Most Intimate: A Zen Approach to Life's Challenges

Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara

mar, 2014 · Shambhala Publications

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The joy of intimacy—with yourself, with others, and with the whole universe. The long-awaited first book from a prominent modern American Zen teacher.

For Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, intimacy is what Zen practice is all about: the realization of the essential lack of distinction between self and other that inevitably leads to wisdom and compassionate action. She approaches the practice of intimacy beginning at its most basic level—the intimacy with ourselves that is the essential first step.

She then shows how to bring intimacy into our relationships with others, starting with those dearest to us and moving on to those who don’t seem dear at all. She shows how to grow in intimacy so that we include everyone around us, all of society, the whole world and all the beings it contains. Each chapter is accompanied by practices she uses with her students at the Village Zendo for manifesting intimacy in our lives.

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ROSHI PAT ENKYO O'HARA is a Soto priest and teacher in the Harada-Yasutani lineage of Zen Buddhism. She is abbot and founder of the Village Zendo in New York City. She serves as co-spiritual director of the Zen Peacemaker Order along with Tetsugen Bernard Glassman. She is also a former professor of interactive media at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She holds a doctorate in media ecology. A socially engaged Buddhist, she is a member of the White Plum Asanga and manages the Buddhist AIDS Network. This is her first book.