Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns

Forty-eight Chinese Buddhist nuns of the fifth to the twentieth century are represented in this lovely book. Gratitude to Beata Grant for bringing the lives and poems of largely forgotten women into the light. These poems have not been published in English before.It is wonderful to learn a little bit about the lives of these women, and to read some of what they wrote. Very down-to-earth mini portraits, with none of the mythifying typical of stories about male monastics who lived and wrote during the same periods.The poems are also, for the most part, down-to-earth, simple, speaking of fundamental truth. This is not a collection of metaphysical poetry. Although the poems essentially hold to the traditional form and many conventions of (mostly Chan, but some Pure Land) Buddhist thought, often the individual character of a woman shines through in its honesty and simplicity. For example, the Chan nun Ziyong's poem speaks of leaving the monastery for an extended visit to the south. Images of uncertainty and grieving are woven through the poem. The last stanza says:"The Chan mind is not solitary as the wilderness clouds know.Reed moon and plum blossom, to whom can I send them?The sorrow of parting is real and difficult to leave behind,But if the journey is in tune with no-mind, all will be well."

Quietly passionate poetry worth repeated reading and pondering. Considering the wide subject matter, the poets, and the quality of the translations, this book is a tremendous accomplishment. The commentaries on the poems and the world they arise from are excellent.

Short paragraphs before each poem. A nice introduction to the history of the collection. And the Chinese text is included with the English poems. The author did a nice job, and it's a legacy worth sharing.

I found the poetry to be rather difficult for me to understand, perhaps because of the tranlations into English. This volume needs far more than 1 or 2 readings to grasp its importance and messages.

The book arrived in great condition and the poems are very impressive. Not sure what I was expecting but this is a treat.

WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL!!!

In page 1 of the book, it refers to the nun Ōtagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875) as a "sixteenth century" nun. It's no possible to confuse her, since the footnote refers to a book devoted to her, edited in 1994. I can't understand how a so gross mistake was produced, since Rengetsu was maybe the most known poet nun, but I thought that with this kind of mistakes in the first page, the book was not reliable, and do not bought it.

utile conoscere che lo zen non è solo frequentato da samurai......ma che molte donne hanno fatto la storia dello zen, anche se poco conosciute