The Zen Priestess and the Snake: A Woman's Path of Transformation and Healing Through Rediscovery of the Great Mother Tradition

The Zen Priestess and the Snake is the powerful true story of a woman inspired by her visions of the Sacred Feminine. Her experiences of encountering the Mother Goddess gave her the strength to overcome the challenges she faced as a woman in the Zen hierarchy, until finally she overcame patriarchal barriers to find her true home as an American Zen Master.

Roshi Shinko steps outside the conventions of traditional Zen Buddhist books to share her personal journey from her colorful childhood in Puerto Rico through her upbringing in Fascist Spain to her role as co-founder and Abbess of the Maitreya Abbey retreat center in Colorado. She also shares her research and her spiritual insights and practices, inviting the reader to consider an awakened feminine viewpoint on Zen in America. Shinko makes a case for bringing the wisdom of the Sacred Feminine back into Buddhism and leads us through centuries-old practices derived from the Mother Goddess tradition, teaching us how to incorporate these practices into contemporary spiritual life.

The Zen Priestess and the Snake appeals to all genders and faiths, including those who identify as spiritual but not religious. In these turbulent times, it shows how the denial of the Sacred Feminine within religious systems has not only oppressed women and minorities, but also created a disconnected society that exploits Mother Earth, leading to our current climate crisis.

Roshi Ilia Shinko Perez is the Abbess of Maitreya Abbey in Berthoud, Colorado and co-director of Great Mountain Zen Center. She received Dharma Transmission in the White Plum Lineage from Roshi Gerry Shishin Wick in 2004 and the Seal of Approval (Inka) in 2015 from Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao Abbot Emeritus of Zen Center of Los Angeles. She has led numerous retreats in both the United States and in Spain and has guided many students in their Zen studies. Roshi Shinko pursued her Zen training while raising two sons and running her family import business. She holds a Master's Degree in archeology from the Universidad Autonoma of Madrid, Spain, where she grew up. She was a professor of Spanish Literature at Caribbean University College, Puerto Rico, for seven years, has taught Zen Buddhism at Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado, and is co-author of The Great Heart Way: How To Heal Your Life and Find Self-Fulfillment. A devoted animal lover and horse rider, Roshi Shinko is also an artist, a writer, a gardener, an environmental activist and an animal rescuer. Her art works including her visions of the Sacred Goddess illustrate this book.