Mind Body & Soul book post: Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind - The Zen Journal and Letters of an Irish Woman in Japan by the late Maura Soshin O’Halloran, published by her mother upon her early death.
At a time when female monks were rare, Maura having gained a very good degree at Trinity College, Dublin, studied Zen in Japan and wrote this remarkable and moving journal. Her mother published the journals after her daughter’s death. The name that Maura was given, Soshin means Pure Heart. Waking up to enlightenment requires intense chanting meditation known as zazen. The privations amount to malnutrition, being cold and uncomfortable.She became second in command of the Buddhist Temple and she tended the gardens. Begging was an important spiritual practice for a once a day meal.
“I want to live my life for other people. What else is there to do with it? It’s as if to give myself is all I can do as a flower has no choice but to blossom. So I must go deeper and deeper and work hard, no longer for me, but for everyone I can help.”
Soshin wanted to open a Zen Temple in Ireland and her superior refused, wanting to keep her in Japan. She left to return to Ireland, her studies to become a priest completed. While she was in Thailand, she died in an automobile accident. She was given the highest accolades for her immense dedication.
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