Caitriona Reed
Encyclopedia
Caitriona Reed is a trans woman
sensei
of Thiền Zen Buddhism who also has a background in Vipassana. She co-founded Ordinary Dharma in Los Angeles, California
—as well as its rural retreat center Manzanita Village Retreat Center, located in San Diego County. Reed, a member of the American Zen Teachers Association
, has been teaching Buddhism
since 1981. She received her authority to teach Zen from Thich Nhat Hanh in 1992. She is a 'woman of transsexual experience' who transitioned in 1996. She remarks on her experience of changing sex, "As a teacher encouraging others to live more honest and authentic lives, it was increasingly difficult for me to deny a basic fact—that I was a woman." Together with her partner Michele Benzamin Masuda at Manzanita, Reed conducts mindfulness retreats, workshops, and seminars influenced by her teacher Nhat Hanh, and also teaches deep ecology
, social responsibility
and personal development training. In addition to conducting retreats, she is also a performance coach, consultant and NLP master-trainer and hypnotherapist.
Trans woman
A trans woman is a male-to-female transsexual or transgender person and the term trans woman is preferred by some individuals over various medical terms. Other non-medical terms include t-girl, tg-girl and ts-girl...
sensei
Sensei
' is a Japanese word that basically means "person born before another." In general usage, it means "master" or "teacher," and the word is used as a title to refer to or address teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers, CPA and doctors, politicians, clergymen, and other figures of authority...
of Thiền Zen Buddhism who also has a background in Vipassana. She co-founded Ordinary Dharma in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
—as well as its rural retreat center Manzanita Village Retreat Center, located in San Diego County. Reed, a member of the American Zen Teachers Association
American Zen Teachers Association
The American Zen Teachers Association was founded in the late 1980s as the Second Generation Zen Teachers Group. It is a peer-group organization of ordained and lay Zen Buddhist teachers, all of whom have received either teaching authorization or dharma transmission from the mostly Asian Zen...
, has been teaching Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
since 1981. She received her authority to teach Zen from Thich Nhat Hanh in 1992. She is a 'woman of transsexual experience' who transitioned in 1996. She remarks on her experience of changing sex, "As a teacher encouraging others to live more honest and authentic lives, it was increasingly difficult for me to deny a basic fact—that I was a woman." Together with her partner Michele Benzamin Masuda at Manzanita, Reed conducts mindfulness retreats, workshops, and seminars influenced by her teacher Nhat Hanh, and also teaches deep ecology
Deep ecology
Deep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the...
, social responsibility
Social responsibility
Social responsibility is an ethical ideology or theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual or organization has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the...
and personal development training. In addition to conducting retreats, she is also a performance coach, consultant and NLP master-trainer and hypnotherapist.
See also
- Buddhism in the United StatesBuddhism in the United StatesBuddhism is one of the largest religions in the United States behind Christianity, Judaism and Nonreligious, and approximate with Islam and Hinduism. American Buddhists include many Asian Americans, as well as a large number of converts of other ethnicities, and now their children and even...
- Homosexuality and BuddhismHomosexuality and BuddhismLGBT community and Buddhism describes the relationship between members of the LGBT community and the teachings of Buddhism. Various traditions and teachers in Buddhism have held different views on the subject of homosexuality...
- Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United StatesTimeline of Zen Buddhism in the United StatesBelow is a timeline of important events regarding Zen Buddhism in the United States. Dates with "?" are approximate.-Early history:* 1893: Soyen Shaku comes to the United States to lecture at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago...