Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi
Description
Bio and Training
Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi has been studying and practicing Zen Buddhism since 1973. She received Jukai, or lay precepts, in 1975 and Tokudo, Priest’s Ordination, in 1979 from Taizan Maezumi, Roshi. From 1978 to 1983, she lived at the Zen Center of Los Angeles, where she trained with Maezumi, Roshi and directed the center’s nonprofit medical clinic. She completed formal koan study in 1983 and received Dharma transmission, authorizing her to teach, in the same year. After Maezumi, Roshi’s death in 1995, she continued her training with Shodo Harada, Roshi, a Rinzai Zen teacher and abbot of Sogen-ji monastery in Japan.
Career and Leadership
Since 1985, Chozen, Roshi has served as the teacher for the Zen Community of Oregon. In 2002, she helped found Great Vow Zen Monastery and serves as co-abbot. She also helped establish Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple in Portland, Oregon, in 2011.
Publications
She has written numerous articles on Zen for Tricycle and Buddhadharma. Her first book, Jizo Bodhisattva, Modern Healing and Traditional Buddhist Practice (Tuttle, 2002), was later reissued in paperback as Jizo Bodhisattva, Guardian of Children, Women and Other Voyagers by Shambhala. She is also the author of How to Train a Wild Elephant: And Other Adventures in Mindfulness (Shambhala, 2011) and Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food (Shambhala, 2011).
Personal Life
Chozen, Roshi is also a pediatrician, mother, and wife.