Member Spotlight: Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain
Name: Jinzu Minna Jain
Occupation: Systemic Equity Educator, Artist/Writer and Soto Zen Buddhist Priest
How did you discover Clouds?
After I left residential Zen practice at Green Gulch Farm and Tassajara Monastery out in California, I moved back to my hometown(s)--the Twin Cities. It’s a hard transition, leaving monastic life after years and stepping back into “the marketplace.” I found Clouds in Water as I was checking out local Zen practice communities, looking for a bit of a tether. I attended a BIPOC multi-day retreat at Clouds and that was that.
If your life was the title of a book or movie, what would it be called?
Encounters In-between. There are Ghosts Everywhere. The Shadow Beneath the Canoe. A River is a Long Soul. A Home Between Worlds. Scooping Water, the Moon in My Hands. — This is a hard question!
Why do you practice zazen and mindfulness?
I experience ease and release when I realize there’s no pure, original “me” that I was when I was younger, full of potential and happiness. A “me” that I failed or damaged, and that the world failed and damaged through systems of oppression. That “me” is a myth. While I was and am hurt by systems of oppression, and I’m on a lifelong personal and collective care journey, there’s nothing to “fix,” just a whole lot of transformation needed. No reason to beat myself up. There’s only ever this one, this “me,” right now, right here. Just this one. Just this. When I meet that, a lot of my anguish falls away and I find that I have a lot more capacity for grief and joy and kindness toward myself. And, most importantly, I have a lot more capacity to meet the moment and other people. At its heart, I think Zen practice is about cultivating the capacity for collective care and collective liberation. And that’s what I want my life to be about.
What excites you?
Sun dapple and leaves falling on my face. Tiny mushrooms on mossy logs. The smell of cold, wet river stone. Reading a book that makes me want to eat it or tear it apart, it’s so good. Fireplaces and woodstoves. Installation art (and that includes interior design). Art in general. Poetry. Etymology. I’m a word nerd. When a new friend goes out of their way to be thoughtful to me. Looking up at the stars and feeling, even for a moment, a sense of the great big everything.
Where are some places you feel at home in the Twin Cities?
Shadow Falls - absolute favorite. Tropes & Trifles and Moonpalace Books. Duck Duck Coffee (reminds me of my favorite coffee shops in the 90’s). Modern Times Cafe. The Krishna’s Delight booth at most farmer’s markets. Any space where queer and trans folks, especially BIPOC queer and trans folks, are in the majority. That rose garden over by Lake Harriet when the stone fruit trees are blooming. The cobblestone streets over by Stone Arch Bridge. Matchbox coffee. The beaches along the river in South Minneapolis.
If you had to recommend one dharma book, what would it be?
Right now? It’d be a podcast: Domyo Burk’s Zen Studies Podcast. Her two-part episode on grief shifted the way I relate to grief in life-changing ways.
Anything on your bucket list?
I’d like to learn how to yoik. It’s the traditional singing (and drumming) of the indigenous Finnish Saami people, part of my heritage.
What are you listening to right now?
Three songs have been on repeat for me lately:
Closer, by Asad Khan/Khanvict - the video. whoa.
In This Shirt, by The Irrepressibles - big feelings.
Tezeta, by Mulatu Astatke - soothing. like sun on closed eyelids.
Do you have any favorite words of inspiration – a quote, song lyric, poem, or something else that supports you?
One of my favorite poems, by Kay Ryan:
SWEPT UP WHOLE
You aren’t swept up whole,
however it feels. You’re
atomized. The wind passes.
You recongeal. It’s
a surprise.
Summer or winter?
Autumn
Tea or coffee?
Matcha (with the sieve and whisk and tea bowl, the whole shebang)
Evening with a book or a night on the town?
Book. With loved ones nearby doing their own thing. A fire, and someone playing music. Stars.
What or who is nourishing you most right now?
Long walks
What are you most looking forward to at Clouds in 2025?
I’m going to be Shuso, or head monk, February-April, 2025. It’s a time when I bump up my support for the Guiding Teacher, the community and the temple by being a wholesome and consistent Dharma-friend and student. I’ll be teaching, facilitating, cleaning toilets (and whatever else needs cleaning), and learning with the sangha in a much more concentrated and potent way. It’s an honor. And I feel profoundly grateful. It’s a milestone on the priest/teacher path in our tradition.
Any Twin Cities community organizations or efforts you’d like to highlight?
George Floyd Square - following and supporting local community vision for the space