Women in Korean Zen: Lives and Practices (Women and Gender in

Women in Korean Zen: Lives and Practices (Women and Gender in Religion)
- Used Book in Good Condition
In this engagingly written account, Martine Batchelor relays the challenges a new ordinand faces in adapting to Buddhist monastic life: the spicy food, the rigorous daily schedule, the distinctive clothes and undergarments, and the cultural misunderstandings inevitable between a French woman and her Korean colleagues. She reveals as well the genuine pleasures that derive from solitude, meditative training, and communion with the deeply religiouswhom the Buddhists call "good friends." Batchelor has also recorded the oral history/autobiography of her teacher, the eminent nun Son'gyong Sunim, leader of the Zen meditation hall at Naewonsa. It is a profoundly moving, often light-hearted story that offers insight into the challenges facing a woman on the path to enlightenment at the beginning of the twentieth century. Original English translations of eleven of Son'gyong Sunim's poems on Buddhist themes make a graceful and thought-provoking coda to the two women's narratives. Western readers only familiar with Buddhist ideas of female inferiority will be surprised by the degree of spiritual equality and authority enjoyed by nuns in Korea. While American writings on Buddhism increasingly emphasize the therapeutic, self-help, and comforting aspects of Buddhist thought, Batchelor's text offers a bracing and timely reminder of the strict discipline required in traditional Buddhism.
Country USA
Brand Syracuse University Press
Manufacturer Syracuse University Press
Binding Hardcover
ItemPartNumber Illustrated
Model Illustrated
UnitCount 1
Format Illustrated
EANs 9780815608424
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Brand	Syracuse University Press
Manufacturer	Syracuse University Press
Binding	Hardcover
ItemPartNumber	Illustrated
Model	Illustrated
UnitCount	1
Format	Illustrated
EANs	9780815608424
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

Women in Korean Zen: Lives and Practices (Women and Gender in Religion)

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