Magnolia Grove - Mahapajapati Gotami (8.14.2020)

 I'd read back then that Mahapajapati in the early centuries of Buddhism in India, that she had a status that was almost as high as the Buddha, she was a very high status and especially among the nuns. And I thought, well let's just get a statue of her for spirit rock. And so Chloe said sure, something like that. And she was going to support it, something like that but it was kind of like a shirt kind of thing or something. And then when we bought this building, to become here I MC in Redwood City, she came back to me one day and she said, Now I'm ready to get to have you have this statue made for you. And so she found a local artists that did a friend of hers and. And then I don't know if any of you know and a, there's a nun in England named john sundara, and she was around that time here and so she kind of modeled for the sculptures and. And she came back with a statue and it was kind of a surprise to receive it. And the, you can kind of see that. Her hands are up in the teaching mudra, because the artist wanted to have a depiction of a woman who wasn't just simply awakened, but a woman who was actually in the world teaching, and also the statue if you can't really see it from here, but she's leaning forward slightly, and the artist wanted to show this idea of being in the world, in the, in the statue itself.

So we've had it here in IMC and an important place for many years. And I want to tell you, because I don't get a chance to do this more as a bit of forgotten history for IMC that we had this wonderful event where we installed the statue and. And if you don't, don't judge me until I finish the story. I tell you how this installation happened. So Chloe Scott was this dance dancer and dance troupe. So I asked her to be part of this piece of theater of installing the statue.

And so, I'll describe what happened. So we were here at IMC, and lots of people, I'm hundred more than 100 people came home was really packed. But as people came in, we divided the rooms so that the men could sit in the front, near the Buddha, and the women could sit in the back, back in the back of the hall, representing. Unfortunately, part of the misogyny part of the ways in which women were treated historically in Buddhism and still in some, some places you can experience this. And it was it wasn't part of the plan but everyone kind of trusted me apparently no one complained. Everyone just did it maybe it was so foreign to our world to have the separation of the sexes this way that that I don't know they just trusted me and went along. And then just before we're supposed to start this woman came in late. And there was a chair kind of available in the front where the men were and, you know, we never separates the sexes that way.

So she could have slipped in and sat down. So it became part of the theater, if I may say that, where I went over nicely respectfully to her and bowed and pointed her to the back of the room. And so she kind of was a little startled and going to the back of the room. So then Chloe. We started Chloe with her dance troupe carrying a pelican no little thing they're holding the statue it's very heavy. And I think, I think there were six of these her dancers and Chloe in the front. Coming in carrying this in the most stately beautiful dance slow. I was like, I don't know, I thought that was like kind of like the ancient priestesses of Greece kind of wearing this long kind of gowns or dresses and flowing and just coming in, kind of stepping, almost like 72 steps forward and one step back, two steps forward one step back and stately kind of carrying mapa jumping she was covered over with a sheet.

And we came in and they put her down in front of the Buddha. And then a local Zen teacher was reading the story of the of this was based on a story that from the sutras where Mahapajapati then asks the Buddha to ordain women as nuns. And the first time she asks the Buddha says no. And when the Buddha said no, we turned off all the lights in the room. And then we turn them back on again, and Mahapajapati asked the second time. No, The Buddha said and then the lights went out. She asked the third time, and still the Buddha said no, this is, this is the traditional story, and. And so we turned off the lights again. And, and we left them off. And then the way the story goes as the Buddha's attendant monk named a Nanda made the case that he should ordain women. And, and then the Buddha agreed. And then instead of turning the lights on the dancers went up and each of them took a candle and lit it off the candle on the altar. And they took the sheet off my job buddy. And then they picked her up, and then they carried her in the stately way out to the, to the other big room we have at IMC, where she was going to be installed. And when they left the room there's a big accordion door here that divide that separates the two rooms, they closed the accordion door. So they carried out the statue, and then all the women who were sitting in the back of the hall, were invited to follow them out. And when all the women had left, they closed the accordion door. And as a result, and the lights never been turned on. The men were left sitting in the dark. And, and the women went out to have a women's meeting, and that was part of the way it was set up, and I have no idea what was supposed to happen there when the women met but they met out there in a circle with mapa jumpity in the middle of the floor and talked about things that were important to talk about, I guess. And when they were ready, they opened the door and invited the men back and the manager sat there in the dark, waiting to say no to something to happen.

And. And so then I came up and, and I went into set the best of teacher I finally sat in the middle next to my budget buddy that was the circles of women around her. And now the men were on the outside of the circle because the women are already there. And I asked. And I had invited seven Buddhist women Buddhist teachers to be part of this. And so they had a lead role and my Dharma sister Vicki Austin who's a Zen priest at Zen center was there and I asked the women. Now that you've had a chance to have a discussion there's anything that you feel you want to tell the men now that they've come here and Vicki said, don't get us started.

And so okay. And so then we carry the statue and put her up where she was going to be. And without any kind of thought to it if that just like this may not that's not the right way of saying it but just a completely the most natural thing for me to do. Given how we've been trained in Buddhism was to then to walk up to the statue on her altar that she had the other Hall. And, and do three full prostrations in front of her. And, and to my surprise they were gasps in the women in the hall to see that they'd never seen a man do something like that. And, and it was quite powerful apparently presented them. And, and then we installed her and that was the this wonderful experience of Mahapajapati and And then, about four years ago or so

There's a second story about Jeopardy from the ancient texts, and that's a story of her death. And we, and we did this huge pageant we did this whole play based on this ancient story here on her enlightenment. And this wonderful story is, she she's again is elevated to a status that's probably comparable to the Buddha in the story. And, and, and we had this wonderful, wonderful Zen teacher named Angie Boise, named play Mahapajapati and Angie is quite old and we have these steps to go up to the stage where they performed it and she actually needed help to get up the steps and. And so she really played the part turns out she had been an act was in college, she was an actress so she was not only as an teacher venerable teacher. She was also a wonderful actress and. And we had and I don't know if any of you know a nunda Bodhi venerable and under Modi said none here in California. And she played the Buddha. And we had this beautiful play and. Anyway, so that was a second time when we were referring to my budget buddy. So now we have this pata Chara. We already have a Mahapajapati at the retreat center. But that was commissioned for someone made it to beautiful statue in Burma, and it certainly has a very feminine face, but in Burma when we were commissioned, I think it was kind of a foreign thing for Burmese sculptures to make a statue of a woman nun from the ancient times, the only model they had was Buddha's, so they made her flat chested, and so many people see it. Don't can't really tell the difference between, you have to be like an art historian to know that's not a Buddha, that's something else that's probably, you know, it looks pretty feminine must be a woman. So I think most people who see the map by job ID at I RCR Retreat Center. Think of think it's just a Buddha sitting there.

But now we have this pot that Chara that's so powerful and wonderful to have and, and we'll know the time, one of the tasks over the next months is to figure out a place dignified appropriate place to have her there at IRC, but because we had her by the char on the altar here, it kind of is a little bit embarrassed to say how long it took me to realize that we don't have to always have to have a Buddha on the altar. The Buddha goes on rains retreat regularly back in the ancient times. And of course, we should have a woman teacher on the altar. When he's away sometimes. And so I'm thinking now sometimes at IRC, we can have put the char on the main altar too. And, and just grant the Buddha, a little bit of chance to take a break and go get refreshed and go on as it rains retreat.

So, so anyway, I want to share that story with you and then we have my puppy she's kind of smaller so you can't quite see her, so well. And I don't know if you can know if this helps at all. But you see her little bit, maybe it's kind of lightings maybe not so good.