The Wild, White Goose

By Roshi P.T.N.H. Jiyu-Kennett,

Book cover of The Wild, White Goose: The Diary of a Female Zen Priest

Book description

This book, first published as two volumes in 1977 and 1978, was published purely for the purpose of showing how Buddhist training was done by the Reverend Jiyu-Kennett in the Far East. The material for the book was taken from diaries covering eight years spent by the author in Far…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Wild, White Goose as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is a diary of an English woman who moved to Japan in the 1950s to study Zen at one of the most prestigious temples at the time and become the first female to be sanctioned by the Soto School of Japan to teach in the West. The diary takes us through her years of arduous training in Japan, through the challenges that beset her, and gives a truly moving account of her brilliant mindset throughout her grueling ordeal to become a Zen priest. 

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