Abbess Myoan Grace Schireson is a Dharma teacher in the Suzuki Roshi lineage empowered by Sojun Mel Weitsman, abbot of Berkeley Zen Center. She was empowered to teach koans by Keido Fukushima Roshi, recently deceased former abbot of Tofukuji Monastery in Kyoto, Japan. Grace is the Abbess of the Central Valley Zen Foundation and has founded and leads three Zen groups and a Zen retreat center in California. Grace is also a clinical psychologist who has specialized in women and families. She has been married for forty-one years and has two grown sons and three grandchildren. She can be reached at www.emptynestzendo.org
Grace is the author of Zen Women: Beyond Tea-Ladies, Iron Maidens, and Macho Masters. “Grace’s readings of the stories and teachings of Zen’s women ancestors are of far more than mere historical interest: they are of great value to all of us practicing Buddhism today. You cannot find a more useful or more inspiring book on this subject.” —From the foreword by Miriam Levering, author of Rethinking Scripture