My sketches at the Art Institute ended with this one, that I love. A bodhisattva from China.
I too love this story found in the Yoga of Spiritual Devotion, by Prem Prakash:
During the heyday of Buddhism in China, many women became enlightened. Unfortunately, the social structure of the society was such that these women could not take their rightful place as spiritual teachers. Many of them have become known as "tea ladies." During that time there were pilgrimage routes on which the monks would travel, visiting various temples, monasteries and teachers. Along the footpaths the tea ladies set up small stalls at which they served tea, food, and sometimes unexpected grace to the traveling pilgrims.
There are many stories describing incidents where monks stopped for refreshments at these tea stalls and arrogantly addressed the proprietress. After some time, the tea lady would subtly introduce a profound exchange that, if the monk was sensitive, would reveal the enlightened state of the woman before him. Stories relate how some monks were brought to enlightenment by these humble, nameless bodhisattvas.
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