The Hidden Lamp

The Hidden Lamp is a collection of one hundred koans and stories of Buddhist women from the time of the Buddha to the present day, with reflections on each story by a contemporary woman teacher. This revolutionary book brings together many teaching stories that were hidden for centuries, unknown until this volume.
These stories are extraordinary expressions of freedom and fearlessness, relevant for men and women of any time or place. In these pages we meet nuns, laywomen practicing with their families, famous teachers honored by emperors, and old women selling tea on the side of the road. The book is accessible and scholarly, personal and historical, and vital to any Buddhist, regardless of his or her path.
Included in the book are stories from the earliest female disciples of the Buddha in India, from the Zen tradition in China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and the West, and the Vajrayana tradition of Tibet. Each is accompanied by a reflection by a contemporary woman teacher—personal responses that help bring the old stories alive for readers today—and concluded by a final meditation for the reader, a question from the editors meant to spark further rumination and inqury. A foreword by the Zen teacher Norman Fischer speaks of the relevance of the book for anyone exploring a spiritual path, and an introduction by the editors offers historical context and suggestions for how to use these stories in one’s own life. Appendices provide further resources for the interested reader.
These are the voices of the women ancestors of every contemporary Buddhist.