Women cannot achieve enlightenment
And the pivotal moment when I realised that man, too, cannot achieve enlightenment.
I came across this story some time ago, though I can’t remember who and when. I was driving to work, and this was a radio interview. It went something like this:
The story’s narrator, a woman who is a student of a renowned Zen teacher, asks why there are no women who are Zen masters.
The teacher, without looking up, said, “That’s because women cannot achieve enlightenment.”
Shocked, she said. “What do you mean? I have been studying with you for years, and you tell me I cannot achieve enlightenment because I am a woman?”
The master looked up and said. “So, you are woman?”
She said it was at that moment that she achieved enlightenment.
The Problem with Duality
I love this story because, for want of a better phrase, I get it. By the same token, “Man” cannot achieve enlightenment, nor can “Christians.” Not even “Buddhas” because all these are labels that we assign to an experience. It is not the experience itself.
Not this, not that.
This phrase comes from the tradition of Zen Buddhism and is used to help students let go of their attachment to concepts and ideas. It helps the mind move beyond dualistic thinking and experience reality directly.
The idea behind “Not this, not that” is to see that concepts or categories cannot capture ultimate reality. It is not this, it is not that. Like the teacher who said that women cannot achieve enlightenment, it’s a way of pointing out that our ideas and beliefs about the world are limited and can prevent us from experiencing things as they truly are.
Only by letting go of our attachment to “this and that”, to concepts and categories, can we open ourselves up to a more direct and authentic experience of reality.
To see things as they are
Meditation is to quiet the mind and cultivate an awareness of the present moment. It may be mindfulness, which involves bringing nonjudgmental attention to one’s thoughts, emotions, and sensations in the present moment, or the study of koans, which are riddles designed to challenge dualistic thinking and provoke insight.
Like this famous Zen koan, used to help students break through their dualistic thinking.
Once, a Zen master named Hakuin was asked by a student, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”
Hakuin replied, “Clap with one hand.”
The student tried to clap with one hand, but of course, it was impossible to make a sound that way. So he asked Hakuin to explain.
Hakuin said, “To hear the sound of one hand clapping, you must let go of all your dualistic conceptions, and listen with your whole body and mind. The sound of one hand is the sound of the universe, the sound of the non-dual reality that is beyond all concepts and categories.
It is the sound of the present moment, which is the only moment that exists. When you can hear this sound, you will know the true nature of reality.”
The student continued to struggle with the koan and asked Hakuin for further guidance. Hakuin told him to focus on the sound of his own breathing, and to let go of all distractions and preconceptions.
Through this practice, he eventually had a breakthrough and realised the non-dual nature of reality.
This story illustrates the non-dualistic nature of reality. The goal is to realise that the self and the world are not separate but are, in fact, the same. By breaking through our usual thinking and perceiving, we can experience the world in a more direct and unified way.
The sound of one hand clapping is not literal but a metaphor for reality’s inexpressible nature.
The problem with language
The nature of language is essentially dualistic. Language is based on the distinction between the signifier (the word) and the signified (the concept or object that the word refers to). As a rather useful tool, language allows us to communicate about the world by creating symbols and concepts that represent things in our environment.
However, language also creates a separation between words and the things they refer to. This idea of non-duality exists in many cultures in their stories and anecdotes.
The first line of the Tao Te Ching says, “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.” It suggests that language is inherently limited in its ability to capture the nature of reality, which is silent, formless, and beyond duality. The Tao (which is often translated as “the Way”) cannot be captured in words since language itself is a dualistic construct.
“道可道，非常道；名可名，非常名”
“The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal name”
The Indian classical parable of The Blind Men and the Elephant also illustrates the limitations of language and perception. In the story, a group of blind men encounter an elephant and try to describe it based on their limited perception. One feels the elephant’s leg and says, “It’s like a tree trunk.” Another feels its ear and says, “No, it’s like a fan.” Yet another feels the elephant’s tail and says, “You are both wrong. It’s like a snake.” And so on. The parable illustrates how our limited perceptions, like the use of language, can lead to an incomplete understanding of reality.
In the West, the phrase “The Map is Not the Territory”, coined by the Polish-American philosopher Alfred Korzybski, also emphasises the difference between our mental representations of reality (the map) and reality itself (the territory). Language is one way that we create mental maps of the world, but it can also create a sense of separation and distortion, especially when we confuse the map with the territory.
Language is a tool we use to communicate and make sense of the world. It’s not the only way of experiencing reality, and it is not necessarily incompatible with non-dualistic ways of thinking. Like the Zen teacher at the beginning of this article, who uses language creatively to help the author of the story overcome her attachment to concepts and categories, he helped her to achieve a direct and unified experience of reality.
So, why bother?
Exploring and trying to understand non-duality has impacted my life and perspective more profoundly than I thought. It has led to a shift in my worldview and, to some extent, a sense of compassion and interconnectedness with all beings.
Years ago, a Zen teacher I met in Singapore spoke about why it is important to learn and see the world in a non-dualistic way. First, we will no longer see ourselves as separate from the world but as an integral part of it. We can experience a sense of interconnectedness and unity with all things, and we no longer need to defend ourselves against an external world.
Seeing the interconnectedness of all things can also help us cultivate greater compassion and empathy for others. We may begin to truly recognise that there is no fundamental separation between us and them. The suffering of others is also our own suffering.
Finally, we can become less attached to our own desires and preferences. To the student who screams, “I want peace!” the master says, “Just remove I (ego) and want (desire).”
Everything is impermanent and ever-changing, and there is no inherent self or ego that needs to be protected or pampered. This can reduce suffering as we become less attached to “this and that” and more open to the present moment.
I would like to end with another Zen story that illustrates the benefits of seeing things as they are:
A monk asked Zen Master Zhaozhou, “Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?”
Zhaozhou replied, “Wu.” (無)
“Wu” is a concept in Zen Buddhism that is often used in response to a question that is unanswerable. The word “Wu” is translated as “nothingness,” “emptiness,” or “no thing.”
In this context, it is used to represent the idea that the question is based on dualistic thinking, like “Why are there no women who are Zen masters?”. It assumes that there is a separate self that possesses Buddha-nature.
The monk continued to press Zhaozhou for a more definite answer, but Zhaozhou simply repeated, “Wu.” Eventually, the monk became frustrated and left.
Later, the monk had a realisation and returned to Zhaozhou, saying, “I understand now. Everything is Wu.”
Zhaozhou replied, “Not everything is Wu.”
Therefore, this article is utter rubbish because everything I said is dualistic. As long as we are trapped in this and that, we cannot see that we are already enlightened.
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