Conversation with Karen Maezen Miller

Today I am honored to present an audio interview with a uniquely powerful human being. Karen Maezen Miller, or Momma Zen, as her followers lovingly call her, is a beautiful soul, author, mom and teacher to all that she encounters. My conversation with Karen was, to say the least, enlightening and filled with purpose and power. Please take a moment of your day to pause and listen to this authentic conversation. I hope you learn as much about presence, joy and finding peace in the moment as I did from this honorable woman.

Here is information about Karen from her website:

I’m a wife and mother as well as a Zen Buddhist priest at the Hazy Moon Zen Center in Los Angeles. Don’t let that last part confuse you. I’m not the kind of priest you have pictured in your mind. I’m the kind of priest that looks a lot like you do, doing the same kinds of things you do, every day.

If every Tuesday afternoon you wheeled your garbage cans out to the curb and saw your next-door neighbor doing the very same thing, your neighbor would be me.

I write about spirituality in everyday life. My newest book is Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life (New World Library, April 2010). My writing is also included in several anthologies. The two most recent are The Mindfulness Revolution (Shambhala, March 2011) and The Best Buddhist Writing 2011 (Shambhala, Sept. 2011).

My middle name is pronounced “May-zen” and it is my dharma name, or Buddhist name. When my daughter was little, I wrote a book called Momma Zen, and now some people call me that. I also answer to Maezen, or to Karen, or to Mom, or to Mrs. Miller, or to anything at all. The point is, I answer. And when I do, I say, “yes.” I try to say “yes” to whatever I’m asked. That means I’m happy to speak to community groups, schools, churches or conferences – any group that wants to be transported to a realm of calm assurance and infinite patience in 90 minutes or less. I also host my own one-day retreats around the country. For information about where I’m speaking soon, look here. For details about upcoming retreats, check here. Contact me to arrange an appearance near you.

My husband, daughter and I live in Sierra Madre, California, where we have a century-old Japanese garden in our own backyard. We are very lucky. Plus, I do a lot of weeding, raking and picking up after the dog. It helps me not take myself so seriously.