September 03, 2010
Finding Ecology in Zen
On a pilgrimage to Eastern Tibet, Pat O'Hara participated in a nomad clinic with doctors and nurses.
After years of helping people through the beneficial use of media, former NYU Professor Pat O'Hara found a more satisfying path through Zen.Pat O'Hara is a Zen woman on a mission. Bespectacled, bald and usually wearing a slightly crooked smile, she is the leader of the Village Zendo, which is located on lower Broadway in Manhattan. As O'Hara says, "Manhattan is one center of the world's greed, anger and ignorance." She believes an antidote lies in Zen, which she says can "transform [such ways of living] into compassion, generosity and wisdom on a person-to-person basis."
Before teaching Zen became a full time profession, O'Hara held a tenured professorship for 20 years at NYU. Life as a tenured professor, while not luxurious, had many perks such as a guaranteed salary with increases, and a rockin' apartment on Washington Square.
O'Hara began seriously studying Zen in the mid 1980s while she was attending NYU as a PhD candidate in Media Ecology. Media Ecology is not the pursuit of biodegradable television sets, as some might think. Rather, it is the study of the way we think about media and how that relates to the development of human knowledge.
O'Hara's work was aimed at liberating techniques, believing that computers and video can be used as tools for empowering the elderly, disabled or young people in drug treatment. She often taught using meditative techniques for creative expression, focusing on group projects that fostered interdependent work. Interestingly enough, she believes teaching Zen is doing the same thing without the hardware.
After building a Zen community in her spacious two-bedroom apartment over two decades, O'Hara realized that she wanted to devote her life to Zen practice full time because of, she says, "my own quickening sense of the importance of offering a radical alternative to competitive, self-centered approaches to life."
A leap of faith was required because she had to leave her job and tenure behind. "I decided to give up a respectable position for one that is regarded with suspicion by some," O'Hara says. "I was afraid I would suffer without the cash, social regard and my professor's apartment. None of my fears were realized. Instead, I experienced what my teachers had always told me. The fear is greater than the experience that engenders it."
When O'Hara began her Zen practice, there was no Zen center in NYC that addressed both traditional Zen and a western concern for individual psychology. The Village Zendo was created to address that gap. Pat's major concern was finding grants and learning how to manage the business side of things. Proceeding with a positive intention and the core group that had been meeting in her apartment, it was a kind of "build it and they will come" operation. And they did.
After getting the Zendo up and running, O'Hara was contacted by the National Buddhist Prison Sangha to sponsor a Zen meditation group at Sing Sing Prison. Leading a group in prison is just one more way she has found to help reduce suffering in the world by sharing insights gained from Buddhism's Four Noble Truths.
Prison is a volatile, chaotic and violent place. Through meditation and by incorporating Buddhist teachings into their lives, prisoners learn to take responsibility for themselves, providing the self-awareness and mental discipline that ameliorates the harshness of prison life.
In addition, O'Hara now has time to bring reconciliation to the larger world as the co-director of Zen Peacemakers, a brainchild of American Zen pioneer, Bernie Glassman. It's an international group, with affiliates in several countries, whose mission is to help social activists develop strategies for their work while integrating meditation into their personal lives and communities.
Pat O'Hara's transition from tenured professor to full time Zen teacher was a leap of great faith. Living in uncertain times in NYC, a capitol of greed, she jumped into the unknowable, landed firmly, and has not looked back. If you're seeking a way to find liberation in a welcoming environment, knock on Pat's door. Like her Zen practice, it is always open.
Before teaching Zen became a full time profession, O'Hara held a tenured professorship for 20 years at NYU. Life as a tenured professor, while not luxurious, had many perks such as a guaranteed salary with increases, and a rockin' apartment on Washington Square.
O'Hara began seriously studying Zen in the mid 1980s while she was attending NYU as a PhD candidate in Media Ecology. Media Ecology is not the pursuit of biodegradable television sets, as some might think. Rather, it is the study of the way we think about media and how that relates to the development of human knowledge.
O'Hara's work was aimed at liberating techniques, believing that computers and video can be used as tools for empowering the elderly, disabled or young people in drug treatment. She often taught using meditative techniques for creative expression, focusing on group projects that fostered interdependent work. Interestingly enough, she believes teaching Zen is doing the same thing without the hardware.
After building a Zen community in her spacious two-bedroom apartment over two decades, O'Hara realized that she wanted to devote her life to Zen practice full time because of, she says, "my own quickening sense of the importance of offering a radical alternative to competitive, self-centered approaches to life."
A leap of faith was required because she had to leave her job and tenure behind. "I decided to give up a respectable position for one that is regarded with suspicion by some," O'Hara says. "I was afraid I would suffer without the cash, social regard and my professor's apartment. None of my fears were realized. Instead, I experienced what my teachers had always told me. The fear is greater than the experience that engenders it."
When O'Hara began her Zen practice, there was no Zen center in NYC that addressed both traditional Zen and a western concern for individual psychology. The Village Zendo was created to address that gap. Pat's major concern was finding grants and learning how to manage the business side of things. Proceeding with a positive intention and the core group that had been meeting in her apartment, it was a kind of "build it and they will come" operation. And they did.
After getting the Zendo up and running, O'Hara was contacted by the National Buddhist Prison Sangha to sponsor a Zen meditation group at Sing Sing Prison. Leading a group in prison is just one more way she has found to help reduce suffering in the world by sharing insights gained from Buddhism's Four Noble Truths.
Prison is a volatile, chaotic and violent place. Through meditation and by incorporating Buddhist teachings into their lives, prisoners learn to take responsibility for themselves, providing the self-awareness and mental discipline that ameliorates the harshness of prison life.
In addition, O'Hara now has time to bring reconciliation to the larger world as the co-director of Zen Peacemakers, a brainchild of American Zen pioneer, Bernie Glassman. It's an international group, with affiliates in several countries, whose mission is to help social activists develop strategies for their work while integrating meditation into their personal lives and communities.
Pat O'Hara's transition from tenured professor to full time Zen teacher was a leap of great faith. Living in uncertain times in NYC, a capitol of greed, she jumped into the unknowable, landed firmly, and has not looked back. If you're seeking a way to find liberation in a welcoming environment, knock on Pat's door. Like her Zen practice, it is always open.
At ReZoom, one of the ways we want to help build a better world is by being kinder to the earth. Check in for regular tips and ideas on making your life and home more environmentally friendly.
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