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To Forget the Self
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It is difficult to live authentically amidst the demanding noise from today’s society. Mobile notifications, bombardments of images and advertisements, and the drumbeat of our various appointments and endeavors are constant distractions in an overly busy world. In this retreat, Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, PhD, abbot of the Village Zendo in lower Manhattan, offers us a refreshing reminder of how we can get in touch with our true selves. Throughout the month, she will explore three chief slogans from Zen Master Dogen and one bonus slogan from herself: to study the enlightened way is to study the self; to study the self is to forget the self; to forget the self is to be enlightened by the myriad things; and (this is the bonus) to be enlightened by the myriad things opens you to the bodhisattva path. During the retreat, Enkyo Roshi will reflect on the difficulty of finding out—and being—who we are in the midst of modern society, and show us ways to help us connect with ourselves.
Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, PhD, is the abbot of the Village Zendo in lower Manhattan. A Soto Zen Priest and certified Zen Teacher, she is a lineage holder in both the Soto and Rinzai lines of Zen Buddhism through the White Plum Lineage. She currently serves as the Guiding Spiritual Teacher for the New York Center for Contemplative Care. Enkyo Roshi’s focus is on the expression of Zen through caring, service, and creative response. Her Five Expressions of Zen form the matrix of study at the Village Zendo: Meditation, Study, Communication, Action, and Caring.