Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind: The Life & Letters of an Irish Zen Saint
by Maura O'Halloran
Wisdom Publications, Boston, Massachusetts, 2007 312 pages
. . . Later, slightly overwhelmed, but into it. This is a very old temple up in the mountains, about 200 monks scampering around. Feels strange. I wear red slippers, sleep in a gold room, and all the monks have to come to a full stop and bow so their face isn't seen when I walk by. Splendid (vegetarian) feasts. In the dark last night a monk led me around the stone passages by a candle lamp. He showed what to do for all the ceremonies. It was eerie -- pitch black, stone slabs and tatami, smelled of incense. At first I thought he was blind -- he just gazed into space, not focusing on anything in particular. Then I wondered if he was retarded -- he spoke so slowly and deliberately. (But I then surmised he probably thought I was retarded -- a foreigner and all that. Speaking of which, that and my sex took them very much by surprise.) (
p. 198)
-- quote submitted by Maura S.
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