Bow First, Ask Questions Later: Ordination, Love, and Monastic Zen in Japan

by Gesshin Claire Greenwood, Brad Warner (Foreword by)

Overview

What happens when a free-spirited, modern American girl goes on a spiritual quest into structured, traditional Japanese Zen life?

Gesshin Claire Greenwood was a liberal, free-spirited American girl who found meaning and freedom in disciplined, traditional Japanese Zen life. However, she came to question not only contemporary American values but also traditional monastic ones.

This book is about becoming an adult—about sexuality, religion, work, ethics, and individuality—but it is also about being a human being trying to be happy. Questioning is a theme that runs throughout the book: how can I be happy? What is true? What is authentic? The reader is invited along a journey that is difficult, inspiring, sad, funny, and sincere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614293972
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	05/08/2018
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Gesshin was born and raised in San Francisco. She began meditating when she was 19, and then studied abroad in Bodh Gaya, India, where she received temporary ordination in the Burmese Theravada lineage. She received a BA in English from Wesleyan University in 2009, and spent the majority of her twenties in India and Japan practicing Buddhism. She ordained with Seido Suzuki Roshi in 2010, and received dharma transmission in 2015. She is currently completing a master’s in East Asian Studies from the University of Southern California, where she focuses on women in Buddhism and feminism in a transnational perspective.

Table of Contents

Foreword Brad Warner vii

1 Welcome to My Tea Shop, Here's a Hot Poker for You 1

2 How Water Feels to a Fish 9

3 What's Authentic about Japanese Buddhism? 15

4 The Thing Itself 25

5 Bow First, Ask Questions Later 31

6 Buddha Never Told Me to Be Stupid 41

7 Zen and the Art of Radiator Construction 49

8 Cutting Off Love 61

9 Enlightenment Is a Male Fantasy 73

10 Die Standing 83

11 What Attainments? 95

12 Don't Rush, Don't Quit, Don't Be Lazy 101

13 No Precepts Observed, No Broken Precepts 109

14 Yes (the Sex Chapter) 123

15 Great Doubt 139

16 Can Nuns Get Married (Academically)? 145

17 Three Robes and One Bra 151

18 Eat to Win 161

19 Being the Only Woman in the Room 167

20 The Man with the Heart Sutra Tattoo 175

21 Don't Move 185

22 The Hardest and Best Way 191

23 Too Late Now, It's Already on the Blackboard 199

24 Coming Home 205

Afterword 211

Acknowledgments 215

About the Author 217

Editorial Reviews

Bow First is a witty, wise, engaging story about a young woman’s experience of Zen practice in Japan. What could possibly go wrong when an attractive 20-something California girl meets the mundane and the ecstatic in both the zendo and the Kyoto night scene? We soon find out, as the author freely shares her personal struggles with sex, love, money, power and women’s rights—all in the context of her Zen practice.

Grace Schireson

“Gesshin Greenwood is the real deal. That’s what makes this book so valuable. It’s rare that someone from the West does any of this stuff, rarer still when they write about it, and yet even more rare that their writing is as good as Gesshin’s is. This is a truly unique document of a truly unique lived experience.”

from the foreword by Brad Warner

A delightful personal account of cultures clashing in the midst of authentic Zen training. Trained in Japan and with some of the most important teachers of the day, Gesshin Greenwood breathes a fresh breath into an ancient way. This is a book for the beginning and for those of us well into the way. I highly recommend it.”

James Ishmael Ford

"Only a fierce and brilliant woman could have produced this deliciously written account. It's honest, genuinely helpful, and earnest without sentimentality. Punchy and eloquent, Gesshin Greenwood sets a new standard for cool.

Bonnie Myotai Treace

When the reader is ready, the right book comes along; Bow First, Ask Questions Later is that book. With rigor, honesty, hilarity and joy, Gesshin shows us how to grapple with the great matter of life and death—as well as with lesser matters, like capitalism, sexism, religious dogma, sex, love, fashion and Kyoto nightclubs. The result is an inspiring book that I couldn't put down, even when I’d finished reading it.

Ruth Ozeki

Gesshin is a radical—a revolutionary bodhisattva in nun’s clothing. This book is real and clear. Read it and join the coup d'état!"

Noah Levine