I Opened the Gate Laughing – 20th Anniversary Edition

Mayumi Oda’s passion and wisdom infuse her art with radical compassion. Her work has touched the lives of countless people around the world. An extraordinary woman, her work is a plunge into courage and beauty. ~Richard Baker, Abbot of Crestone Mountain Zen Center and Zen Buddhistisches Zentrum Schwarzwald

The images and conjunctions of Mayumi’s art arise from the resources and ‘recesses’ (as she says) of her Japanese culture, and from her own creativity, feminism, eroticism, wisdom, and compassion. ~Joan Halifax, Abbot of Upaya Zen Center, author of Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet

The subject that flows naturally from [Mayumi’s] brush is a searing vision of the emancipated woman, the woman as goddess, the woman in all her Romanesque nakedness, bound between the miraculous realms of earth, sea, and sky. At Mayumi’s hand, Woman takes her place beneath a universe of stars that both dwarf and glorify her, root her in an earthly context while expanding her metaphorically into a sublime connection with the cosmos. ~Emily Nathan, author of My Tiny Atlas: Our World Through Your Eyes

Mayumi’s vivid original images of women as goddesses show us a new way to think about Zen Buddhism and, actually, about life. ~John Tarrant, Director of Pacific Zen Institute, author of The Light Inside the Dark

Mayumi’s heart surpasses all measures of courage in her devotion to the earth. ~Paul Hawken, author of Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World

Mayumi Oda’s action for life on earth, whether it’s praying, sobbing, organizing, protesting, or farming is as transformative and captivating as her magnificent creation of eclectic, bold, and enchanting celestial/terrestrial femininity. Her goddess paintings are colorful, sensuous, and deeply spiritual. ~Kazuaki Tanahashi, author of Moon in Dewdrop and Painting Peace: Art in a Time of Global Crisis

Mayumi Oda’s pure, persevering, and fiercely loving heart and hands. She models ways to walk in beauty and with grace for everyone who feels called by the emergence of the feminine in this time when restoring balance and equilibrium to the human-nature experiment is so urgent and timely. ~Nina Simons, cofounder of Bioneers

[Mayumi’s work] is a revelation of the glory of her determined artistry, filled with all the kindness, beauty and power that flows from the indomitable feminine, divine as nature, of nature, in nature, gentle and nurturing and ferocious in the defense of life. ~Robert A. F. Thurman, Jey Tsongkhapa Professor of Buddhology Emeritus, Columbia University, author of Wisdom Is Bliss: Four Friendly Fun Facts That Can Change Your Life