READING JOURNAL #2

Ohashi Wakes Up in a Brothel

Our book group read koans from “The Hidden Lamp”

Illustration of Ohashi in a brothel found on this University of Louisville site

Diane recently took a trip to Japan, and when it was her turn to chose a book for our book group, she chose something unusual that she’d enjoyed reading on the train: The Hidden Lamp, a compilation of 100 koans about women with analysis by women Buddhist teachers.

What is a koan? It’s a little story, just a few paragraphs long, that Buddhists study on their path to enlightenment.

First off, it’s remarkable that the editors of the book were able to find 100 koans about women, since, like almost every other big organized religion, Buddhism favors men. The three principal collections of koans from the 12th and 13th Century— the Blue Cliff Record, the Book of Serenity, and the Gateless Barrier — contain mostly stories about men.

And for a long time Buddhists believed that you had to be born in a male body to achieve enlightenment, “and that women were dangerous obstacles to awakening because of their desirability,” according to the book’s editors. One famous woman, Ryonen, even burned her face with an iron to make herself undesirable so she’d be allowed to study at a monastery.

“It’s still hard for women to practice in many places, as either nuns or laywomen…