P'arang Geri Larkin, born Geraldine Kapp Willis, is founder and former head teacher of Still Point Zen Buddhist Temple, a

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n Chogye center in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. The name Geri Larkin is a

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

. She graduated from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in 1973. Larkin, daughter of a wealthy IBM executive, left her successful business life as a

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants ...

to enter a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

for three years, where she was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

. When she left she sold her material possessions and bought a brick duplex in downtown Detroit which, with the help of local residents she cleaned up and turned into Still Point. Larkin's articulation of the concept of "

right livelihood The Noble Eightfold Path (Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth, in the form of nirvana. The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: ri ...

" was highly influential on Ann Perrault and Jackie Victor, two of her students who founded

Avalon International Breads Avalon International Breads is a bakery located in Detroit, Michigan, that produces a wide variety of baked goods, including breads, rolls, pizzas, cookies, and pastries, as well as sandwiches and coffee. It was established in June 1997 by Ann ...

in Detroit in 1997. She has been a longtime columnist for ''Spirituality & Health'' magazine. She currently resides in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

Bibliography

Books

* * *''Building a Business the Buddhist Way'' *''Tap Dancing in Zen'' *''First You Shave Your Head'' *''The Still Point Dhammapada: Living the Buddha's Essential Teachings'' *''The Chocolate Cake Sutra'' *''Plant Seed, Pull Weed'' *''Love Dharma''

Articles

* *''Spirituality & Health'' often changes the title of a print article when it is published online. This article is titled "What We Can Learn From Leaning Into Difficulty" online.

References

1950 births Living people Chogye Buddhists Seon Buddhist monks Zen Buddhism writers American Zen Buddhists Female Buddhist spiritual teachers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers Barnard College alumni {{US-reli-bio-stub

Bibliography

Books

Articles

See also

References