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a conversation between Sr. Kathleen Osbelt and Shinge Roshi
March 30, 7 to 8:30 p.m., Noble Room, Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University
Sister Kathleen Osbelt, OSF
For the past ten years, Sr. Kathleen has lived in a Hermitage with three other Sisters of St. Francis on Alverna Heights, Fayetteville. While the sisters have full-time jobs, their hermitage lifestyle fosters a contemplative spirit. The daily exercise of contemplative prayer both in the morning and at night, and keeping one weekend a month for prayer in solitude render a balanced rhythm to their lives.
From 1991 to the present, Sr. Kathleen founded Francis House in 1991, and has been the Executive Director since that time. Francis House now comprises two homes for persons who are terminally ill. Her previous work includes Administrative Assistant for the Sisters of St. Francis, Chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital in Syracuse, Vice-Principal in a Catholic Elementary School, and thirteen years teaching elementary education. She received a B.A. in Education from Marywood College, an M.A in Pastoral Ministry from Boston College, and has a Certificate in Pastoral Counseling.
Sr. Kathleen has given retreats, days of reflection, and numerous lectures on prayer, solitude, the Franciscan way of life, mystics, and spirituality.
Shinge Roshi
Ever since she came to Syracuse in 1976, Shinge Roshi, Abbot of the Zen Center of Syracuse, has practiced with and led the Zen Center of Syracuse. For ten years, the Zen Center met in her attic in the Westcott area. She was acknowledged as a Dharma teacher in the Rinzai Zen tradition in 1992, and was installed as Abbot in 1996. In 1998, after many years of study, training, and practice, Eido Roshi, Abbot of the Zen Studies Society, gave her inka, Dharma transmission, in the Hakuin/Torei lineage. She thus became the first American woman to receive official Rinzai Zen transmission.
Shinge Roshi studied Buddhism on her own during the early 1960's, while pursuing a degree in creative writing at Vassar College and doing graduate work in painting at the New York Studio School. She began Zen practice in 1967 at the Zen Studies Society with Eido Roshi where she also studied with Hakuun Yasutani Roshi and Soen Nakagawa Roshi on their periodic shinge Roshi trips to the United States.
travels widely to give Zen talks, workshops, and retreats, and has authored or co-authored three books and numerous journal articles and reviews for such journals as Buddhadharma, Shambhala Sun, Tricycle, Sculpture Magazine, ARTnews, American Ceramics, Present Tense, and Lilith. She is a member of the Cabinet of Leaders of the InterReligious Council of Central New York. Shinge Roshi is married to artist Andy Hassinger, who leads the Tibetan practice at the Zen Center. They are the parents of Jesse Hassinger, a filmmaker.
This event is co-sponsored by the Student Buddhist Association of Syracuse University and the Zen Center of Syracuse.
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