PMZC Fall 2024 Class Syllabus: The Hidden Lamp
Description: In this class, we will study the foundational elements of the Buddha Way as expressed in The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women, Florence Caplow and Susan Moon’s book published in 2013, with a foreword from Zoketsu Norman Fischer, founder of Everyday Zen and former abbot of San Francisco Zen Center.. The Hidden Lamp presents koans and ancestor stories of the fundamental and hidden figures in Soto Zen Buddhism. In this book, Caplow and Moon selected many key stories and encounters, then invited Buddhist women teachers to comment on the teachings of practice-realization in Mahayana Buddhism, the later practice of Buddhism centered on the practicing of the Bodhisattva Way, our efforts to help others awaken and cross out of suffering. With study and practice, gradually we will come to understand the stories in the book as a profound guide to the practice and awakening at the heart of the Bodhistattva Way.
On this journey, we recognize, study, and gradually transform the presence of dukka or suffering in human life. In the practice of zazen and the study of the sutra, we also discover that this transformation happens both in the moment and gradually over time, as we deepen our practice and realize experiential understanding. Always, Dogen encourages us to practice; above all else, this is his central teaching: practice IS enlightenment. As in earlier classes, we actively engage the practice-based elements of gratitude, faith, and compassion in ending that suffering and dis-satisfaction. And, in studying and practicing with the The Hidden Lamp, we actively let go clinging to self, embracing emptiness and complete inter-dependence.
We will study and practice with Caplow and Moon’s book The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women (2013). Each week, after zazen, we will investigate the teachings and puzzling methodology of the The Hidden Lamp, investigating practices and insight together during our evening class session. Week by week, we can reflect on and investigate two chapters of the fascicle, contextualizing it both historically and at the center of daily zazen. Each of us incorporates the practice and study of zazen as it opens into experiential realization of emptiness, the deepening understanding into emptiness of self, and the deepening of compassion in our moment-by-moment practice.
Meeting and studying the presence of dukka or suffering plunges practitioners into three inter-related aspects: their difficulties to awakening to fundamental truth in this life; the challenges that facing directly presents; and the profound openings that direct, active practice of compassion manifests. Studying the sufferings of the self, we inhabit and become intimate with them. Turning towards practice, we concentrate, practice, and deepen our vows by active practices in the emptiness of all dharmas, all beings.
This 6-week class at Prairie Mountain Zen Center will be online via Zoom for any interested practitioners. Reverend Chikyo Ryunin Ewan Magie will offer the class on Thursday evenings after zazen for 6 weeks starting early October 2024 and concluding mid-November. Zazen begins at 6:30 and the class runs from 7-8pm. Each week there will be brief presentation followed by group sharing to keep classes interactive. And the class atmosphere involves respectful use of Right Speech, judicious selection in personal sharing. It is not a confessional or tell-all group.
Texts: The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women by Florence Caplow and Susan Moon (2013) https://www.powells.com/book/-9780861716593/1-11?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw4_K0BhBsEiwAfVVZ_-l2GhgtlrXzWygQ_FOdy3wstGarJ4xa3FWjpLSrRDoXIUevrwIgVxoCEJMQAvD_BwE
Supplemental Texts:
Everyday Zen Study Guide (everydayzen.org)
Week 1: Kisagotami’s Mustard Seed-- Death, Despair, Pilgrimage.
Week 2: The Old Woman Recognizes Mazu –Dharma Encounter, Awakening Together.
Week 3: Chiyono’s No Water, No Moon– Buddha Nature, Dharma Siblings, Beyond Words.
Week 4: The Old Woman Burns Down the Hermitage–Sexuality and Awakening.
Week 5: Yasodhara’s Path – A Woman’s Awakening, Separation & Inclusion.
Week 6: Lingzhao’s Helping –Working & Helping w/Self & No-Self.
Concluding Remark: Incorporating Caplow and Moon’s The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women (2013) by Florence Caplow and Susan Moon into our zazen enhances our understanding of Zen practice, the way to “study the self” in relation to our suffering and struggles in the long spiritual journey. Ideally, we practice them together to enhance our moment-to-moment awareness and deepen both wisdom and compassion. Each of us can engage these practices both in the zendo and in daily life as a way to deepen our experience of Zen practice. Learning by ourselves and with others helps nurture the Bodhisattva spirit within each of us, manifesting wisdom and compassion amongst all beings in the ten directions.