Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind: the Zen journal & letters of Maura "Soshin" O’Halloran PDF
Preview Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind: the Zen journal & letters of Maura "Soshin" O’Halloran
MEMOIR / EASTERN RELIGION “A fascinating portrait of an apprentice sage...It unfolds as a grand adventure.” — New York Times Book Review M Absolutely absorbing from start to finish, Pure Heart, Enlightened Maura O’Halloran a Mind is a true story you might truly fall in love with. u Maura O’Halloran’s classic memoir has already inspired popular r a musicians, artists, a documentary film—and countless readers. This O expanded edition includes never-before-seen entries and poems, the ’ author’s unfinished novel, and an afterword that discusses the book’s H cultural impact. a l l o r At only 24, Maura O’Halloran left her Irish-American family stateside a and traveled to Japan, where she began studying under an inscru- n table Zen master. She would herself become recognized as a Zen master—in an uncommonly brief amount of time. Pure Heart, Enlight- ened Mind is Maura’s beautifully-written account of her journey. These THE LIFE & LETTERS OF AN IRISH ZEN SAINT journal entries and letters home reveal astonishing, wise-beyond-her- years humor, compassion, wisdom, and commitment. “A remarkable record of a life fully lived. A unique and inspiring and even heartbreaking book. As a writer, Maura O’Halloran can’t help but communicate.”— Commonweal “Many have gone to the East in search of enlightenment but none has told the story as vividly and honestly as Maura O’Halloran. Her legacy to us is this marvelous book.” —Melvin McLeod, Editor-in-Chief of Shambhala Sun THE LIFE & ABOUT THE AUTHOR In 1982, when she was 27 years old, Maura LETTERS O’Halloran was recognized as a Zen master and given authorization OF AN IRISH to teach Zen. Only six months later, her life was tragically claimed Z E N in a motor accident. In the time since, she has come to be appreci- SAINT ated as a sort of saint in Japan—and unofficially so in the Christian milieu as well. ISBN-13: 978-0-8617-1283-0 ISBN: 0-86171-283-8 US $17.95 Wisdom Publications • Boston wisdompubs.org WISDOM A Note from the Publisher We hope you will enjoy this Wisdom book. For your conven- ience, this digital edition is delivered to you without “digital rights management” (DRM). This makes it easier for you to use across a variety of digital platforms, as well as preserve in your personal library for future device migration. Our nonprofit mission is to develop and deliver to you the very highest quality books on Buddhism and mindful living. We hope this book will be of benefit to you, and we sincerely appre- ciate your support of the author and Wisdom with your pur- chase. If you’d like to consider additional support of our mission, please visit our website at wisdompubs.org. Acquired at wisdompubs.org Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind Acquired at wisdompubs.org Acquired at wisdompubs.org Pure Hea rt, En ligh ten ed Min d the life and letters of an irish zen saint Maura Soshin O’Halloran e x p a n d e d w i s d o m e d i t i o n IntroductionbyRuthO’Halloran IllustrationsbyBethO’Halloran Wisdom Publications • Boston Acquired at wisdompubs.org WisdomPublications 199ElmStreet Somerville,MA02144USA www.wisdompubs.org ©2007KatherineO’HalloranandElizabethO’Halloran Allrightsreserved. Nopartof thisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicor mechanical, including photography, recording, or by any information storage and retrievalsystemortechnologiesnowknownorlaterdeveloped,withoutpermissionin writingfromthepublisher. