Description
Book SynopsisA narrative of a Buddhist nun's training and spiritual awakening. In this book, the author relays the challenges a new ordinand faces in adapting to Buddhist monastic life: the spicy food, the rigorous daily schedule, the distinctive clothes and undergarments, and the misunderstandings inevitable between a French woman and her Korean colleagues.
Trade ReviewMartine Batchelor's account of her ten years of study in various monastic institutions throughout Korea, many of them served under the most eminent teachers of her day, makes for fascinating reading.... It is a splendid spiritual memoir. Those of us who have profited from Ms. Batchelor's earlier studies will now be inspired by seeing how her personal journey unfolded. It is a story she tells with grace and good humor. - Jan Willis, author of Dreaming Me: An African American Baptist-Buddhist Journey ""[The] edited translation of Son'gyong Sunim's autobiography, which was dictated to Ms. Batchelor between 1980 and 1982, is an absolute treasure and provides extremely valuable first-hand information on the life of Korean nuns during the Japanese occupation period and the 'purification movement' that followed. The tales of her training under such renowned, almost legendary, teachers as Man'gong, Hanam, Kobong, and Kyongbong sunims are utterly fascinating.... Nothing like this has ever before appeared in a Western language."" - Robert Buswell, author of The Zen Monastic Experience
