Gesshin Greenwood offers an alternative to the “male fantasy” of striving for enlightenment. From the Winter 2018 issue of Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly Do not aspire to great realization. Great realization is everyday tea and meals. —Dogen Zenji, Shobogenzo Gyoji I used to hate Zen. In fact, sometimes I still don’t really like Zen. My ex-boyfriend [...]
5 Ways to Win the Internet
Zen priest Gesshin Greenwood offers five tips for staying safe and sane online. The internet is a scary place these days. Actually, it's always been a scary place. Remember when your kids getting abducted by strangers they met in chatrooms was the most pressing danger of the internet? Now your kids are the ones programming the chatrooms. And yet, since the revelations [...]
“The Good Place” Is a Show About Why We’re Good
In the November issue of Lion's Roar magazine — on newsstands next month — eight practitioners discuss the Buddhist themes in their favorite TV shows. According to Zen priest Gesshin Greenwood, NBC's The Good Place shows us people are good because of their bond to each other — even in the afterlife. Eleanor Shellstrop is dead. In the first episode of The Good Place, she [...]
Beginner’s Mind or Imposter Syndrome?
As a young, female Zen teacher, Gesshin Greenwood struggles to find the line between humility and self-criticism. I received dharma transmission in my late twenties. By American standards, where dharma transmission is supposed to signify the maturity and ability to teach, this is laughably young. By Japanese standards, where sons of male priests are raised to take over the [...]
The Dharma of Pie
Gesshin Greenwood argues that pie-making is the essence of Zen. Some say the world will end in fire, some say ice. Some say the essence of Zen practice is awakening. Some say Zen and tea are one. But I, I think the project of Zen is pie-making. Two months ago, I was going to a meeting about the bizarre, implausible, wondrous Zen temple thing James Ford and company and I [...]
