The role of women in Japanese religion mirrors the role of women in Japanese society, and generally the women involved in Zen Buddhism follow this same prescription, though there have been a number of shifts in recent years. Traditional Shinto and Buddhism tended either to relegate women to a secondary position or to exclude them from public rituals because of the pollutions ascribed to their sex. This is known as androcentrism and is lacking in the nontraditional religions of Japan. The following is an examination of the role of Japanese women in Zen Buddhism, the sect of Mahayana Buddhism that has flourished in Japan. That role has been marked by a certain duality through history. On the one hand, women have been given greater acceptance as human beings by Zen Buddhism than by other Buddhist sects, but at the same time it remains unusual for women to rise very high in the hierarchy of achievement within the sect. There are some historical reasons for this, but in the end it may merely be a reflection of the lower level accorded women throughout Japanese society.
Buddhism takes on a slightly different patina in the different countries of the world where it is practiced, meshing its religious culture with the social culture of the given region. Buddhism is a major religious force in the countries of Southeast Asia. On the Indian subcontinent, Buddhism spread as a reaction to Hindu doctrines and as an effort to reform them. Buddhism originated in north India and Nepal before spreading outward to other regions. As noted, Buddhism has taken on a slightly different patina in different countries. In Cambodia, for instance, there are no formal administrative ties with other Buddhist bodies, though Buddhists from Thailand, Laos, Burma, and Sri Lanka may participate in religious ceremonies. Theravada Buddhism also prevails in Thailand and is similar to that found in Sri Lanka, Burma, Kampuchea, and Laos. Theravada Buddhism ...