Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji, or International Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji, is a

Rinzai The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan E ...

monastery and retreat center located in the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...

of upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Maintained by the

Zen Studies Society The Zen Studies Society was established in 1956 by Cornelius Crane to help assist the scholar Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki in his work and to help promulgate Zen Buddhism in Western countries. It operates both New York Zendo Shobo-Ji in New York City a ...

, Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji is led by Shinge-Shitsu Roko

Sherry Chayat Shinge-shitsu Roko Sherry Chayat (born 1943) is the current abbot of the Zen Studies Society, based at the International Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji monastery, outside Livingston Manor, NY, and at the New York Zendo Shobo-Ji on the Upper east S ...

Roshi. It is part of the Zen Studies Society, founded in 1956 to support the work of

D.T. Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in s ...

Activities

The site offers daily services which include

zazen ''Zazen'' (literally " seated meditation"; ja, 座禅; , pronounced ) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition. However, the term is a general one not unique to Zen, and thus technicall ...

chanting A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes ...

and samu (work). Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji also offers traditional kessei — a three-month period of intensive spiritual training in a Zen monastery — in addition to weeklong

sesshin A ''sesshin'' (接心, or also 摂心/攝心 literally "touching the heart-mind") is a period of intensive meditation (zazen) in a Zen monastery. While the daily routine in the monastery requires the monks to meditate several hours a day, d ...

s and weekend retreats throughout the year. Those students who wish to ordain with Shinge Roshi must live at the monastery for 1,000 days, after which they have the option of staying or going back out into the secular world.

Location

Located about a 3-hour drive north of New York City on near Beecher LakeWilson, 146–147 in a

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

region,Keenan, xiii–xiv; 192 Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji was established on July 4, 1976. The monastery site is located atop a drive that passes by "Sangha Meadow", a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

for housing the remains of deceased

sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

members (including a portion of the ashes of

Soen Nakagawa was a Taiwanese-born Japanese rōshi and Zen Buddhist master in the Rinzai tradition. An enigmatic figure, Nakagawa had a major impact on Zen as it was practiced in the 20th century, both in Japan and abroad. Early life Soen Nakagawa was born a ...

Roshi). The facility's upstate mailing address is in the nearby township of Livingston Manor off New York State Route 17 (NY 17), and an active New York City temple is maintained on the upper east side of Manhattan.

Controversy

In July 2010,

Eido Shimano was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist roshi. He was the founding abbot of the New York Zendo Shobo-Ji in Manhattan and Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-Ji monastery in the Catskill mountains of New York; he was forced to resign from that position of 40 years aft ...

, co-founder of Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji and an abbot for over three decades, resigned from the

Board of Directors after a relationship between Shimano and one of his female students became a subject of controversy, amid accusations that this was only the latest in a series of affairs spanning several decades. A committee of Zen teachers formed in November 2011 found that the sexual acts were often initiated during formal private

sanzen , aka , means going to a Zen master for instruction. In the Rinzai school, it has the same meaning as ''dokusan'', which is specifically a private interview between student and master,Fischer-Schreiber 1989, pg. 306 often centering on the student' ...

interactions between Zen teacher and student. The board was aware of the situation for decades, but was unsure how to respond." In December, 2012, Myoshinji, the headquarters of Shimano's claimed lineage sect, issued a public statement responding to the controversies surrounding Shimano and the

; they state they have

Notes

References

* * * {{coord, 42.028014, -74.644018, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NY, display=title Buddhist monasteries in the United States Buddhist temples in New York (state) Zen Buddhist monasteries Zen centers in New York (state) Rinzai school Religious buildings and structures in Sullivan County, New York Tourist attractions in Sullivan County, New York 1976 establishments in New York (state)

Activities

Location

Controversy

See also

Notes

References