Sherry Chayat

Infobox Buddhist biography
name = Sherry Chayat


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birth_date = 1943
birth_place = Brooklyn, New York
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denomination = Zen Buddhism
school = Rinzai
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workplace = Zen Center of Syracuse
education = Vassar College
occupation = Roshi
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predecessor = Eido Tai Shimano
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Roko Ni-Osho Sherry Chayat (born 1943) is the first woman in the United States to have received Dharma transmission in the Rinzai school, though Maurine Stuart had received the unofficial title of roshi from Soen Nakagawa previously. She is the guiding teacher of the Zen Center of Syracuse (temple name Hoen-ji), where Tibetan Buddhism and Zen Buddhism are practiced. She is an advocate for the use of meditation in medical settings, with Hoen-ji running the program "Well/Being Contemplative Practices for Healing" for healthcare professionals.Keller et al, 642-643]

Biography

Sherry Chayat was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1943 and grew up in New Mexico and New Jersey. She read her first book on Zen Buddhism while in the eighth grade, and decided she would one day study it abroad. During the 1960s, while attending college at Vassar College, she began an informal study of Buddhism by reading works by D.T. Suzuki, Alan Watts, and many others. She studied art at the New York Studio School for Drawing and Painting. In 1967 she joined the Zen Studies Society in New York, training under Eido Tai Shimano, Haku'un Yasutani and Soen Nakagawa—and was married to Lou Nordstrom by Shimano and Yasutani. She received lay ordination from Maurine Stuart—receiving the Dharma name Roko (meaning "sparkling dew")—and then was ordained a priest by Shimano. In 1992 she was recognized as a teacher and then received inka in 1994 from Shimano. [Zen Master Who?, 117-119]

Bibliography

*cite book| last =Stuart| first =Maurine| authorlink =| coauthors =Sherry Chayat| title =Subtle Sound: the Zen Teachings of Maurine Stuart| publisher =Shambhala Publications, dist. Random House| date =1996| location =| pages =| url =http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/34545428&referer=brief_results| doi =| id = | isbn = 1570620946

*cite book| last =Chayat| first =Sherry| authorlink =| coauthors =| title =Life Lessons: The Art of Jerome Witkin| publisher =Syracuse University Press| date =1994| location =| pages =| url =http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/29259252&referer=brief_results| doi =| id = | isbn = 0815626177

*cite book| last =Nakagawa| first =Soen| authorlink =Soen Nakagawa| coauthors =Kazuaki Tanahashi; Sherry Chayat| title =Endless Vow: The Zen Path of Soen Nakagawa| publisher =Shambhala Publications| date =1996| location =| pages =| url =http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33335342&referer=brief_results| doi =| id = | isbn = 1570621624

ee also

*Buddhism in the United States
*List of Rinzai Buddhists
*Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States

Notes

References

*cite book| last =Ford| first =James Ishmael| authorlink =James Ishmael Ford| coauthors =| title =Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen| publisher =Wisdom Publications| date =2006| location =| pages =| url =http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70174891&referer=one_hit| doi =| id = | isbn = 0861715098
*cite book| last =Keller| first =Rosemary Skinner| authorlink =| coauthors =Rosemary Radford Ruether; Marie Cantlon| title =The Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America| publisher =Indiana University Press| date =2006| location =| pages =| url =http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/61711172&referer=brief_results| doi =| id = | isbn = 0253346851