Pure heart, enlightened mind: the Zen journal & letters of Maura "Soshin" O'Halloran [Paperback]

Maura O'Halloran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1995

In 1979, 24-year-old Maura O'Halloran left her waitressing job in Boston and began her study of Zen in Japan. Today she is revered as a Buddhist saint, and a statue in her honor stands at the monastery where she lived. This is the story of her journey.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"I want to be a Zen master," declared the 24-year-old, altruistic Irish scholar Maura O'Halloran; and these letters and journal entries chronicle her experience in pursuit of that goal from 1979 through 1982 in Japan. Her pages provide a clear window for those curious about the reality of Zen training. Profound episodes (begging in the snow) co-exist with lighter moments ("At times I feel like a cow in labour . . . my koan is mu"). Her account is all the more poignant for the fact that she met an untimely death at 27 in a bus accident in Thailand while on her way home to start a Zen center in Ireland. Her substantial gift of insight is a fine legacy. Illustrated.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-A compilation of O'Halloran's journal entries and letters written while she prepared for her formal Zen "enlightenment achieved" ceremony and certificate. The 1,000 days of training included a month of exposure to the cold, begging, zazen (sitting meditation), and many hours of cleaning and cooking. From 1979 through the summer of 1983, she lived in Tokyo as a nun; she was killed in a bus accident in Thailand in 1983. Her writings contain everyday happenings, complaints, descriptions of events, and comments on cultural differences and similarities. O'Halloran's mother writes a brief biographical introduction to give some knowledge of her daughter's early life, but the journals and letters themselves don't indicate why she chose to become a nun or how this training might affect her future. The writings do contain insightful observations of Japanese family life, particularly of the Zen master and his family. A book that will appeal to YAs interested in religion, contemplation, and/or interaction with other cultures. The tone is light, and there is not much doctrinal explanation. A quiet, relaxing read.
Clodagh Lee, Pohick Regional Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 311 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade; Riverhead ed edition (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573225037
• ISBN-13: 978-1573225038
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,001,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zen is eternal life!, February 26, 2001

By 

J. Anderson (Monterey, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Pure Heart: Enlightened Mind: The Zen Journal and Letters of Maura (Hardcover)

A marvelous book from beginning to end. The utter unpretentiousness of Maura O'Halloran's rich spiritual journuey is a miracle to encounter. It's so difficult, at book's end, to take leave of this shining young person, this quiet buddha , but she strengthens us for the inevitable by teaching so pure, so real, so necessary, that the natural world of our own lives is changed forever, charged with her abiding and beholden to her example. Others here have stated well the 'content' one finds in these pages; I wish only to say thank you to Maura's wise and devoted family for making the effort to provide us with these journals and family letters. Her mother's Introduction, with its simple and moving veneration of her daughter's life, sets a loving compass for the journey ahead; her sister Elizabeth's drawings are clearly pulled from her own heart, and her brother's afterword together give us an infinitely deep understanding of the means behind the meaning of this extraordinary young woman's life's journey. This is a book of great hope, abundant humor, and sure grace for anyone who reads it. Abundant recommendation without reserve; read it and walk anew the paths of love.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couln't keep my mind on the road, October 22, 1999

By 

Erin (Saratoga Springs,NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pure Heart: Enlightened Mind: The Zen Journal and Letters of Maura (Hardcover)

I got this as my first book on tape. I had always thought it would take away from the book to listen to it read by someone else. But on my drive from upstate NY to Philly to visit my parents, I decided to get a book on tape. I was so into this book that i could hardly pay attention to my driving. The five hour drive was a breeze while listening to this. I was there before I knew it. Also, as a practicing Zen Buddist, I found this to be a wonderful story and it helped me find a few things I was missing. I bought the book now and I'm re-reading it. I think that anyone, Zen buddist or not would enjoy this tale of a person's growth, and feel the sorrow of her untimely death

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maura O'Halloran: a Saint of our times at 27 years old!, May 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Pure heart, enlightened mind: the Zen journal & letters of Maura "Soshin" O'Halloran (Paperback)

In 1979 Maura O'Halloran left a waitressing job in Boston to begin

her study of Zen in Japan. One thousand days later she received the dharma transmission of her Roshi.
Six months after achieving enlightenment, she was killed in a bus accident in Thailand at the age of 27. In her small Buddhist monastery in northern Japan there stands a statue erected to her memory.

As her mother asks in the Introduction, how did this daughter of an American mother and an Irish father, educated at convent schools and Trinity College, Dublin, become not only a Zen monk but a Buddhist saint? This book, excerpted from notebooks and journals kept during her three years' training in Zen at Toshoji Temple in Tokyo and Kannonji Temple in Iwate Prefecture, tells the story. It is a fascinating record of a monastic novitiate and rapid progress toward soshin: a pure heart, and of her practice of both meditation and sacrifice. Her own Roshi comments: "She had achieved what took the Shakjamuni Buddha eighty years in twenty-seven years....Then she left this life immediately to start the salvation of the masses in the next life!"

It seems that monks--male or female, Zen or Catholic, Japanese or American--speak heart to heart and discover the same end to their contemplative prayer: oneness with all creation and compassion for all fellow travelers. This journal demonstrates how much spiritual seekers have in common.

Sheryl Frances Chen/Santa Rita Abbey,HC 1 Box 929, Sonoita, Arizona 85337