women zen ancestors

hi friends!

as i continue my buddhist practice, one thing i want to be very careful about is not to ignore the female side of buddhism. what i mean by that is that zen, Theravada, and other groups that i am a part of or have been a part of are typically dominated by men (and cis, hetero, upper class men at that, but we'll address more of this at another time), but women play just as important of a role. they tend to be less well-known in these circles, and i'd like to avoid that in my own understanding and education moving forward.

so, to that end, here are two interesting links that i am reading today.

Brief Biographies of Women Zen Ancestors

and

Women Zen ancestors: a second take

i hope you find this as helpful and interesting as i do.