Photo by Cynthia Burgess
This is a photograph of a cutout that hangs in my office. I commissioned it years ago from an artist friend of mine to illustrate a true story. Ryonen was a Japanese noblewoman who was born in 1797. She decided to enter monastic life over the strenuous objections of her family. Unfortunately, no Zen master would accept her, all of them saying that her great beauty would only cause trouble. Finally Ryonen (the name means "to realize clearly") took a hot iron and held it to her face, destroying her beauty forever and the first master to whom she had applied then accepted her as a disciple. She has always been to me an example of aspiration and faithful perseverence.
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