Review of The Wild White Goose

The Wild White Goose:  The Diary of a Zen Trainee, Vol. I & II

by Roshi Jiyu-Kennett

Shasta Abbey, Mt. Shasta, California, 1977. 202 pp. (Vol. I) and 304 pp. (Vol. II)

What is the meaning of the spiritual path? Peace and joyful service? Perhaps quiet time in which to pray and meditate? Simplicity, sincerity? Is this what we believe we need to be surrounded by in order to progress? Guess again!

In these two volumes Kennett Roshi describes the trials and tribulations by which she, a woman and a foreigner, was trained in a Japanese male Zen Temple. The ways in which she was transformed from an externally strong, British woman — broken but not destroyed — and forged into an enlightened being of true humility and grace: a person with an unshatterable inner peace that carried her through the gates and corridors of Hell and into a rich life of total surrender, clarity, and service. Through a life surrounded by chaos and political intrigue to the extreme, she demonstrates a degree of perfect surrender that most seekers have not begun to imagine and, through it, perfect union with the Divine.

If you are looking for some companionship in coping with the frustrations of the conventional world in which we live, take a journey with this remarkable woman through her years in Japan. You’ll be amazed at your increasing gratitude — and your willingness to surrender more and more . . .

— reviewed by Dawn Kurzka

To visit the blog and see more reviews and quotes from books in the collection of Center for Sacred Sciences' Library, click here https://centerforsacredscienceslibrary.blogspot.com