My column at Buddhistdoor Global continues to fascinate me, as I have the opportunity to speak with incredibly intelligent, compelling, and insightful women about their lives, Buddhist practice, and what it means to be a modern woman in an ancient religion.

Ayya Taathaloka, the founder of one of Theravada Buddhism’s first nunneries in the United States.  She and her fellow monastics have lived in the woods of California and the urban Bay Area environs, and in summer 2016 they finally openedtheir own vihara – a peaceful space for monastic practice and living.

Karen Maezen Miller, author, mother, gardener, and Zen teacher. Her books on motherhood, nature, work, and the availability of the Dharma in everyday chores are full of bright, sharp, painful, beautiful truths.

Venerable Lhundup Damchö, a writer and translator who works closely with His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, head of the Tibetan Karma Kagyu lineage.  She also runs Dharma education throughout Latin America, particularly Mexico and Puerto Rico.  We talked about language, the toughness of translation, the shock of being put onstage to speak in front of 10,000 monks, and her passion for working with Dharma practitioners in Spanish.

Do you know any remarkable Buddhist women I should interview for my column? Drop me a message using the form in the “About” section – and thanks for your feedback!

Cover photo: The 100-year-old Zen Garden in Karen Maezen Miller’s backyard.  Read more about it in her book Paradise in Plain Sight: Lessons from a Zen Garden. Photo courtesy of the author.