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The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women

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The Hidden Lamp is a collection of one hundred koans and stories of Buddhist women from the time of the Buddha to the present day. This revolutionary book brings together many teaching stories that were hidden for centuries, unknown until this volume. These stories are extraordinary expressions of freedom and fearlessness, relevant for men and women of any time or place. In these pages we meet nuns, laywomen practicing with their families, famous teachers honored by emperors, and old women selling tea on the side of the road. Each story is accompanied by a reflection by a contemporary woman teacher--personal responses that help bring the old stories alive for readers today--and concluded by a final meditation for the reader, a question from the editors meant to spark further rumination and inquiry. These are the voices of the women ancestors of every contemporary Buddhist.

581 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 21, 2013

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Susan Moon

30 books26 followers

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
Profile Image for Mark Robison.
1,240 reviews91 followers
December 19, 2017
I absolutely cherished this book. It is a wonderful bedside book. Each chapter is a short Buddhist story or teaching from the past 2,500 years involving a woman, then a contemporary female practitioner interprets the story, and finally a few questions are asked of the reader to help the lesson sink in. Although a few chapters around the middle felt a little weak, the overall quality is incredibly high. I found myself googling nearly every chapter’s author to see what else she’d done. If you have any interest in feminism and Buddhism, this one is great. P.S. Skip the audio version, which does a horrendous job of letting the reader absorb the stories. Grade: A
Profile Image for Jesse Morrow.
113 reviews1 follower
April 12, 2018
I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I respect the concept. I respect the attempt.

They try to take 100 koans and stories that involve women. Each of the koans and stories are then followed by commentaries by various women Roshi and what not.

Many of the koans are fine. But some are difficult to get around. The majority are either a) offensive because some monk is proven to be wrong because even a woman understands zen better than he or b) The old crone who is little more than a magical Negro directing monks on a quest.

The commentaries are fine. Some are great; some are not; most are good and interesting.

My main problem is that it accidentally proves Buddhism to be just as patriarchal and anti-feminist as the Abrahamic religions. The commentaries on those of chauvinist or magical Negro varieties really try to bend over backwards to not point to the obvious patriarchal assumptions.

Overall, it's a good read. But, it also makes one hope that in the next 25 Centuries Zen will be more accepting of awakened women.
Profile Image for Q.
480 reviews
May 25, 2021
This book has a 100 reflections from the Buddhist and Zen cosmology. The reflections are done by senior women teachers. This book is not just for women. I have shared some these stories with a varied group of people. They help me look at things with new eyes (outside of my box) and reflect and explore the questions asked. Some of them are Zen wild and others of different teachings.if you have read any zen koans it’s not always easy to understand them. The teachers commentaries are about how they worked with them in their lifes. I found this extremely helpful; obviously cause I wouldn’t be reading it again. There are different layers. Pealing the onion.



I started re-reading this 2014 soon after it came out.
And picked it up often.
2019-2020 I read it thru again.
And started it again in January 2021.



I love this book. I read it slowly when it first came out and starting it again this year. I enjoyed reading the different dharma stories and the commentaries. Some of the stories I had heard before but each was written from a new voice and I appreciated how the writer told it from their view. I appreciated hearing the 100 dharma female teachers voices, all unique and wise and compassionate. Their commentaries were always different to my response to the story and that was a great gift, Reflecting on the teachings opened my practice in a new way. These were excellent teaching stories.
.

A deep bow of appreciation to everyone who made this book happen. It was generous all the way around. And a thx to my friend who suggested it.
Profile Image for Claire.
793 reviews360 followers
December 10, 2013
The Hidden Lamp is not a book to read in one sitting, it is a reference to draw on now and then and a rich source of feminine wisdom.

It is a compilation of one hundred stories, some a mere paragraph long, each one chosen by one woman and commented on, sharing a contemporary perception of how that text speaks to her.

