The Shamanic Bones of Zen: An Interview with Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

In this interview, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel describes the deepening of the shamanic bones of Zen as an emerging and natural identity in her practice of the Soto Zen tradition, and what it can mean for the world. While a main reference here is her recently published book, The Shamanic Bones of Zen, in this conversation its place in the context of her practice life and her earlier publications is as important as the book itself. The books referred to here are all described on her website, Zenju.org. Also significant in this context is her prose, Darkness is Asking to be Loved. From Zenju’s website:

I have gone through many gateways. But I am neither monk, nor nun, nor priest. I am neither Zen or Buddhist. I am neither teacher nor guide, nor author. I am a dark seed of a lineage that has resisted annihilation for thousands of years. I am a voice from the great darkness of transformation, grace, and constant birth and death. I am a collective voice that weeps and protests. I am the ever-abundant blackness and darkness that has given birth to everything. I am life from the first source of life. I am because we are.