Enkyō Pat O'Hara is a Soto Zen priest and teacher in the White Plum order of

Sōtō Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai school, Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Caodong school, Cáodòng school, which was founded during the ...

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, founded by Roshi

Taizan Maezumi Hakuyū Taizan Maezumi ( Maezumi Hakuyū, February 24, 1931 – May 15, 1995) was a Japanese people, Japanese Sōtō Zen, Zen Buddhist priest who substantially contributed to development of Zen in the United States. In 1956 he was sent to the Uni ...

Biography

Growing up as a young white girl in

Tijuana, Mexico Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

while attending Catholic School in the United States, O’Hara was familiar with racism and prejudice. With one foot in each world, racial slurs and comments that were made to her left her feeling ostracized and insecure. However, it wasn’t until her high school years when she discovered and entered the Beat Generation and took to reading various literature including poems by

Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate ...

, who gave way to new ways of thought. It also in her high school years when she read R.H. Blyth’s translations of Haiku, Buddhist sutras, and writings of D.T. Suzuki that the door to Zen Buddhism opened, her attraction being Zen’s artistic expression. O'Hara studied with

John Daido Loori John Daido Loori (June 14, 1931 – October 9, 2009) was a Zen Buddhist rōshi who served as the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery and was the founder of the Mountains and Rivers Order and CEO of Dharma Communications. Daido Loori received sh ...

but differences with her teacher led her to begin studying with

, who himself was Loori's teacher. However, it was when she began studying under Taizan Maezumi Roshi when she felt like she found her true teacher and main influencer. It was their shared love of freedom, new experiences, dharma, and love of empowering women that made O’Hara feel a strong connection, often referring to his teaching as feminine. O'Hara was ordained a Soto priest by

Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Hakuyū Taizan Maezumi ( Maezumi Hakuyū, February 24, 1931 – May 15, 1995) was a Japanese Sōtō Zen Buddhist priest who substantially contributed to development of Zen in the United States. In 1956 he was sent to the United States to serve as ...

in 1995 and received shiho from Bernard Glassman in 1997. In June 2004 Glassman gave O'Hara inka. She is the abbot emerita and co-founder of the Village Zendo in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She served as co-spiritual director of the Zen Peacemaker Order along with

Tetsugen Bernard Glassman Bernie Glassman (January 18, 1939 – November 4, 2018) was an American Zen Buddhist Rōshi, roshi and founder of the Zen Peacemakers (previously the Zen Community of New York), an organization established in 1980. In 1996, he co-founded the Zen ...

. She is also a former professor of

interactive media Interactive media refers to digital experiences that dynamically respond to user input, delivering content such as Text (literary theory), text, images, animations, video, Sound, audio, and even Artificial intelligence, AI-driven interactions. O ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

. She holds a doctorate in

Media ecology Media ecology is the study of media, technology, and communication and how they affect human environments. The theoretical concepts were proposed by Marshall McLuhan in 1964, while the term ''media ecology'' was first formally introduced by Neil ...

. A socially engaged Buddhist, she is a member of the

White Plum Asanga White Plum Asanga, sometimes termed White Plum Sangha, is a loose (hence asangha) "organization of peers whose members are leaders of Zen Communities in the lineage of Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi," created by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi and Tetsugen Ber ...

and was involved with the Buddhist AIDS Network.

Activism

Much of Enkyo's activism has been in the world of

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

, from teaching meditation to HIV-positive practitioners to working on prevention strategies among those at risk, and serving as Chairperson of the Board of the National AIDS Interfaith Network. Enkyo, who is a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

, has articulated a Zen Buddhist approach to issues dealing with

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

, race,

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

, and

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

Bibliography

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Gallery

Image:Village Zendo sangha.jpg, Village Zendo sangha Image:Enkyo Pat O'Hara.jpg Image:Pat_Enkyo_O'Hara_11.jpg Image:Pat Enkyo O'Hara 5.jpg Image:Pat Enkyo O'Hara 6.jpg Image:Pat Enkyo O'Hara 7.jpg Image:Enyo Pat O'Hara.JPG, with Joan Halifax

References

External links