My complete review here at Word by Word.
Profile Image for Catherine S.
137 reviews
August 21, 2022
A powerful collection of koans and stories about women, collated by women and with commentaries from women. It was lovely to see a dharma book that was focused purely on showcasing the wisdom of female practitioners. I also enjoyed the format of 'koan, commentary, study questions' which enabled you to both read a response from a practitioner, as well as reflect on and explore your own responses.
Profile Image for Catherine.
Author 8 books12 followers
February 13, 2014
The Hidden Lamp takes as its manifestly traditional starting point the collecting of one hundred Zen teaching stories. The radical difference is not simply that the stories feature women as students, adepts and masters, but that the commentaries and reflections paired with them are offered not by one living teacher, but by one hundred, all women, and from many lineages and Buddhist traditions. This diversity brings a palpable vitality to stories that include both the classic and the contemporary, and a single reflection can suddenly shift with startling effect from a traditional way of reading to a wake-up call grounded in engagement with the collective present....
Profile Image for David Guy.
Author 7 books41 followers
December 20, 2019
Among my favorite Zen teachings are the Old Lady stories, where some pompous Zen master thinks a great deal of himself and has his bubble burst by a woman who has no apparent status (like the famous tea seller who confronted the King of the Diamond Sutra and made him realize he knew nothing). Probably my favorite is a good-natured one, about a Zen master who wasn’t pompous at all, and understood the spiritual depth of all people.

“An old woman went to hear Master Hakuin give a lecture. He said, ‘Your mind is the Pure Land, and your body is Amida Buddha. When Amida Buddha appears, mountains, rivers, forests, and fields all radiate a great light. If you want to understand, look into your own heart.’

“The old woman pondered Hakuin’s words day and night, waking and sleeping. One day, as she was washing a pot after breakfast, a great light flashed through her mind. She dropped the pot and ran to tell Hakuin. ‘Amida Buddha filled my whole body. Mountains, rivers, forests, and fields are all shining with light. How wonderful!’ She danced for joy.

“‘What are you talking about?’ Hakuin asked. ‘Does the light shine up your asshole?’

“Small as she was, she gave him a big push, saying, ‘I can see you’re not enlightened yet!’ They both burst out laughing.”

I had actually read this story, and Shinge Roko Sherry Chayat’s[1] reflection on it, in Lion’s Roar. Imagine my delight when I discovered there was a whole book of these things.

It’s a nervy project on the face of it. First you find a hundred of these stories, which are bound to vary in quality. Then you choose a hundred different women to comment on them, without knowing how deep their understandings are or how well they write. I won’t claim every entry is uniformly excellent, but it’s amazing how good many of them are. This is the kind of anthology where I limited myself to one story per night, because if I hadn’t I would have raced through it so fast that I wouldn’t have gotten anything out of it. Also, despite the short bios, I invariably looked up the commentator on the Internet to find out what else she had done. And I often sneaked a peek at the next day’s story without reading the commentary, I was so interested. I might look up the next day’s commentator as well. It took me forever to get through this book. But I loved taking a long time. I looked forward to it every night.

Some of the stories are about contemporary women, like Darlene Cohen and Joko Beck (two of my favorites). Many well-known teachers are among the commentators, and they all seem matched with stories that interest them. I have no idea how this project came together. But I wasn’t surprised at its high quality when I saw Susan Moon’s name on it. Everything she’s done is excellent. Florence Caplow—a new name for me—also has a remarkable pedigree.

A few of the stories are startlingly sexy.

“Miazong said, ‘Do you want a Dharma interview or a worldly interview?’

“‘A Dharma interview,’ replied Wanan.

“Miazong said, ‘Then send your attendants away.’ She went into the room first and after a few moments she called out, ‘Please come in.’

“When Wanan entered he saw Miaozong lying naked on her back on the bed. He pointed at her genitals, saying, ‘What is this place?’

“Miazong replied, ‘All the buddhas of the three worlds, the six patriarchs, and all great monks came out of this place.’

Wanan said, ‘And may I enter?’

Miaozong replied, ‘Horses may cross; asses may not.’”

So much for Wanan.

You have to wonder what a worldly interview would have been.

Other stories have a wonderful irreverence.

“One day her father peeked into her room and saw her sitting on a copy of the Lotus Sutra. ‘What are you doing, sitting on this precious scripture?’ he shouted.

