“Zen aims to expose and dissolve the ego’s toxic grip of self-clinging. Self-clinging may look very different in women than it does in men. Self-clinging for women may look like a dependency, a need to please others and to seek approval, a reluctance to show initiative, and a general feeling of inferior ability. Self-clinging in men more often takes the form of pride, arrogance, and a sense of power, control or even invincibility. Convents have developed training techniques for women aimed specifically at overcoming societal conditioning that fostered obidience, docility, and servitude to their families of origin, husbands and other institutional bodies that instilled ‘ladylike’ behavior.” – Grace Schireson

An example of a training technique for women is the ‘mirror Zen‘ of Kakuzan.

Uit: Zen Women – Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens, and Macho Masters, Grace Schireson, Wisdom Publishers, Somerville, 2009; p.90.
Over het boek: This landmark presentation at last makes heard the centuries of Zen’s female voices. Through exploring the teachings and history of Zen’s female ancestors, from the time of the Buddha to ancient and modern female masters in China, Korea, and Japan, Grace Schireson offers us a view of a more balanced Dharma practice, one that is especially applicable to our complex lives, embedded as they are in webs of family relations and responsibilities, and the challenges of love and work.