Women and Buddhist Philosophy: Engaging Zen Master Kim Iryŏp

by Jin Y. Park

Why and how do women engage with Buddhism and philosophy? The present volume aims to answer these questions by examining the life and philosophy of a Korean Zen Buddhist nun, Kim Iryŏp (1896–1971). The daughter of a pastor, Iryŏp began questioning Christian doctrine as a teenager. In a few years, she became increasingly involved in women’s movements in Korea, speaking against society’s control of female sexuality and demanding sexual freedom and free divorce for women. While in her late twenties, an existential turn in her thinking led Iryŏp to Buddhism; she eventually joined a monastery and went on to become a leading figure in the female monastic community until her death.After taking the tonsure, Iryŏp followed the advice of her teacher and stopped publishing for more than two decades. She returned to the world of letters in her sixties, using her strong, distinctive voice to address fundamental questions on the scope of identity, the meaning of being human, and the value of existence. In her writing, she frequently adopted an autobiographical style that combined her experiences with Buddhist teachings. Through a close analysis of Iryŏp’s story, Buddhist philosophy and practice in connection with East Asian new women’s movements, and continental philosophy, this volume offers a creative interpretation of Buddhism as both a philosophy and a religion actively engaged with lives as they are lived. It presents a fascinating narrative on how women connect with the world—whether through social issues such as gender inequality, a Buddhist worldview, or existential debates on human existence and provides readers with a new way of philosophizing that is transformative and deeply connected with everyday life. Women and Buddhist Engaging Zen Master Kim Iryŏp will be of primary interest to scholars and students of Buddhism, Buddhist and comparative philosophy, and gender and Korean studies.

281 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 31, 2017

Reviews

[Fraser Siu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah fuck it I'm done with Buddhism

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

i ❤️ 🏀 so MUCH

[Tom Burdge · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good book, I'm really glad I read it.

In one sense, the book is a biography of Kim Iryôp, a writer and Korean women's movement turned Buddhist monk. If the book had stopped there, I don't think i would have taken much from it; Iryôp was a pioneer of critique of patriarchy in Korea, but i don't particularly identify with her individualistic liberal (as opposed to socialist) orientation on and arguably she turned away from the women's movement completely when she joined the laity.

Fortunately, the book is more ambitious than this. As the title indicates, Park wants to investigate women and their relation to Buddhist philosophy. Incorporating the work of various philosophers, including Merleau-Ponty, Derrida and Tanabe, Park begins to answer the following questions:
How do women engage with philosophy and Buddhist philosophy? Is women's marginal position in society comparable to Eastern philosophy's marginal position within academic philosophy? How closely related are feminist and existential questions? Is Buddhism as patriarchal as the society it emerges in? Do Buddhist stories of gender fluid Buddhas and bodhisattvas have any relevance at all to whether Buddhism is a patriarchal system of practice? Why have post-colonial Japanese and Korean philosophers struggled so much with the question of whether Buddhism is a religion or a philosophy? Does this struggle show a distinction that is culturally located and has been unhelpful, even hurtful, to those who didn't contribute to the original distinction between philosophy and religion? Is philosophy primarily a theoretical practice or do biographical and story based accounts, as in Iryôp's Reflections of a Buddhist Nun, also constitute philosophical thought? Can we, in good faith, call an early Korean women's movement activists life a failure because they became a Buddhist recluse, or because their life ended in tragedy, when these criticisms are identical to those levied against these women by Korean patriarchal society during their lifetime?

The above questions feature more heavily (or rather, explicitly) as the book progress, which made a great experience to consider the earlier chapters, and hence Iryôp herself, in a more sympathetic light.

Edit: oh, one more thing. I always love and appreciate when an author gives lots of references so that you can dive further into whichever thinkers they mentioning in passing that you find interesting. Park does this very well.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved loved loved reading this for my Buddhist Philosophy course. Kim Iryŏp's life story and subsequent philosophical prosing are some of the most interesting ones I've encountered throughout my studies, and I loved Park's analysis of her work. Just an all-around great, engaging read.