STERLING ETHOS and the distinctive Sterling Ethos logo are registered trademarks of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Text © 2020 Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara
Cover © 2020 Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4549-4060-9 (e-book)

Distributed in Canada by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
c/o Canadian Manda Group, 664 Annette Street
Toronto, Ontario M6S 2C8, Canada
Distributed in the United Kingdom by GMC Distribution Services
Castle Place, 166 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1XU, England
Distributed in Australia by NewSouth Books University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia

For information about custom editions, special sales, and premium and corporate purchases, please contact Sterling Special Sales at specialsales@sterlingpublishing.com.

sterlingpublishing.com

Cover design by Elizabeth Mihaltse Lindy
Interior design by Gina Bonanno
Illustrations by Shutterstock.com: Elina Li (circle); satit_srihin (border)
© Hsiu Chuan Yu | Dreamstime.com

CONTENTS

COVER

TITLE PAGE

COPYRIGHT

INTRODUCTION

BEGINNINGS

THE PARABLE OF THE BURNING HOUSE

CLIMATE CHANGE

OUR DISTRACTION / OUR MINDFULNESS

APPRECIATING BERNIE GLASSMAN

PRACTICING MEDITATION

MOTHER OF ALL BUDDHAS

THE FACE OF THE OTHER: RACE, CLASS, RELIGION, SEXUALITY, GENDER EXPRESSION

BEING A BODHISATTVA TODAY

BODHISATTVAS HAVE MORE FUN

ENDNOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SOME IMPORTANT MARKERS IN ZEN HISTORY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zen Buddhism traces its origin to an incident in the time of the Buddha in India (approximately 500 BCE). One day, instead of delivering his usual talk, the Buddha picked up a flower and showed it to the assembly. According to Case 6 of the Mumonkan:

Everyone was silent, except for the saint
Kashyapa, who broke out in a smile.
Buddha said, “I have the treasury of the eye of
truth, the ineffable mind of nirvana, the most
subtle of teachings on the formlessness of the
form of reality. It is not defined in words, but
is specially transmitted outside of doctrine. I
entrust it to Kashyapa the Elder.”

Scholars have proposed other origin stories (see Additional Resources). Historically, Zen appears to have risen out of the encounter of Mahayana Buddhism with Chinese Taoist Yoga. It produced a number of remarkable personalities, many of whom created their own schools by founding monasteries and recognizing “dharma heirs”—advanced disciples who were given the authority to teach. In Japan, Zen became the highly cultivated aesthetic form with which it is most often identified today. However, Zen is now practiced almost everywhere in the world, and its expressions are as many and varied as the countries and teachers who promote it.

The pages that follow are not a history of Zen; they are not a scholarly exposition of Zen’s extensive psychology, philosophy, or literature. Instead, they are the living teachings of a unique and authentic American Zen master, who lives in New York City and directs a community of lay and ordained students in the heart of the city’s Soho District. They are a source of instruction, inspiration, and guidance.

Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara is a Soto priest and teacher in the White Plum lineage of Zen Buddhism. She is the co-founder and abbot of the Village Zendo in New York City. Roshi Enkyo was ordained by Taizan Maezumi Roshi, and she was given Dharma transmission (authority to teach) by Tetsugen Bernie Glassman, with whom she founded the Zen Peacemakers International. She teaches extensively in her New York temple and at various centers throughout the United States, including the IMS Buddhist Studies Center in Massachusetts, the Garrison Institute in New York, and Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Roshi Enkyo O’Hara is committed to a spiritual practice that is fully integrated with life in this everyday world. She guides and inspires her students to pursue a profound understanding and practice of Zen, while participating in the arts and sciences, in social and political action, and particularly in service to others. Roshi Enkyo eschews the sometimes deliberately obscure and difficult manner of many Zen expositors. Her teaching is clear, generous, and practical.

I encourage you to read these teachings with what in Zen is called “beginner’s mind”—an open heart and an attitude of curiosity and exploration. In the words of the poem that accompanies the Mumonkan story above:

A flower is held up

And the secret is revealed

- Howard Thoresen, editor