A lifelong outsider, Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara leads a warm and engaged Zen community in New York’s Greenwich Village. Lindsay Kyte profiles one of Buddhism’s leading teachers.
Our Moment of Possibility and Joy
Who am I, really? Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara shares three teachings that have given her solace and strength as she’s asked that question.
How to Make All Your Work Meaningful
Image by Mark T. Morse.Whether you’re waiting tables or washing laundry, meditating or making art, the key, Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara teaches, is always to savor the task at hand.
Include Everything
A teaching on fear and street retreats by Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara.
What might “Ordinary Zen” look like?
In 2011, I started to ask about my sangha’s ordinariness. What do we look like meditating in our apartments, or sitting on a couch?
Feminine Principal
White Tara, one of the principal Vajrayana deities representing enlightened feminine energy. Tara is the liberator whose compassion frees us from the fear and suffering of samsara. Painting by Sanje Elliot.The principal figure in Buddhism is the teacher, a role traditionally dominated by men. Andrea Miller profiles three women teachers — Trudy Goodman, Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, and Lama Palden Drolma — who are changing the face of Buddhism and making the teachings whole.
Rainbow Dharma: Teachings and articles for, about, and by LGBTIQ Buddhists
The Buddhist flag (right) debuted in Sri Lanka in 1855 and was adopted internationally in 1952. The rainbow pride flag, designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978, has become a symbol of LGBTIQ hope and progress worldwide. Everyone struggles with questions about identity. For LGBTIQ people, those questions can be more pressing. We look at how Buddhist wisdom can help.
The Work of the Moment
Image by Mark T. Morse.Like the monk who strived so hard he couldn’t see the goddess right behind him, if we push too hard for results we miss what is most intimate. When we and our work are one, says Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, even the most mundane of life’s activities are profound and beautiful.
Which River Will You Cross?
Whether buying products on the Internet or Skyping with our students and teachers, we instantly recognize our interdependence, and yet how about when we walk outside our door?
About a Poem: Pat Enkyo O’Hara on an Anonymous Poem by a Sung Dynasty Nun
Pat Enkyo O’Hara on an Anonymous Poem by a Sung Dynasty Nun.