permission. Insight Meditation Society, Pleasant St, Barre MA 01005. (508) 355-4378. 21-12/17 THREE MONTH RETREAT - Joseph Goldstein, Carol Wilson, Steven Smith, Michele McDonald-Smith, Steven Armstrong. Prerquisite is one 9-day retreat with an IMS teacher or special permission. Insight Meditation Society, Pleasant St, Barre MA 01005. (508) 355-4378. 23-25 WEEKEND RETREAT FOR LESBIANS & GAY MEN - Arinna Weisman & Eric Kolvig. Dhamma Dena, HC-1, Box 250, Joshua Tree CA 92252. (619) 362- 4815. 23-10/2 NINE-DAY VIPASSANA RETREAT - Rosemary & Steve Weissman. Cloud Mountain Retreat Center, 311 W. McGraw, Seattle WA 98119. (206) 286-9060. 24 WOMEN'S VIPASSANA DAY - Julie Wester. Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Box 909, Woodacre CA 94973. (415) 488-0164. 25 DAY OF FORGIVENESS PRACTICE - Anna Douglas. Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Box 909, Woodacre CA 94973. (415) 488-0164. 25-28 VIPASSANA RETREAT - Mary Orr. Watsonville CA. Contact: Mt. Madonna Center, (408) 847-0406. 26 NUMATA LECTURE: Visible and Invisible: Buddhism in America - Professor Jan Nattier. Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1900 Addison Street, Berkeley CA 94704. (510) 849-2383. Fax: (510) 849-2158. Free. 30-10/2 VIPASSANA RETREAT - Gil Fronsdal. Grand Forks ND. Contact: Sr. Brigid, Koinonia Spirituality Center, 2801 Olson Dr, Grand Forks ND 58201. (701) 772-4607. * * * * * This calendar is updated as new material comes in. The latest version is online at Dharma Electronic Files Archive (DEFA) and may be accessed via anonymous ftp to ftp.netcom.com (directory: pub/dharma/Buddhism/Resources) or via WWW (//ftp.netcom.com/pub/dharma/defa-home.html). It is posted at the beginning of the month in the Dharmanet conference SANGHA and the Internet mailing list BUDDHIST. It also is published in the e-journal //Gassho// (subscribe to: dharma@netcom.com). Please report additions, changes and deletions to DharmaNet International, P.O. Box 4951, Berkeley CA 94704-4951. E-mail: dharma@netcom.com ======================================================================= {13} REVIEWS: ======================================================================= [No reviews submitted this issue. Individuals interested in reviewing books, please contact Barry Kapke .] Books Received: //The Edicts of King Asoka: An English Rendering//. Ven. S. Dhammika. 40 pages; paperback. ISBN 955-24-0104-6. Wheel Publication no. 386/387. Buddhist Publication Society, PO Box 61, 54 Sangharaja Mawatha, Kandy SRI LANKA. 1993. //Reading the Mind: Advice for Meditators//. Tan Acharn Kor Khao-suan- luang. 48 pages; paperback. ISBN 955-24-0105-4. Wheel Publication no. 388/389. Buddhist Publication Society, PO Box 61, 54 Sangharaja Mawatha, Kandy SRI LANKA. 1993. //The Lion's Roar: Two Discourses of the Buddha//. Edited by Bhikkhu Bodhi; translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Nanamoli. 48 pages; paperback. ISBN 955-24-0115-1. Wheel Publication no. 390/391. Buddhist Publication Society, PO Box 61, 54 Sangharaja Mawatha, Kandy SRI LANKA. 1993. //The Sutra on Upasaka Precepts//. Translated from the Chinese of Dharmaraksha (Taisho, Vol. 24 No. 1488) by Bhiksuni Shih Heng-ching. BDK English Tripitaka 45-II. 240 pages; hardback. ISBN 0-9625618-5-1. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2620 Warring Street, Berkeley CA 9404. 1994. //Dharma Family Treasures: Sharing Mindfulness With Children//. Edited and illustrated by Sandy Eastoak. 304 pages; paperback. ISBN 1-55643-172-4. North Atlantic Books, PO Box 12327, Berkeley CA 94701-9998. 1994. //Thank You and OK!: An American Zen Failure in Japan//. David Chadwick. 480 pages; paperback. ISBN 0-14-019457-6. Penguin/Arkana, 375 Hudson Street, NY, NY 10014. 1994. //Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras//. Diana L. Eck. 276 pages; paperback. ISBN 0-8070-7303-2. Beacon Press, 25 Beacon Street, Boston MA 02108. 