SKY ABOVE GREAT WIND
The great Way has no gate;
There are a thousand different roads.
If you pass through this barrier once,
You will walk independently in the universe.
—Koun Yamada
Mumon, The Gateless Gate:The Classic Book of Zen Koans
Kojokan Gate to upper garden, Saiho-ji (Moss Garden), designed by Zen Master Muso Soseki, Kyoto, Japan. The lower garden was known for its mosses and ponds, while the upper garden was designed to be more meditative with its rock waterfall that quiets the mind.
Photo by Karin Hillhouse 2015
Zen offers an ever-deepening insight into the oneness of life and calls us to compassionate action. The emphasis at Sky Above Great Wind is on zazen (seated meditation) and the integration of Zen in daily life.
We explore the classic koans and the writings of Dogen Zenji, the founder of Soto Zen. Both bring us more fully into our experience of the moment. We practice not turning away from whatever arises and meeting it with wisdom and compassion. We are guided by the Three Tenets of the Zen Peacemakers: Not Knowing, Bearing Witness to the joy and suffering in the world, and Healing Action.
Sensei Susan KōDō Efird is a Zen teacher in the White Plum lineage of Maezumi Roshi and Bernie Glassman and a dharma successor of Roshi Robert Jinsen Kennedy of Morning Star Zendo. KōDō (Expression of Light) began her practice with Roshi Janet Jinne Richardson and Sensei Jishin Rosalie McQuaide. She founded Sky Above Great Wind in 2016.
She received Jukai from Roshi Nancy Mujo Baker. Twice she participated in Bernie Glassman's Bearing Witness Retreats at Auschwitz/Birkenau. With Roshi Genro Gauntt, she led the first street retreat in Washington, D.C. For six years she attended the Path of Study classes at the Village Zendo led by Roshi Enkyo O'Hara.
A poet, she was first published by Harry Duncan (Abattoir Editions), who hand set and printed her booklength narrative poem The Eye of Heaven with engravings by Michael McCurdy. She was a senior writer/editor at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
For decades she has applied her Zen practice in volunteer work at hospices, focusing on AIDS patients in Denver and Washington, DC; with Alzheimer's patients, teaching them meditation; corresponding with prisoners through Solitary Watch; and as an aide to bird keepers at the National Zoo.
Sensei KōDō is a member of the White Plum Asanga and the Lay Zen Teachers Association.