Shinge-shitsu Roko Sherry Chayat (born 1943) is the current abbot of 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 ...

, 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 Side of Manhattan. She is also the abbot of the Zen Center of Syracuse Hoen-ji. Chayat is an advocate for the use of

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

in medical settings, with Hoen-ji running the program ''Well/Being Contemplative Practices for Healing'' for healthcare professionals.

Biography

Sherry Chayat was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1943 and grew up in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. She read her first book on

Zen Buddhism Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), an ...

while in the eighth grade, and decided she would one day study it abroad. During the 1960s, while attending college at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

, she began an informal study of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

by reading works by

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 ...

Alan Watts Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was an English writer, speaker and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu ...

, and many others. She studied art at the New York Studio School for Drawing and Painting. In 1967 she joined the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, training under Eido Tai Shimano, Haku'un Yasutani and Soen Nakagawa—and was married to Lou Nordstrom by Shimano and Yasutani. She received the

Dharma name A Dharma name or Dhamma name is a new name acquired during both lay and monastic Buddhist initiation rituals in Mahayana Buddhism and monastic ordination in Theravada Buddhism (where it is more proper to call it Dhamma or Sangha name). The nam ...

Roko (meaning ''sparkling dew''). The couple moved to Syracuse and Sherry Chayat left

in the middle seventies. She joined a small sitting group that had been founded in 1972 by some Syracuse University graduate students and later became the group's leader. In 1984 Roko invited

Maurine Stuart Maurine Stuart (3 March 1922 – 26 February 1990), a.k.a. Ma Roshi or Mother Roshi, was a Canadian Rinzai Zen ''rōshi'' who was one of the first female Zen masters to teach in the United States. She became president and spiritual director ...

Roshi to lead the first sesshin and in 1985 Maurine ordained her as a Zen priest. After Maurine's death in 1990 Roko resumed her studies at Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji. She was reordained by Eido Shimano Roshi in 1991. In 1992 she was given teaching permission and then received Dharma transmission in 1998 from Shimano. She was the first American woman to receive transmission in the

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 ...

school of Buddhism.Encyclopedia of women and religion in North America, Volume 2
By Rosemary Skinner Keller, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Marie Cantlon (pg. 642) On October 12, 2008, after a 10-year process of advanced training culminating in a ceremony called shitsugo (literally “room-name”), she received the title of roshi and the name Shinge (“Heart/Mind Flowering") from Eido Roshi. It was the first time that this ceremony was held in the United States. Sherry Chayat was installed as the second Abbot of Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji on New Year's Day 2011.

Bibliography

* * * *Chayat, Roko Sherry ed. (2008). ''Eloquent Silence: Nyogen Senzaki's Gateless Gate and Other Previously Unpublished Teachings and Letters''. Wisdom Publications.

References

External links

Zen Center of Syracuse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chayat, Sherry 1943 births Living people Rinzai Buddhists Vassar College alumni American Zen Buddhists Buddhist abbesses Zen Buddhist nuns 20th-century Buddhist nuns 21st-century Buddhist nuns

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References

External links