While reading the Buddha's biography, one of Taizan Maezumi’s female students learned that for a long while the Buddha had resisted allowing women to join the sangha. Finally, pressured by his attendant, Ananda, he conceded and permitted them to do so. “But,” he prophesied, “as a result, the Dharma will last 500 years less on this earth than it would have otherwise.”
The student was shaken by the story and asked Maezumi his opinion. He remained silent for a moment, then remarked, “It was worth it.”
[Taizan Maezumi portrait by Molly Macnaughton]
The Third Step East: 165-82; 9, 119, 161, 220, 231, 232
The Story of Zen: 5, 78, 269-76, 284, 286, 302, 304, 307-08, 309, 320-23, 336, 337, 343-49, 350, 353, 354, 356, 363, 414, 424
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