Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

4

The

journey

ofa

lay

female

Zen teacher

‘Onawithered

treeaflower

blooms’

Subhana

Barzaghi

‘On

a

witheredtreea

flowerblooms‘isa

poetic

line

by

Zen

master

Dongshan

(

I

974)

that

Ihavechosenasa

metaphor

forthenew

flowering

oneninAustraliathathas

emerged

fromthetree

ofAsianBuddhism.This

metaphorspeaks

tothe

perennial

Wisdomthatcomesforthfrom

thedissolution

ol'ego

sell'and

theoldwaystil'seeinc

and

knowing

Thenew

flowering

ofwesternZen

generally

is

changing

asaresult

ofa-variety

ofculturalforces

including

a

growing

movement

oflaypractitioners,

family

practice.psychology

and

psychotherapy,

environmental

concernsand

deep

ecology.feminism.

egalitarian

principles.

democratic

decision—makingprocesses

and

communitymanagement

ofits

organizations.

A

relatively

newtreein

theZen

landscape

that

celebratedits50th

anniversary

in

July

2009 istheDiamond

Sangha.

aworldwide

networkofaffiliated

lay

Zen

centres.Inadditiontothe

merging

of

thesecultural

horizons.theDiamond

Sangha.

andmore

specifically

the

Sydney

Ze'n‘Centre.

whichisan

afiiliate.hasformeda

buddingrelationship

with

indigenous

sptntuality

thatis

giving

birthtoanAustralian

variety

onenBuddhismthathasa

different

shape

andflavourto

itstraditionalAsianor

otherwestern

counterparts.

Oneof

themostsalient

dilferencesbetweenthe

historicaland

contemporary

formsof

Zencanbefoundinthe

newly

discoveredroleofwomen.

Asoneofthe

firstfemale

Zenroshis

(teachers).

in

theDiamond

Sangha.

IfeelIhave

beenvery

close

to

theheart

ofthis

process.

In 1996 I

receivedtransmission

(authorization

to

teach)

intheDiamond

Sangha

from

my

AmericanteachersRobertAitkenRoshi

andJohnTarrantRoshi.I

felt

empowered

with

the

responsibilityofholdingup

the

lamp

and

light

ofourZen

school.whichhasits

rootsinthcSoto/Rin/aitradition

that

tracesits

origins

back

through

a

lineage

ofancestors

from

Japan

toChinaand

Witha

mythicalleapofalfinity

back

tolndiaandtheBuddha.

Mypath

hasbeento

makesenseofhow

l

might

fitwithinthis

ancient

lineage

asan

independent

female

teacher

among

a

long

lineof

patriarchs

who livedina

hierarchical.monastic

traditionwithina

ranked.

patriarchal

and

feudalChineseand

Japanese

society,

Yet.

thisisa

deeply

intimatetraditionthat

requires

adirectrealization

ofthe

heart-mindthattranscends

space.

culture.

gender

andtime.

Curiously.

inoneof

thefirstZenretreatsthatI

attended.

while

chanting

thesutras.Ifelta

completely

unexpected

andundeniablebond

withthesuccessive

generations

ofteachersinour

lineage,‘entanglingeyebrows'

withall

theoldCh‘anmasters.

*—

Thejottrnei'ofalqv/émule

Zen

Icut'her 125

While there was

a

mysterious

connection

with this [en

lincugc,

it was

evident thatthere

were

very

few

historically

known female

role models to

himtofor

guidance.

Moreover,

until

recently

therewere

nowomenteachers

inour

lineage.except

forbriefnotations

including

reference

to anunnamed

tea

lady,

astation

lady,

aricecakevendor

andsome

wandering

nuns.These

women

appear

as

isolated

interlopers

in

thevast

body

of

Zen literature.

only

hinting

atanuntold

story

of

enlightened

Asianwomen.

Recently.

there

has

beena

growing

body

of

scholarly

research

thatdrawsfrom

historical.cultural

andBuddhist

recordstouncoverfrom

obscuritysignificant

and

inspiring

tales

andaccounts

of

early

Buddhist

women mastersand

teachers

(Murcott

199]:

Levering

1997;

Tisdale

2006).

Iwas astonishedtodiscover

in Women

ty'Ihe

Way

(Tisdale

2006).

thattherewere

femaleChinese

Ch‘anmasters

living

inthe

TangDynasty

whoreceivedtransmission

legitimately

and

provided

teachings,

Theselittle

known stories

invigorated

my

understanding

ofwomen‘s-

contri-

butionandrolein

early

Buddhism.

Ihavewoven

many

ofthesestories

into

my

dhan'na

talks.

whichdovetail

withandenhance

traditional Zenstories.

These

early

Buddhistwomen'sstories

nowforma

growing

body

ofwork

knownas

the

Zen

Women'sKoanCollection.

whichistaken

up

forfurther

study

bymany

female

practitioners,

Outof

obscurity

toa

visibility

inthetwentieth

century.

womenare

takingup

an

important

rolein

contemporary

Zen. Thirteen

years

since

my

transmission,

therehave

beennumerous

appointments

of

lay

female

Zenteachersintheworldwide

Diamond

Sangha

tradition.

includiirg

sixfemale

teachersin

Australia,

equal

to

thenumberofmale

teachers.Three

oftheseI

haveinvitedto

teach.

notbecause

they

werewomen.

but because

they

were

worthy

oftherole.

The

question

oftranslation

andtransmission

WhenIwasa

young

femaleteacher,

manyquestions

arosefor

meonhowto

approach

thetranslationand

transmissionof

thisancienteastern

spiritual

tradition

andhowI

might

beditdown

in this

equally

ancientsoil.lhave

pondered

onthe

challenges

thatZen

practice

facesasitlands

andestablishes

itselfinawestern

contemporary

culture.

WhatAsiancultural

ritualsneed

changing

and

reforming?

RobertAitkenRoshi's

soundadvicestood

mein

good

stead.

Thefirst

generation

ofteachersneedsto

besomewhatconservative

andshould

maintainthe

tradi-

tionalfomrstoensure

thatitsrootsare

establishedin

thenewland.Headvised

me:‘Immerse

yourself

inthetradition

forthefirstfive

years.

don‘t

go

radically

changingthings

when

you

firststart

teaching.

then

you

willknowwhat

to

pmne,

change,

throwout

andreforrn.‘ 1 took

hisadviceand

only

afterfive

years

of

teaching.

didIstart

toinitiatesome

formative

changes.

Oldritualsin

anewland

Oneofthe

aspects

ofZen

practice

thatlhaverevisited

andwhichcontinues

to

beunresolvedis

thatthe

Japanese

culturalritualsof

Zendonotsit

comfonably