Finally yesterday the book I’ve been awaiting for months and months arrived. When the postman knocked and rang at my door, I was sure he had what I wanted: « The Hidden Lamp. Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women. »
My delight did not meet with disappointment. What a treasure this is! The book is a collection of 100 stories and koans involving women, with commentaries by 100 contemporary Buddhist women teachers. But, as the American male Zen master Norman Fischer writes in the foreword, the book includes « not only the long-missing stories of women, but, along with them, a spirit and attitude of open-handed teaching that the commentators and the text as a whole reflect. »
Perhaps I am biased: I am, I admit, a contributor to the book, as is my own teacher and other women from my lineage. But as I dip into the book again and again, I keep discovering an unfathomably rich trove of precious wisdom for the ages and for right here and now.
But of course, as always, don’t take my word for it; check it out for yourself.
The Hidden Lamp. Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women
About the Author: zenscribe
Enseignante Zen et poète, Sensei Amy “Tu es cela” Hollowell est née et a grandi à Minneapolis, aux Etats-Unis. Arrivée en France en 1981 pour étudier la littérature et l’histoire, elle y est restée, s’installant à Paris, où elle élève ses deux enfants et gagne sa vie en tant que journaliste.
The Zen teacher and poet Amy “Tu es cela” Hollowell Sensei was born and raised in Minneapolis, but came to France in 1981 to study literature and history and has lived in Paris ever since, raising her two children and making a living as a journalist.
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