Seishu John Wiley continues the Red Cedar dharma talk series on our women ancestors. This talk focuses on Moshan Liaoran, who lived in the 9th century, and was a contemporary of the well-known teacher Iron Grindstone Liu, as well as Linji, Dongshan and Zhaozhou. 

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John's talk notes:

The Zen woman ancestor I am going to talk about tonight is Moshan Liaoran (Mo Shan Lee  Oran). As is the case with many women ancestors, not much is known about her. She lived in China in the 9th century, the golden age of Zen in China. Her date of birth is unknown and  her date of death is listed as 895. 

She was a contemporary of Iron Grindstone Liu as well as Linji, Dongshan and Zhaozhou. Her name Mo means summit and Shan means mountain—-so Summit Mountain. She was a disciple of Dayu, and the  first woman dharma heir to be noted in the official Zen transmission records. She was the first nun to be portrayed in Zen texts as undergoing formal training activities usually  reserved for male teachers. She was perhaps the second woman to receive mind to mind transmission after one of Bodhidharma’s disciples in the 6th century. 

Beyond this basic outline, the only information I was able to find about her is the story of an encounter she had with a monk when she was abbess of Mount Mo. There are commentaries on this encounter in The Hidden Lamp—-stories from 25 centuries of Awakened Women, by  Florence Caplow and Susan Moon; Zen’s Chinese Heritage, by Andy Ferguson and articles by Zen teachers John Diado Loori and Bill Porter.  

Here is the story from the Hidden Lamp:  

The monk Guanxi Xian (Gwanshe She Ann) was sent by his teacher Master Linji, to meet  Master Moshan Liaoran, a powerful woman teacher. When he arrived at Mount Moshan, where she taught, he refused to bow to her or take off his traveling hat. He asked, “What is Moshan?” 

Moshan replied, “The summit cannot be seen.” 

He then asked, “Who is the master of Mount Moshan?” 

She replied, “Without the form of a man or a woman.”

He shouted, “Why doesn’t she transform herself?” 

She replied, “She is not a wild fox spirit, nor a ghost. What would you have her become? Guanxi (Gwanshee) bowed and took off his hat. He became the gardener at her monastery  and stayed for three years. 

Guanxi (Gwanshee) came to Moshan’s monastery as a student of master Linji. Undoubtedly,  he had expectations about what he would encounter and what he wanted—-as we all do in situations like this—-entering a new place/experience, or going to a new school or a class with a new/different teacher. I bet he had doubts about a woman teacher. Refusing to bow or take  off his traveling hat shows his hesitation. I am sure Moshan had lots of experience dealing with attitudes like this. Being attached to surface appearances and our own fixed ideas about what should happen blocks really seeing what is right in front of us. “What is Moshan?” means “Who are you?” or “What is the truth?” Her answer—-“The summit cannot be seen.” —-means—-You have to discover this for yourself—through your own practice and realization. She rightfully points out that expressing true dharma does not depend on gender and no transformation of form is needed. Discovering what is true is hindered by our  prejudice, distinctions and preferences. 

Later, when he was teaching, Guanxi (Gwanshee ) said, “I received half a ladle full at Papa  Linji’s place and half a ladle full at Mama Moshan’s place. Since I took that drink, I have never  been thirsty.” He was able to appreciate what he learned from both teachers. 

In the Hidden Lamp, the commentary on this koan is by Shinshu Roberts. She is a  contemporary Zen priest and teacher in the lineage of the San Francisco Zen Center. She is a dharma heir of Mel Weitsman, and the co-founder of Ocean Gate Zen Center in Capitula California, and the author of Being Time—-a guide to understanding Dogen’s fascicle on time, called Uji. One sentence in her comments really stood out for me and here it is: 

“Our job is to meet our life fully as it presents itself, not as we would like it to present  itself. Don’t get caught by the container; let your life come to you and meet it with an open and curious mind.” 

To me, this is as good a statement as any I have encountered about one of the essential  teachings and purpose of zen practice. And it reminded me of a couple of other brief  statements (also by contemporary women teachers) that I try to keep in mind. So, I thought I would share some information about these teachers and what they had to say as part of this talk.  

The next statement is by Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo. She was born in England in 1943, and by  the age of 18, decided she was a Buddhist and took a ship to India to look for a teacher. It’s  interesting to me to come across people who know at such an early age what direction they want to go in life, and stick with it. She eventually found a teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist  tradition and was ordained. She lived in a monastery for 6 years—-the only nun among 100 monks. In talking about those years at the monastery, she said that the monks were  always kind and respectful. There was never any sexual harassment or mistreatment. But, because she was a woman, she was denied participation in many temple events, and the  monks always wished for her that she would be born male in her next life so she could  fully take part in monastic life. With the blessing of her teacher, she spent next spent 12 years  living in a remote cave in the Himalayas. She eventually founded a nunnery in India, where she  lives today.  

The statement from her that registered with me came from an interview she gave in Tricycle  Magazine. She said, “Call something an obstacle, it is an obstacle. Call it an opportunity, it is  an opportunity. Nothing is extraneous to the spiritual life. This is very important to  understand.” Everything we encounter is an opportunity to practice. 

The last person I will talk about is Joko Beck. She lived from 1917—2011, and was a student and dharma heir of Maezumi Roshi at Zen Center Los Angeles. She founded the Zen Center of San Diego and wrote 2 books I have always appreciated: Nothing Special and EverydayZen. Her books are full of very practical ways to practice Zen in day to day life. Our founding  teacher, Norman Fischer, named his organization the EverydayZen Foundation with Joko’s permission and blessing. The thing she said that I so appreciate is this: “There is one thing in  life you can always rely on—-life being as it is…..life is always going to be the way it is, so  why can’t we rely on that fact? Trust in things being as they are is the secret of life. But we don’t want to hear that.”  

This doesn’t mean you can’t try to fix problems or make things better, it is recommending that we see things as they really are, without resistance or denial, as the best foundation for a response. 

I wish I could say that I always keep these statements in mind and use them at every  opportunity—-but I don’t. However, they are not far away and when I find myself stirred up about something that isn’t the way I want things to be, I can usually draw on them to help me turn toward whatever is happening with some equanimity and space to figure out how to respond. 

For example, in February, I got all our income tax info organized and submitted to our  accountant earlier than usual and I always feel good about getting that done. And, a week  later, our taxes were ready. A faster turnaround than expected. Last year we got a small  refund and were hoping for that again, or maybe a small amount owed. Instead, we owed a big payment to the IRS—-quite a shock. I was sure there was a mistake, but managed to stay calm and reasonable with the office staff. I went home and looked at the return and I think I  understand why the bill is so high. Pretty quickly we decided to pull the money out of savings  and pay the bill and be grateful we had the savings to cover this unexpected expense, and be done with it. In years past, I would have spent time being upset with the accountant,  thinking about what I could have done with the money—-travel, home repair, savings—upset that some people and corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes—-and then, gone over  and over these things many times. All of which would have made me more unhappy and harder to be around—-and it would have changed nothing. I will check in with my accountant after tax season to make sure I understand what happened, but it is so much better to fairly  quickly shift to: this is how it is, like it or not—-what is the best way to handle it? And then—-as  Shinshu Roberts would advise: meet the next moment of my life as it presents itself. I am not  stewing about it like I would have in the past and this is an example of how the advice of these  three teachers has helped me deal with problems in a much better way. Along with a regular  meditation practice so I am better at noticing when I get off track. 

Thank you for listening. 

Possible question for group: Do you have any phrases or other tools that help you deal with problems you encounter?