Background
Sherry Chayat was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1943 and grew up in New Mexico and New Jersey.
Sherry Chayat was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1943 and grew up in New Mexico and New Jersey.
She studied art at the New York Studio School for Drawing and Painting.
Chayat is an advocate for the use of meditation in medical settings, with Hoen-ji running the program Well/Being Contemplative Practices for Healing for healthcare professionals. She received the Dharma name Roko (meaning sparkling dew). She joined a small sitting group that had been founded in 1972 by some Syracuse University graduate students and later became the group"s leader.
After Maurine"s death in 1990 Roko resumed her studies at Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji.
She was reordained by Eido Shimano Roshi in 1991. In 1992 she was given teaching permission and then received Dharma transmission in 1998 from Shimano.
On October 12, 2008, after a 10-year process of advanced training culminating in a ceremony called shitsugo (literally “room-name”), she received the title of roshi and the name Shinge (“Heart/Mind Flowering") from Eido Roshi. lieutenant was the first time that this ceremony was held in the United States.
Sherry Chayat was installed as the second Abbot of Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji on New Year"s Day 2011.