transmission among men
In Zen, often is spoken about the transmission line. This refers to a lineage, the spiritual bloodline, which begins with Buddha Shakyamuni Gautama and extends through more than eighty generations to the contemporary Zen teacher. The idea is that recognition as a teacher is passed from one person to another, warm hand to warm hand. This is called transmission.
This lineage is historically inaccurate. Particularly in the early part, there are individuals included of whom we are not certain whether they actually existed. Certain elements were fabricated and then pieced together. This happened during the Tang Dynasty in China, around the 9th and 10th centuries. During that period, due in part to Confucian ancestor worship, great importance was placed on a lineage. It elevated status and increased the likelihood of receiving financial support from the government. A succession of teachers was compiled, and this has been maintained from generation to generation. Just like a secular family tree, there are various branches, but all of them trace back to the historical Buddha.
Just men?
This list of teacher names from India, China, and Japan consists only of men. Since the late 20th century, there has been speculation that one name might belong to a woman. This is Prajnatara (Hannyattara). S/he was the teacher of the well-known patriarch Bodhidharma and might thus be a matriarch rather than a patriarch.*
* See ‘Shobogenzo‘ chapter 50 by Dogen Zenji (translated by Shasta Abbey), and Lion’s Roar
Traces in the landscape
Transmission in the form of a line is a male affair. We have no female “bloodline.” Apart from the fact that the male lineage is also not historically accurate in personal transmission from teacher to student, transmission among women has generally taken a different course. The reasons for this are often the limitations that women and nuns have faced for millennia (see also Female Ancestors – Historical) and sometimes still face, particularly in some Asian countries. In some cases transmission went directly from female Zen master to student, but more often it was more like an invisible seeping through.
A comparison might clarify the difference between male and female transmission. In London, the Thames flows, a clear river with a starting point and a place where it empties into the sea. However, London also has many underground rivers, such as the Fleet, the Brent, and the Rom. Here, the water flows underground for miles before resurfacing further on. But these underground streams and rivers leave their traces in the landscape through vegetation and thus have an influence. This is how the influence of many female masters from the past can be seen: not in the form of a concrete line but still impacting subsequent generations.
