{"product_id":"in-this-body-in-this-lifetime-isbn-9781645473589","title":"In This Body, In This Lifetime","description":"\u003cb\u003eAvailable for the first time in English, an intimate look into the private lives and spiritual experiences of 30 nuns and laywomen practicing under pioneering female Zen master Sozen Nagasawa Roshi in World War II-era Japan.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn in 1888, Sozen Nagasawa Roshi was a pioneer of women’s monastic Zen practice in Japan. With a profound wish to become a nun from a young age, she persevered through the extreme social pressures and material difficulties facing women of her generation to become an abbess who trained hundreds of students (primarily women), won equal rights for Japanese nuns, and established organizations to support nuns and laywomen practitioners.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKnown for her compassion and fierceness, Nagasawa Roshi used a rigorous koan practice to guide her students to\u003ci\u003e kensho\u003c\/i\u003e (enlightenment). As more and more students awakened, she asked them to write about their experiences. These stories were initially published in a Japanese magazine and subsequently compiled into a book published in Japan called \u003ci\u003eCollection of Experiences in Zen Practice\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIn This Body, In This Lifetime\u003c\/i\u003e is a selection of 30 of these first-person accounts, exclusively from women and appearing for the first time in English. These stories offer an intimate look into the personal lives and spiritual determination of women who longed to end their suffering and awaken to their true nature despite the obstacles they faced.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA rare glimpse into Zen practice in World War II–era Japan, these inspiring women confront loss, grief, food shortages, air-raid sirens, and a cultural crisis with grit and courage as they persist in their efforts to end their suffering and the suffering of all.“This is a marvel of a book on the awakening experiences of remarkable and courageous women in early 20th-century Japan. What determination and depth of practice we can be instructed by!”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eRoshi Joan Halifax\u003c\/b\u003e, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Inspiring, subtle—from whispers to shouts, the long-shuttered voices of deeply spiritual women, finally heard. These stories invite us to realize the power of the monastic form and its gift to every mind willing to stop and see, to enter the ineffable. Wonderfully uplifting and delightful read!”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eRoshi Enkyo O’Hara\u003c\/b\u003e, founder of Village Zendo in New York City and author of \u003ci\u003eMost Intimate: A Zen Approach to Life’s Challenges\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eIn This Body, In This Lifetime\u003c\/i\u003e is an extraordinary personal account by thirty Japanese nuns and lay women of their Zen training under the guidance of the Abbess Sozen Nagasawa Roshi, mostly in intense sesshins held just after the second world war. It is a record of their incredible determination to break through the veils of dualistic ignorance and achieve \u003ci\u003ekensho\u003c\/i\u003e. Who said that women are the weaker sex? Each account resounds with the dragon’s roar of their total dedication beyond pain and exhaustion to awakening here and now. Mu Mu Mu. . . .”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eJetsunma Tenzin Palmo\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eCave in the Snow\u003c\/i\u003e and founder of Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The stories in \u003ci\u003eIn This Body, In This Lifetime\u003c\/i\u003e will move and amaze you. They are about the transformations in the lives of ordinary women who practiced Zen wholeheartedly under the guidance of their wise, firm, and compassionate teacher, the Zen Abbess Sozen Nagasawa Ni-Roshi. The setting is post–war Japan, a time of cultural collapse, that echoes the present in many ways. Savor these stories for the hopeful resolve to face the future that they so simply and eloquently express.” \u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eNorman Fischer\u003c\/b\u003e, Zen priest and poet, author of \u003ci\u003eWhen You Greet Me I Bow\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSelected Poems 1980\u003c\/i\u003e–\u003ci\u003e2013\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The Nun Roshi Nagasawa engaged in a tremendous struggle to revitalize female monastic practice in modern Japan. These testimonies of the torments and breakthrough-awakenings of her students, nuns, and laywomen are astonishing, inspiring, and especially meaningful now, given that about half of the hundreds of dharma-transmitted Zen masters in the Western world are female.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eKazuaki Tanahashi\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eZen Chants\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eIn This Body, In This Lifetime\u003c\/i\u003e is more than a book—it is a profound testament to thirty women who, under Sozen Nagasawa Roshi’s guidance, transcended patriarchy and war-torn Japan to awaken to their true selves. Reading their stories, I found myself in tears, deeply moved by their resilience and grace, and feeling an unshakable connection to my Japanese sisters. Their courage, resilience, and transformation echo the shared struggle to create space for women in Zen and beyond, reminding us of the enduring strength of women’s voices and the limitless possibilities of awakening, no matter the era or challenge.” \u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eChristie Chang, PhD\u003c\/b\u003e, President of Sakyadhita Taiwan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Set against the tragic losses, despair, and disorientation of wartime Japan, the intense determination of the women in these stories reveals their vulnerabilities and devotion. Intent on discovering their own true nature and the emptiness of all phenomena—Mu, Mu, Mu!—they struggle genuinely in the great ocean of Buddhadharma until they break the code of awakening.\"\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eKarma Lekshe Tsomo\u003c\/b\u003e, co-founder of Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women and founding director of the Jamyang FoundationESHO SUDAN (editor) is a Soto Zen nun and teacher based in Japan. She teaches the Baikaryu style of chanting and has worked as an editor for various monastery publications in Japan, the United States, and Australia for more than two decades.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKOGEN CZARNIK (translator) is a Zen Priest in the Soto tradition, in the lineage of Tangen Harada Roshi. He is the editor of \u003ci\u003eThrow Yourself into the House of Buddha.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e KOJUN SOZEN NAGASAWA ROSHI (1888-1971) was a pioneer of women’s monastic Zen practice in Japan. She received ordination from Daiun Sogaku Harada Roshi, who arranged for her to train at Shogen-ji, a men-only monastery known for its rigorous practice. In 1935, she established Kannon-ji, a temple for nuns, where she guided generations of nuns and laywomen to an awakening experience. A fierce advocate for equal rights for female Zen practitioners, she also served as vice president of the Soto Schools Nuns Organization (established in the mid-1940s) and the Japan’s Nuns Organization (established in 1951).From students of Sozen Nagasawa Ni-Roshi","brand":"Shambhala","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303445090533,"sku":"NP9781645473589","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781645473589.jpg?v=1767729993","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/in-this-body-in-this-lifetime-isbn-9781645473589","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}