1994. ======================================================================= {14} RESOURCES: ======================================================================= The following is a sampling of "electronic books" that are published by DharmaNet International and are available for free distribution. These are available via anonymous ftp from Dharma Electronic Files Archive (DEFA), the online Buddhist library maintained by DI, or from participating DharmaNet BBS sites (see the list at the end of this issue). DEFA may be accessed at: ftp.netcom.com:pub/dharma sunsite.unc.edu:pub/academic/religious_studies/Buddhism/DEFA ftp.nectec.or.th:pub/mirrors/dharma etext.archive.umich.edu:/Religious.Texts/DharmaNet Books by Women ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All of Us: 12 Talks by Sister Khema (ALLOFUS.ZIP) Meditating on No-self, by Sister Khema (BODHI095.ZIP) Emotion: Working with Anger, by Michele McDonald (MCDONALD.ZIP) Condensed Breath Meditation, by K. Khao Suan-luang (CONDENSE.ZIP) Here and Now, by Sister Khema (Forthcoming) Little Dust in Our Eyes, by Sister Khema (Forthcoming) Pride & Conceit, by Elizabeth Ashby and B. Fawcett (BODHI014.ZIP) One Foot in the World: Buddhist Approaches to Present-day Problems, by Lily de Silva (WHEEL337.ZIP) Radical Therapy, by Lily de Silva (Forthcoming) Reading the Mind, by K. Khao Suan-luang (Forthcoming) Teisho: Beginning Anew, by Sister Annabel Laity (LAITY_92.ZIP) Teisho: The Pools, by Charlotte Joko Beck (BECKPOOL.ZIP) The Buddha's Way & Abortion, by Yvonne Rand (JIZO.ZIP) Books About Women in Buddhism ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inspiration from Enlightened Nuns, by Susan Elbaum Jootla (WHEEL349.ZIP) Buddhist Women at the Time of the Buddha, by Hellmuth Hecker (WHEEL292.ZIP) The Position of Women in Buddhism, by Dr. (Mrs.) LS Dewaraja (WHEEL280.ZIP) The DharmaNet File Distribution Network and the Dharma Electronic File Archive (DEFA) will not distribute files without permission to do so from the author and/or publisher. (See the Electronic Distribution Agreement accompanying each file.) If you are the author/publisher of Buddhist texts that you would like to see added to these online libraries, please contact Barry Kapke at DharmaNet International, PO Box 4951, Berkeley CA 94704 or by e-mail at dharma@netcom.com MAY THESE RESOURCES BENEFIT ALL BEINGS! ======================================================================= {15} SANGHA: ======================================================================= ------------------------------------------- SF Bay Area Directory of Buddhist Monasteries, Lay Practice Centers, and Organizations ------------------------------------------- Pure Land ~~~~~~~~~ Berkeley Buddhist Temple 2121 Channing Way, Berkeley CA 94704 Voice: 510-841-1356 Buddhist Church of Oakland 825 Jackson, Oakland CA Voice: 510-832-5988 Buddhist Church of San Francisco 1881 Pine St, San Francisco CA 94109 Voice: 415-776-3158 Buddhist Churches of America (Jodo Shinshu) 1710 Octavia, San Francisco CA Voice: 415-776-5600 FAX: 415-771-6293 Buddhist Temple of Alameda 2325 Pacific Av, Alameda CA Voice: 510-522-5243 Institute of Buddhist Studies 1900 Addison Street, Berkeley CA 94704 Voice: 510-849-2383 FAX: 510-849-2158 Theravada ~~~~~~~~~ Buddha Sasana Foundation 45 Oak Road, Larkspur CA 94939 Voice: 510-381-6905 California Buddhist Vihara Society 4797 Myrtle Drive, Concord CA 94521 Voice: 510-845-4843 California Vipassana Center PO Box 510, Occidental CA 95465 Voice: 707-874-3031 Dhammachakka Meditation Center Box 206, 2124 Kittredge Street, Berkeley CA 94702 Voice: 510-531-1691 International Meditation Center-USA Contact: Linda H. Kemp-Combes 1331 33rd Avenue, San Francisco CA 94122 Nama-Rupa 10 Arbor Street, San Francisco CA 94131 Voice: 415-334-4921 Spirit Rock Meditation Center P.O. Box 909, Woodacre CA 94973 Voice: 415-488-0164 FAX: 415-488-0170 Taungpulu Kaba-Aye Monastery 18335 Big Basin Way, Boulder Creek CA 95006 Voice: 408-338-4050 Theravada Buddhist Society of America 68 Woodrow Street, Daly City CA 94014 Voice: 415-994-8272 Wat Buddhanusorn 36054 Niles Blvd., Fremont CA 94536-1563 Voice: 510-790-2294 or 510-790-2296 Wat Nagara Dhamma (Wat Nakorntham) 3225 Lincoln Way, San Francisco CA 94122 Voice: 415-665-7566 Wat Mongkolratanaram 1911 Russell Street, Berkeley CA 94703 Voice: 510-849-3419 or 510-540-9734 Tibetan/Vajrayana/Dzogchen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ati Ling PO Box 90, Oakville CA 94562 Voice: 707-255-7172 Dharmadhatu - San Francisco 1630 