‘How is this wonderful sutra different from my ass?’ she said.

Darlene Cohen also had a great capacity for irreverence.

“About two weeks before Surei Darlene Cohen passed away, she was lying on the small sofa of her living room and a few students were there. In true form, Darlene announced matter-of-factly, ‘I don’t believe in karma or any of that shit.’”

A few are just great stories. They don’t seem to be koans at all.

“The Australian nun chi Kwang Sunim had the opportunity to meet a 102-year-old Korean nun, Kye Jeon Sunim, who had meditated for years. When Chi Kwang came into her presence, the old nun was sitting upright, with a rosary of black beads and a rosary of white beads twirling together in her left hand, silently repeating her mantra and gazing into space in front of her. The old nun grabbed Chi Kwang’s hand and pulled her close.

“When Chi Kwang yelled in the hard-of-hearing nun’s ear, ‘I’m a foreigner!’ the old nun held up the mingled black and white beads and said, ‘Let’s practice together.’

“When Chi Kwang asked the old nun about her past, she replied, ‘What past?’ Then the old nun smiled and said, ‘Let’s become enlightened together.’”

In addition to having marvelous content, The Hidden Lamp is a beautiful volume, with an extensive index, bios of the commentators, and a helpful glossary. The book is obviously a labor of love. I’m not much of a man for anthologies—I prefer to delve into single author—but I can’t recommend this one too highly.

[1] I can’t speak too highly of this teacher. Not only does she have some wonderful articles at Lions Roar, she wrote the single most inspiring definition of Zen I’ve ever read.

www.davidguy.org
Profile Image for Michele.
441 reviews
February 18, 2018
This book is about Zen/Buddhist koans (stories) featuring women, followed by an interpretation by a woman Buddhist practitioner. Each koan and interpretation take no more than 5 minutes to read. However understanding/digesting this takes time.
Profile Image for Dee Michell.
71 reviews1 follower
August 13, 2016
I enjoyed 'hanging out' with these many women, ancient and contemporary, who practice Zen Buddism. I don't want to rush out and identify as a Buddism, but there was much to learn and appreciate.
Profile Image for M.C. Easton.
111 reviews5 followers
April 3, 2022
This is a beautiful introduction to Zen Buddhist koans as taught by women Zen teachers around the world. Each koan is presented—some thousands of years old, and all featuring women practitioners and teachers—and then the contemporary Zen master (always a woman) who selected it includes a short reflection, sometimes directly unpacking it and sometimes, in traditional Zen fashion, setting ideas and experiences alongside to illuminate it. I read one section each night as able, and taking it slow gave me time to reflect. There are lessons here on humility, not-knowing, handling difficult feelings, and being present to reality—actual reality, not our idea of it. The only limitation really is that the teachers are all English speakers, a fact the editors apologize for and explain resulted from a limited budget. Hopefully the success of this book can convince publishers to fund more projects—and translators—that can fully encompass the diverse Buddhist world. A beautiful, enlightening, and inspiring read.
Profile Image for Katherine Davis-Gibbon.
Author 2 books187 followers
May 9, 2025
This was such a wonderful read. It was incredible to have access to so many different perspectives from female teachers in the Zen tradition (or other, closely related Buddhist traditions), and refreshing to have centuries' old koans interpreted through a modern lens. The book is truly an anthology. Not every essay landed equally for me as a reader, but I see this is a strength. As is the case in life, different teachers appeal to different practitioners. Presenting such a wide variety of perspectives ensures that every reader will find essays that resonate with them, and on the whole, all were excellent. As mentioned in the introduction, this is not a work to plow through, but to slowly savor and gradually digest. High recommended!
Profile Image for Luke.
912 reviews5 followers
May 21, 2021
A huge part of history I wouldn’t have known. Of all the things I really appreciate about the psychology of Buddhism it’s most clear downfall is the same as most religions. Misogyny.

