A Bigger Sky

Reimagining Buddhism through a feminine lens: A powerful memoir of healing, strength, and spiritual awakening.

Like all true spiritual teachings, Buddhism offers a radical shift: from me to we, fracture to unity, and fear to love. But, like most institutionalized religions, it's historically been supported by systems--hierarchy, patriarchy, and power--that have become enmeshed and seemingly interwoven into the structure itself. Written by the first layperson to receive full Dharma transmission in the Suzuki Roshi Soto Zen lineage, A Bigger Sky explores what it means to fill the gaps of a Buddhism created by and for men, and to move among multiple, seemingly contradictory worlds even while transcending elements of each. Reorienting Buddhist practice through a wider, fiercer, and more feminine lens, Pamela Weiss's personal and spiritual journey speaks to the bits of brokenness in us all, and shines a light on the different pathways we each can walk to become whole.

Blending memoir, Buddhist practice, and cultural observation, Weiss explores the illness that led her to seek healing, and how it brought her to Buddhism; her husband's near death; life at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center; receiving full Dharma transmission as a non-monastic; feelings of weakness and helplessness amidst the profound legacies of intergenerational trauma; and her work translating mindfulness and Buddhist principles to a broader lay audience. Through beautifully crafted prose, Weiss shares what it means to be an ordinary Bodhisattva: that the vision of the Buddha can be lived outside of an organized, rule-bound practice when in service, grounded, and connected to the world. She shares how feminine approaches to Buddhist thought and teachings can be applied in spiritual practice, in community, in everyday relationships, and in day-to-day living.