Taraval, San Francisco CA 94116 Voice: 415-731-4426 Dharmadhatu - Berkeley 2288 Fulton, Berkeley CA 94704 Voice: 510-841-3242 Dharmadhatu - Palo Alto 201 N. Covington Road, #2, Los Altos CA 94022 Voice: 415-949-3082 Dudjom International Foundation PO Box 40155, Berkeley CA 94704-0155 Voice: 510-849-9928 Kagyu Droden Kunchab 1892 Fell Street, San Francisco CA 94117 Voice: 415-752-5454 Kamtsang Choling, USA Voice: 415-661-6467 Karma Jigme Ling 33 Marne Street, San Francisco CA 94127 Voice: 415-661-6467 Land of Medicine Buddha 5800 Prescott Road, Soquel CA 95073 Voice: 408-462-8383 FAX: 408-462-8380 Maitreya Institute 3315 Sacramento Street, Suite 622, San Francisco CA 94118 Voice: 415-668-5920 Nyingma Institute 1815 Highland Place, Berkeley CA 94709 Voice: 510-843-6812 Padma Shedrup Ling PO Box 117, Fairfax CA 94978 Voice: 415-485-1356 Rigpa Fellowship PO Box 7866 (816 Bancroft Way), Berkeley CA 94707 Voice: 408-454-9103 Sang-ngak-cho-dzong Contact: Joseph Yon, 415-865-1394 Vajrapani Institute PO Box I, Boulder Creek CA 95006 Voice: 408-338-6654 Vajrayana Foundation/ Pema Osel Ling 2013 Eureka Canyon Road, Watsonville CA 95076 Voice: 408-761-6266 Yeshe Nyingpo 410 Townsend #406, San Francisco CA Voice: 415-546-7915 Yeshe Nyingpo 5224 Riverside Avenue, #1, San Pablo CA 94806 Voice: 510-524-7913 Zen ~~~ Berkeley Zen Center 1931 Russell Street, Berkeley CA 94703 Voice: 510-845-2403 Berkeley Buddhist Priory 1358 Marin Avenue, Albany CA 94706 Voice: 510-528-2139 Buddha Dendo 219 Station Avenue, Daly City CA 94014 Voice: 415-756-5373 California Diamond Sangha PO Box 2972, Santa Rosa CA 95405 Voice: 707-763-9466 (Santa Rosa) or 510-531-5779 (Berkeley) City of 10,000 Buddhas Talmage CA 95481-0217 Voice: 707-462-0939 Empty Gate Zen Center 1800 Arch Street, Berkeley CA 94709 Voice: 510-548-7649 Gold Mountain Sagely Monastery 800 Sacramento Street, San Francisco CA 94108 Voice: 415-421-6117 Green Gulch Farm Zen Center Star Route, Sausalito CA 94965 Voice: 415-383-3134 Harbor Sangha 553 42nd Avenue, San Francisco CA 94121 Voice: 241-8807 Hartford Street Zen Center 57 Hartford, San Francisco CA 94114 Voice: 415-863-2507 Kannon Do Zen Center 292 College Avenue, Mountain View CA 94040 Voice: 415-948-5020 San Francisco Zen Center 300 Page Street, San Francisco CA 94102 Voice: 415-863-3136 Sixth Patriarch Zen Center 946 Taylor Street, Albany CA 94706 Voice: 510-524-9970 Sonoma Mountain Zen Center 6367 Sonoma Mountain Road, Santa Rosa CA 95404 Voice: 707-545-8105 Soto Zen Mission Sokoji 1691 Laguna Street, San Francisco CA 94115 Voice: 415-346-7540 Watsonville Buddhist Temple 423 Bridge Street, Watsonville CA 95076 Voice: 408-724-7860 Other ~~~~~ American Buddhist Seminary PO Box 12035-2423, Berkeley CA 94704 Voice: 510-845-4843 FAX: 510-644-9739 Arya Marga Institute 2130 Fillmore Street, Suite 124, San Francisco CA 94115 FAX: 415-922-1265 Bay Area Friends of the Western Buddhist Order 947 Waverly Street, Palo Alto CA 94301 Voice: 415-322-9763 Buddhist Council of Northern California For more information call 415-776-3158 or 415-752-5400 Buddhist Peace Fellowship PO Box 4650, Berkeley CA 94704 Voice: 510-525-8596 FAX: 510-525-7973 E-mail: bpf@igc.apc.org Community of Mindful Living 850 Talbot Avenue, Albany CA Voice: 510-527-3751 DharmaNet International PO Box 4951, Berkeley CA 94704 Voice: 510-465-7403 E-mail: dharma@netcom.com East Bay Vietnamese American Buddhist Association 8237 E. 14th, Oakland CA Voice: 510-569-7714 Gay Buddhist Fraternity 2261 Market St., #422, San Francisco CA 94114 Voice: 415-974-9878 Interracial Buddhist Council PO Box 11211, Oakland CA 94611 Voice: 510-869-2767 Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research 2620 Warring Street, Berkeley CA 94704 Voice: 510-843-4128 Vietnamese Buddhist Association of San Francisco 243 Duboce Avenue, San Francisco CA Voice: 415-431-1322 * * * * * This list is updated as new material comes in. The latest version is online at Dharma Electronic Files Archive (DEFA) and may be accessed via anonymous ftp to ftp.netcom.com (directory: pub/dharma/Buddhism/Resources) or via WWW (//ftp.netcom.com/pub/dharma/defa-home.html). It is also available at the BODY DHARMA ONLINE BBS in Berkeley CA (modem: 1-510-836- 4717), and at other DharmaNet BBSs. Please report additions, changes and deletions to DharmaNet International, P.O. Box 4951, Berkeley CA 94704-4951. E-mail: dharma@netcom.com ======================================================================= {16} SERVICE ======================================================================= JAMYANG CHOLING: INSTITUTE FOR BUDDHIST WOMEN There are now five Tibetan Buddhist nunneries in India -- all established during the last fifteen years. The nunneries provide a precious opportunity for women of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to pursue the study and practice of their religion and to develop professional skills that will be a valuable service to the community. //Jamyang Choling// was established in 1988, near the residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. The nunnery evolved out of an adult literacy program and has developed into a comprehensive education program of studies in Buddhist philosophy, meditation, languages including Tibetan, English, and Hindi, as well as administrative and office skills. Buddhism affirms that women and men are equally capable of reaching enlightenment, and //Jamyang Choling// provides an opportunity for dedicated women practitioners to progress spiritually and intellectually. The monastic environment is an ideal place for nuns to gain the inspiration and guidance that, coupled with practical skills, will equip them to contribute significantly to society. The aim of Jamyang Choling is to nurture the learning capabilities of Buddhist women and to inspire confidence in their abilities to develop as teachers, counsellors, community workers, role models, and spiritual guides to others, especially women. The potential of millions of Buddhist women is vastly underestimated, and the need is great for these women to take leading roles in health, nutrition, education, child development, counseling, and spiritual growth in their communities. Jamyang Choling currently involves over 160 women and men of different nationalities at three different locations: Dharamsala, Zanskar, and Spiti. Tibetan and Indian teachers lend their skills in teaching meditation, logic, Buddhist philosophy, Hindi, Tibetan language, grammar, and calligraphy. We have had teachers from England, Australia, Finland, Canada, Holland, and the United States teaching English, typing, mathematics, accounting, and first aid. Women of various nationalities, both ordained and laywomen interested in the monastic life, are given an opportunity to train for between six months and ten years. A typical day at Jamyang Choling begins with early morning meditation, recitation of prayers, and a breakfast of tea and bread. The students then assemble to recite aloud and debate the sections of the text studied the day before, to clarify their understanding of the material. There are classes in Buddhist philosophy and English in the morning, then after lunch and a short break, classes in Hindi, Tibetan grammar, calligraphy, and logic. In the evening, the nuns meet for several hours of debate and discussion, to help them get a good grasp of the lessons presented that day. There are many, many other women eager to enter the Jamyang Choling study programs, but facilities at present are painfully limited. Support for the Jamyang Choling project is derived almost entirely from gifts and sponsorships from other countries. For $20 a month, a student can be provided with a full scholarship: a healthy diet, living quarters, and health care, as well as textbooks, supplies and other educational needs. The students are looking into projects that will allow them to work toward economic self-sufficiency. Two branches of Jamyang Choling have been established as outreach programs in remote Himalayan areas -- one in Zanskar, Ladakh, and the other in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. These programs provide education for 148 young women who, due to a lack of facilities, meet outdoors for classes in two of the coldest inhabited areas in the world. Construction of an assembly hall that can be used for both meditation and classes is underway in Zanskar, but $6,250 is required to bring it to completion. The cost of constructing a similar assembly hall