The twenty-seven women Zen masters teaching in this collection came to Soto Zen because they believed their spiritual practice could make a difference in themselves and a difference for the world. They speak directly to us from the platform of their own awakening experiences because the world most needs the ethical values found in these teachings on body, speech, and mind. It offers the authentic presence of teachers firmly planted in the Dharma with the myriad flavors of Zen practice from the informal personal taste of a small Zen community to the formal banquet of large urban centers. This book of Zen teachings is one response to the current global crises which demand a spiritual response equal to or greater than the problems we humans have collectively created. Like seeds planted and creating change, the teachings speak to those already meditating or those ready to begin meditation with the individuals worldwide who recognize the need to meditate together. Their words open us to the nature of compassion for ourselves and others. The lives of these women Zen masters inspire us to walk beside them in the Dharma and root ourselves in the deep groundwork of a spiritual practice and the living virtue of a spiritual home.
About the Author Jikyo Cheryl Wolfer received Dharma Transmission from Eido Frances Carney in the Order of Ryokan at Olympia Zen Center's Ryokan Memorial Hermitage, Gogo-an, in 2010. She trained in residence at Olympia Zen Center for eight years and received monastic training with the monks of Shasta Abbey in Mt. Shasta, California. She founded the Port Angeles Zen Community, now known as Joyous Refuge, in Port Angeles, Washington in 2009. Jikyo earned her B.A. in Language Arts and holds a Masters in Counseling Psychology from St. Martin's University in Olympia. Jikyo trained as a mediator and hospice grief group facilitator, and has worked as a journalist, proofreader, typesetter, legal assistant, and public library administrator.
