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Barbara Verkuilen
The Tale of Zen Master Bho Li |
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Monthly Prose Series
Barbara Verkuilen
The Tale of Zen Master Bho Li
Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 7pm
FREE
The Tale of Zen Master Bho Li is an original fable that conveys three lessons essential for an awakened life. The fable format was chosen because it most aptly lends itself to mystery. Although originally written for Zen practitioners, there has been very positive response from people who know or have little interest in Buddhism, as the three life lessons are accessible to anyone, another reason why the fable format serves the message of the story.
The tale is set in China long ago and tells the life of Zen Master Bho Li from the time he is orphaned at age eight to his death. His early training is "with the creatures of the forest, and his tutelage there provided him with an enduring connection [with] and love of the natural world."
Barbara Verkuilen began Zen practice in 1971 at the Chicago Zen Buddhist Temple under Soyu Matsuoka Roshi with whom she studied for four years. She continued her study under the guidance of Dainin Katagiri Roshi for fifteen years. Following his death in 1990, she continued her formal training with his Dharma heir, Shoken Winecoff, by whom she was ordained in 1997. Barbara and her husband Dale, also a Zen priest, co-founded the Midwest Soto Zen Community in 2001, based in Madison, WI. Barbara holds a BA in Education and an MS in Counselor Education. Before her retirement, she practiced twenty years as a psychotherapist, specializing in Grovian Metaphor Therapy. She is also the author of Dokusan with Dogen: Timeless Lessons in Negotiating the Way. Her current project is co-authoring with her husband Tending the Fire: An Introspective Guide to Zen Awakening.
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