in Spiti would be $5,400. Even the 53 students in the program in Dharamsala live and study in buildings with leaky roofs, poor lighting, inadequate sanitation, no heating, an an unreliable water supply. We have purchased an ideal site nearby, which provides space to build, land for growing vegetables, and plenty of water. We are now working to raise funds to construct simple dormitories, a meeting hall, teachers' housing, a kitchen, and two classrooms, estimated to cost $46,500. We have offers of help from Western and Indian architects, builders, and gardeners. Construction can begin as soon as financial resources become available. Jamyang Choling is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization that does not discriminate on the basis of race, caste, or creed. Contributions of any amount toward providing facilities and support for individual nuns to participate in the Jamyang Choling projects will be deeply appreciated. All donations are tax-deductible. We will be happy to send you further information about the project. Please address your contributions and inquiries to: Jamyang Choling, 400 Hobron Lane #2615, Honolulu HI 96815. ======================================================================= {17} ANNOUNCEMENTS ======================================================================= ------------------------------ IMS Seeks Computer Coordinator ------------------------------ Insight Meditation Society, a vipassana retreat center in Barre, MA, has an immediate opening for a COMPUTER COORDINATOR to join our volunteer staff. QUALIFICATIONS: Programming experience, knowledge of PC hardware, database management, basic trouble-shooting ability. PC networking (NET WARE) and R-base experience helpful. As well, we ask for commitment to practice and to the practice of the five precepts, ability to live and work harmoniously with others, and a one-year commitment. We offer ample time and support for sitting, guidance of Dhamma teachers, a 6-hour work day, room, board, $125.00 stipend per month, health insurance, and the opportunity to work and live with others in an environment which fosters mindfulness and metta. If you are interested in this rich opportunity for growth and service, please contact: Julie Tato, Personnel Coordinator Insight Meditation Society, 1230 Pleasant St., Barre MA 01005 Tel: (508) 355-4378 Fax: (508) 355-6398 ------------------------- Buddhist Poetry Anthology ------------------------- An anthology of Buddhist poetry is being developed, tentatively entitled EASY & WIDE, to include poetry from both past and present; East and West; theory and practice; Theravada, Tibetan, Zen, and other schools; meditation, haiku, idyll, vision, riddle, devotional, song, chant, etc. Submissions and suggestions are being solicited. Please include a self- addressed, stamped envelope for return of any hardcopy submissions. E-mail submissions are also accepted. Contact: Gary Gach, editor, 1243 Broadway #4, San Francisco CA 94109 USA. Telephone: (415) 771-7793. Email: ggach@path.net --------------- Call to Artists --------------- Seeking submissions (slides/photos) in all media; no fee. "LIBERATION BY SEEING', an exhibit of contemporary Buddhist art, will take place Oct-Nov 1994 at the American School of Japanese Art in Santa Rosa, CA. To request a prospectus, send SASE to: Gold Ridge Sangha, 1855 Burnside Road, Sebastopol, CA 95472 marked: "Attn: Victoria". Entries must be received by Aug. 26, 1994. For more information, contact Victoria Whitehand, (707) 823-0181. ------------------------- Dhamma Dana Publications: Kor Khao Suan-luang ------------------------- This fall, Dhamma Dana Publications of Barre, Massachusetts, USA is planning to publish a collection of Dhamma talks given by the late K. Khao Suan-luang (1909-1978), one of the foremost women teachers of Dhamma in modern Thailand. Her clear and forceful teaching style exemplifies the best of the Thai forest tradition. The editor and translator of this book, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, is an American-born monk who trained for 12 years in the forests of Thailand. He has translated and published a number of her talks previously, in addition to numerous books by Ajahn Lee and Ajahn