Abstract: Chapter 6 engages in ethnographic study of rituals practiced by nuns in the contemporary St sect of Zen. Through surveys and interviews conducted among St nuns in the Nagoya area of Japan, Arai has articulated the ways in which two quite different rituals “shape, stretch, and define” the identity of participants. Both rituals—Anan Kshiki and Jiz Nagashi—seek to evoke in participants an awareness of their own Buddha nature, and along with that, a strong sense of their own free agency and power. The central themes of these two rituals are gratitude and interrelatedness, and elements in these sacred ceremonies bring these qualities out in the experience of the women who participate in them. In addition, these themes are linked to Dgen's own Zen teachings as a natural expression of his claims about the Buddha nature in all beings.

Keywords: Women in Zen, St Zen, Anan Kshiki, Jiz Nagashi, Buddha nature,