I Opened the Gate, Laughing: An Inner Journey

by Mayumi Oda

This enchanting book is a meditation on a woman s search for inner peace and a reawakening of the creative self. Constrained by a traditional Japanese upbringing, devastated by a crumbling marriage and the deaths of friends and family, artist Mayumi Oda finds herself returning to the teachings and practice of her Buddhist childhood. At Green Gulch Farm, the beautiful Zen retreat in Northern California, she finds a new tranquility and creative spirit through her pen, her brush, and her trowel. A little gem, this heartfelt narrative is sprinkled with verse and contemplative vignettes and is awash with Oda s watercolors and lush prints. It will move anyone who has sought a slower pace, a sacred place...the garden path.

Genres: Biography, Spirituality, Memoir, Art, Nonfiction

96 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Stephanie Guyer-Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Editing this book was one of my most formative experiences in my adult life - working with Mayumi opened me up to my capacities to being able to interpret other people's experiences, and translate between cultures. Her openness about her transitions in her marriage, and expanding her creative process really had a profound impact on my own life.

[Skye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring. The art makes me burst like a ripe strawberry in the sun!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet book

[Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such beautiful words and paintings!

"What does the garden do to us? I watch the plants germinate, grow, blossom, make seeds, and wither, becoming soil, and come back to grow again, and again. I realize that we are like them, being born, crawling, walking, growing up, giving birth to new life, and getting old and finally disappearing. The dharma wheel turns and turns, creating, changing every moment, yet continuing. Why do we think we are different from plants? Do plants die? Do we really die? We came out of emptiness, and return to emptiness. Being in the garden gives me a great feeling of rest" (66).

[Ommiolgi · Rating 3 out of 5]

sweet book about a divorced woman coming into het true power theough zen and nature living and working at green gulch farm. growing vegetables and being she finaly is able to open the gates to her garden and then tear down the fence.
Beautiful

would recommend