Maha Boowa. Copies of this book will be made available to anyone free of charge. We are inviting individuals to consider co-sponsoring publication of this book. All donations will go directly to the costs of printing the book. The more money we raise, the more copies we will be able to print, and the more people will be able to benefit from the teachings of this remarkable woman. We are hoping to raise at least $3,000, which would enable us to print at least 2,500 high-quality copies. If you are interested in participating in this project, you are invited to send a donation -- large or small -- to: Dhamma Dana Publications c/o Barre Center for Buddhist Studies Lockwood Road Barre MA 01005 USA --------------------------------- "LIFE AS A WESTERN BUDDHIST NUN" Sarnath, India -- Feb. 6-27, 1995 --------------------------------- As a result of discussion at the Western Buddhist Teacher's conference with H.H. dalai Lama in 1993, several western nuns who practice in the Tibetan tradition are organizing an intensive 3-week training program to be held in Sarnath, India on Feb. 6th through 27th, 1995. The program will include teachings in vinaya, consideration of adaptation to modern western culture, historical examination of other Buddhist traditions as transferred to new cultures, counseling & teaching skills, organization of nun's communities, etc. The program is directed "primarily" at nuns of all lineages of the Tibetan tradition. Nuns of other traditions are also welcome. (Requests from lay women who plan to ordain will be considered on an individual basis.) Lay people who wish to sponsor an individual nun, or donate to this rare educational event for western ordained women, may make tax-deductible gifts payable in US currency to: NWDA/SANGA TRUST, PO Box 24161, Seattle, WA 98124 USA. If you are a nun who wishes to attend, write to the same address or fax (206) 545-7131 to request more detailed information. --------------------------------- Retreat on Nun's Practice Plum Village, France -- June 1995 --------------------------------- The Sangha of nuns at Plum Village is organizing a seminar on "The Shaping of Communities of Nuns in the West," from June 17-22, 1995, to look deeply into the establishment of communities of western nuns from various traditions. Please address inquiries to: Sister Eleni, Plum Village, Meyrac, 47120 Loubes-Bernac, France. Fax: (33) 53.94.75.90. [Source: //The Mindfulness Bell//, Issue 11] ------------------------------------------ ICT Tibet Resource Directory, 2nd Edition: Call for Corrections or Additions ------------------------------------------ WASHINGTON, July 8, ICT -- ICT is bringing out a second edition of our resource directory, //Tibet in the World//, which was first published in September, 1991. Below is a form for changes or corrections to listings in the first edition and for new group listings. The first edition was a pocket-size booklet containing hundreds of listing of Tibet organizations, Tibet Government-in-Exile offices, and related organizations. The second edition will be similar but will include new sections on (1) women's groups and groups working on the 1995 Beijing United Nations women's conference; (2) parliamentary groups; (3) groups formed by or for new arrivals from Tibet; (4) economic development groups; and (5) Tibetan restaurants and shops in the West. It will also include e- mail addresses. Please complete this form and send it to ICT by September 1, 1994. Organization: ____________________________________________________________ Complete address: ________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Tel: _______________ FAX: ________________ E-mail: _____________________ Officers & staff: ________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Publications (name, frequency & language) ________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Mandate of group/description of activities: ______________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Suggestions, comments, new groups to add: ________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ New listing ___ Corrections/additions to old listing ___ Old listing accurate ___ [Source: Kelsang Aukatsang, Int'l Campaign for Tibet ] ======================================================================= {18} PARTING THOUGHT ======================================================================= To be attached to things, this is delusion; but just to understand that all is one is not enough... Within the light there is darkness, but do not be attached to that darkness. Within the darkness there is light, but do not be caught by that light. Light and darkness are a pair, like the foot before and the foot behind in walking. -- Sekito Kisen, "Sando-kai" (cited in "Practicing Intimacy" by Fran Tribe, from //Not Mixing Up Buddhism: Essays on Women and Buddhist Practice//, edited by Deborah Hopkinson, Michele Hill and Eileen Kiera. Fredonia NY: White Pine Press, 1986.) * * * * * Once a monk on pilgrimage met a woman living in a hut. The monk asked, "Do you have any disciples?" The woman said, "Yes." The monk said, "Where are they?" She said, "The mountains, rivers and earth, the plants and trees, are all my disciples." The monk said, "Are you a nun?" She said, "What do you see me as?" He said, "A layperson." The woman in a hut said, "You can't be a monk!" The monk said, "You shouldn't mix up Buddhism." She said, "I'm not mixing up Buddhism." The monk said, "Aren't you mixing up Buddhism this way?" She said, "You're a man, I'm a woman -- where has there ever been any mixup?" ======================================================================= {19} ABOUT GASSHO ======================================================================= //Gassho// is an electronic journal, distributed on DharmaNet, Fidonet, Internet, and other computer networks. There is no subscription fee. //Gassho// is a bimonthly publication by and for the members of DharmaNet and the global online Buddhist community. It is intended as an open forum in digest format for sharing information about Buddhism, its history, philosophy, and practices, bridging boundaries of nation, race, class, gender, school, and sect. Readers are encouraged to submit articles, letters, calendar events, and other pertinent materials. It is assumed that non-personal mail to the editors may be reprinted unless otherwise specified. The editors of //Gassho// reserve the right to edit submissions as appropriate to fit the style and format of this newsletter. Electronic submissions to //Gassho// should be sent by e-mail to dharma@netcom.com or by netmail or file-attach to BODY DHARMA ONLINE. Hardcopy submissions should be sent to: GASSHO, PO Box 4951, Berkeley CA 94704. Writers guidelines may be retrieved from the Dharma Electronic Files Archive at ftp.netcom.com:pub/dharma/Gassho, under the name 'writers-guide', or from BODY DHARMA ONLINE under the filename 'GASS- GDE.ZIP'. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- //Gassho// is Copyright (C) 1994 by DharmaNet International. All Rights Reserved. Authors of signed articles hold a presumptive copyright, and they should be contacted for reprint permission. Reproduction and distribution of //Gassho// in electronic media is encouraged, so long as it is reproduced in full and unchanged, and for non-commercial distribution only. 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"GASSHO", "DharmaNet", and "DharmaNet International" are pending trademarks of Barry Kapke. ======================================================================= Upcoming Issues in 1994-95 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Issue Topic Deadline ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ September/October Health & Healing August 18 November/December Human Rights, Buddhist Values October 18 January/February Dana December 16 March/April Teaching Dharma February 15 May/June Children & Family April 16 ======================================================================= How to Get Electronic Copies of GASSHO: ======================================================================= Internet users may receive //Gassho// by electronic subscription in Mailing List format. Send an email message to: dharma@netcom.com asking to subscribe to //Gassho//. This is *not* a Listserv. Back issues are available by anonymous ftp to the Dharma Electronic Files Archive at FTP.NETCOM.COM. 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