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FEATURES | EASTERN HORIZON 27
The Paradox of Prayer
By Dr Roshi Jan Chozen Bays
Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi has studied and practiced Zen
Buddhism since 1973. She received Jukai (lay precepts) in
1975 and priest’s ordination in 1979 from Taizan Maezumi,
Roshi.
From 1978 to 1983 she lived at the Zen Center of Los Angeles,
studying with Maezumi Roshi and directing the Zen Center’s
non-profit Medical Clinic. She finished formal koan study in
1983 and was given Dharma transmission (authorization to
teach) that same year.
Following the death of Maezumi Roshi in 1995 she has
continued her training with Shodo Harada, Roshi, a Rinzai
Zen teacher and the abbot of Sogen-ji monastery in Japan.
Since 1985 Chozen Roshi has been the teacher for the Zen
Community of Oregon. In 2002 she helped to found Great Vow
Zen Monastery and is the co-abbot. In 2011 she also helped
found Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple in Portland, Oregon.
She has published many articles about Zen in the periodicals
Tricycle and Buddhadharma. Her first book, Jizo Bodhisattva,
Modern Healing and Traditional Buddhist Practice (Tuttle,
2002), has been re-issued in paperback as Bodhisattva,
Guardian of Children, Women and Other Voyagers
(Shambhala). She is the author of How to Train a Wild
Elephant: And Other Adventures in Mindfulness (Shambhala,
Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple, Oregon
2011), and Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a
Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food (Shambala, 2011).
Chozen Roshi is also a pediatrician and world-renowned child
abuse consultant, mother and wife, ceramic artist, and lover of
marimba.