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData O'Halloran,Maura,1955-1982. Pureheart,enlightenedmind:thelifeandlettersofanIrishZensaint/byMauraSoshin O'halloran ; introduction by Ruth O'halloran ; illustrations by Beth O'halloran.— ExpandedWisdomed. p.cm. ISBN0-86171-283-8(pbk.:alk.paper) ISBN 9 78-0-86171-752-1( ebook ( 1. O'Halloran,Maura,1955-1982.2. Spirituallife—ZenBuddhism.3. Spiritualbiogra- phy—Ireland.4. Spiritualbiography—UnitedStates. I.Title. BQ976.H35A32007 294.3’927092—dc22 [B] 2007005979 ISBN0-86171-283-8 11 10 09 08 07 5 4 3 2 1 WisdomPublications’booksareprintedonacid-freepaperandmeettheguidelinesfor permanenceanddurabilitysetbytheCouncilofLibraryResources. CoverdesignbyElizabethLawrence.InteriordesignbyGopa&Ted2,Inc Lyricsto“Soshin”reprintedbypermissionoftheartist.Thesongcanbeheardonlineat: www.lukabloom.com PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica h Thisbookwasproducedwithenvironmentalmindfulness.Wehaveelectedtoprint this title on 50% PCW recycled paper.As a result,we have saved the following resources:44trees,31millionBTUsofenergy,3,885lbs.ofgreenhousegases,16,127gal- lonsofwater,and2,071lbs.ofsolidwaste.Formoreinformation,pleasevisitourwebsite, www.wisdompubs.org Acquired at wisdompubs.org Con ten ts PrefacetotheOriginalEdition 7 IntroductionbyRuthO’Halloran 9 Prelude 15 PartI:Arrival 19 PartII:Takuhatsu(Begging) 29 PartIII:Tokyo 37 PartIV:Korea 63 PartV:Spring 73 PartVI:Resuming 99 PartVII:NewResolve 133 PartVIII:Mum’sVisit 167 PartIX:Completion 181 Appendix I.Poetry 213 II.Hermother’srecollectionofMaura’schildhoodandyouth 223 III.Canada 233 IV.LatinAmerica 247 Acquired at wisdompubs.org V.Maura’sBostonyear 255 VI.Maine 257 VII.Maura’sunfinishednovel,1982 261 Epilogue StatementbyMaura’sbrotherScott 291 LetterofcondolencefromTetsugyuBan totheO’Halloranfamily 293 InscriptiononastatuededicatedtoMauraatKannonjiTemple 294 AccountofMaura’slastdaysinaletterofcondolence fromtheDevahastinfamily,Thaifriends 295 Maura’s“MachuPicchu”letter 297 Publisher’sAfterword:Maura’sinfluencesincethefirstedition 301 Glossary 305 Publisher’sAcknowledgement 315 Acquired at wisdompubs.org Preface totheOriginalEdition Increatingthisbook,wehavestruggledtodeterminehowbesttopres- enttheselettersandjournalsofMauraSoshinO’Halloran.Journalsare inherentlyincompletethings,forthemostfundamentalissuesof alife oranexperienceareunderstoodbythewriterandareoftenunwritten. Because of this,Maura’s journals present us with many questions that remainunanswered—whydidshewanttostudyZen,whydidshegoto Japan,whatelementsofherCatholicupbringingledhertoBuddhism? We asked Maura’s family and the people with whom she studied and, ultimately,theonlyanswersarehereinthesepagesbeforeyou.Maura neverintendedthismaterialtobepublished.Whateverquestionswemay haveafterreadingthese,hermostpersonalthoughts,arenotquestions thatweremostimportanttoMaura.Whatwasimportanttoherwasthat shebecomeaZenmonkandbeabletohelpotherpeopleinsomeway. Thisiswhatmatteredtoher. Japanesewordsareusedthroughoutthetext.ThefirsttimeaJapan- ese word appears it will be printed in italics with an explanation and placedintheglossary.Itwillberomanizedthereafter. WewishtoacknowledgeRuthO’Halloran’sdedicationintranscrib- ing her daughter’s writings for publication. She was helped by Kate, Jane,Scott,andBethO’Halloran.IwishtothankTetsugyuBan,Tessai- san,andShiroTachibanaforwelcomingmetoKannonjiTempleand transmittingtometheirloveforMaura-san.IamalsogratefultoPaul Acquired at wisdompubs.org 8 (cid:2) pure heart,enlightened mind Silverman, Lorette Zirker, and Dai-en Bennage for their insight and editorialguidance. ThisbookisdedicatedtoMauraSoshinO’Halloran. —MichaelKerber Acquired at wisdompubs.org
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