Episode Description

For episode 161 of the Metta Hour, Sharon is in conversation with Buddhist teacher and author Pamela Weiss. Pamela is among the few Buddhist teachers authorized to teach in two traditions—Zen and Theravada. She is the only layperson in the Suzuki Roshi Soto Zen lineage to receive full Dharma Transmission. After living as a monastic at Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery for five years, she completed comprehensive training through Spirit Rock Meditation Center to become an Insight meditation teacher. She is currently a member of the Spirit Rock Teacher Council and a guiding teacher at San Francisco Insight, and in 2020 released her first book, A Bigger Sky: Awakening a Fierce Feminine Buddhism. The conversation begins with Pamela sharing how she came to the path of Buddhism and meditation. She shares her path as a student of Zen and also Insight Meditation, and how the two lineages balanced each other out in her life. Sharon and Pamela discuss what inspired her to write her book, and the sharing of her own personal story. They discuss at length the role that women in monastic life in the Theravadin tradition, and the role that cultural context plays in Buddhism. Lastly, they share about how it has been for each of them to write books that are autobiographical in nature, and how it is to share their personal history on the written page. The conversation closes with Pamela leading a guided meditation.

Additional Resources

To learn more about Pamela’s work, you can visit her website.

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