It’s fascinating to learn about Buddhism from a different perspective. It’s a shame that over thousands of years women have been forced to sit quietly while men’s desire to drive the cause persists. Surely a profound and enlightened religion, but one that’s supposed to pride itself on equanimity. I’m sure part of the problem is the mirror of the worlds misogyny projected onto Buddhism, but the greater hypocrisy still lies in the customs of the religion itself. Thankful to have read this and to have begun to learn from more Buddhist women than the great Pema Chodron.
57 reviews3 followers
January 24, 2022
This is a wonderful collection of teachings from ancient practitioners all the way to the present day. I really enjoyed reading one or two of these every day. The commentary is clear, and open hearted and often breath new life into the stories. It doesn’t hurt that it also functions as a partial who’s who of women actively teaching today. Enjoyed it all the way through and will likely revisit soon!
Profile Image for Karo.
281 reviews1 follower
Read
April 26, 2023
I thought this book would really interest me but I found it quite repetitive fairly quickly.
And apparently, Buddhism is a slave to the patriarchy too, because it seems that, in order to prove her enlightenment, a woman has to get naked and stick her privates in a monk's face to remind him he too came through a birth canal at the start of his life...

Maybe this proves I'm not enlightened. But maybe I don't care about that.
Profile Image for Nicole.
109 reviews
November 4, 2017
Buddhism is at least half female; who knew! The wise broads whose words are featured in this collection are strong, inspiring, and witty. One can easily open it up to any page at anytime and soak enlightenment up from the short but moving koans and reader reflections. This is going on the reread list!
Profile Image for Naomi Ayala.
Author 7 books4 followers
October 7, 2018
This is a beautifully designed book. I really enjoyed the koans, the length of the commentaries, and how the book was organized. The Glossary and Background Information sections were really helpful. It was a great bedside book and, while some sections were much stronger than others, it was an overall good read.
Profile Image for Renee.
86 reviews6 followers
April 29, 2019
I have not finished it, but this is the kind of book that you read a story and contemplate on the story and the koan for a period of time. Being that koan meditation is not a primary form of meditation for me, I will be reading from this book for many years.
Profile Image for AJ Debnam.
4 reviews
November 25, 2017
It was okay. I could only relate to a few of the stories. The book was a bit to “girl power” for me.
Profile Image for John Dean.
99 reviews4 followers
April 18, 2020
Be whoever you are and use it to benefit others
Profile Image for anabel .
21 reviews
December 2, 2021
“It was a fruit we had never seen before, larger than an apple, about the size of a grapefruit. It was round and yellow like the leaves of a neglected book.”
Profile Image for Linus.
281 reviews6 followers
September 22, 2022
Great read, looking at different female Buddhist teachers and masters across time and space.
Profile Image for Laurie AH.
213 reviews
December 27, 2023
Loved this - took my time - amazing koans of feisty and funny women. Deep and meaningful.
125 reviews
September 23, 2024
One of my favorite books. Full of wisdom and encouragement. Highly recommend to anyone interested in learning more about zen and women
235 reviews3 followers
December 1, 2024
I couldn’t finish this. Too much. And only a man can tell when a woman is enlightened. Yeah, ok.
Profile Image for Avery Hardy.
16 reviews1 follower
June 28, 2025
Loved this beautiful read. Worth taking one’s time with—it’s not meant to be ready early. Many of the koans have permeated my heart.
Profile Image for Marian Semic.
27 reviews2 followers
September 19, 2019
An excellent treasury of zen stories and loans from often overlooked women zen masters. I loved this book and will refer to it often.
Profile Image for Darleen.
111 reviews
November 15, 2014
A thoughtful collection of Buddhist stories mostly about women that inspires reflection on the spiritual path, Truth/truths, and life. A real breath of fresh air in terms of Buddhist thought since these stories include not just the well-known and esteemed spiritual teachers, but also the potential teachers in each one of us in our moments of awareness and presence.
Profile Image for Deborah.
23 reviews
January 3, 2023
Fabulous collection of wisdom, compassion, great guidance -- could be a daily reader and I've enjoyed a group that discussed the koans. The insights to our current life is essential nourishment. Deep Thanks to the editors who brought this to us, and to the dedicated women who persevered through anguish, confusion, and jour essential goodness to realize wholeness, kindness, contribution.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews

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