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| This feature is shared with permission from the Houston Zen Center July 2023 announcement. |
| Among Abbot Gaelyn Godwin’s many activities, one of the highlights for her was the opportunity to meet with the great teacher Aoyama Roshi, the Abbot of Aichi Senmon Sodo, a monastery for women in Nagoya, Japan. Aoyama Roshi is the first woman priest to hold the position of Seido at either of the head temples of Soto Zen. She is the Seido of Sojiji, the temple founded by Keizan Zenji. Rev. Godwin is the first woman to be appointed to the position of Director of the International Center of Soto Zen Buddhism, North America. Interview with Rev. Shundo Aoyama Roshi and Abbot Konjin Gaelyn Godwin Soto Zen headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, brought two important women teachers together in March 2022 at Aoyama Roshi’s monastery in Nagoya, Japan, to discuss the issue of gender equality in Soto Zen. This remarkable interview was edited into 5 parts and released in March 2023. It will be required viewing for Soto Zen training priests in Japan. Gender equality is one of the important facets of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, which Soto Zen headquarters in Japan has been fully supporting and promoting. You can view the full 5-part series on the Houston Zen Center website here. |