Kyoki Roberts

Rev. Kyōki Roberts (OPW) is an American Sōtō Zen priest and the former head priest of the Zen Center of Pittsburgh at the Deep Spring Temple in Bell Acres, Pennsylvania. A Dharma heir and senior ordained student of Nonin Chowaney-roshi, Roberts received Dharma transmission in June 2001 and is a founding member of an organization of Sōtō priests known as the Order of the Prairie Wind (OPW). Having studied Zen in Japan at the Zuiō-ji (瑞応寺) and Shōgo-ji (聖護寺) monasteries and in the United States at Minnesota Zen Center, San Francisco Zen Center, and Green Gulch Farm, Roberts is certified by the Sōtō School of Japan and has served on the Board of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association as Vice President, and the Community Advisory Board of WQED Pittsburgh.

Roberts blended her practice of Zen Buddhism with art during the 2003 exhibition Gestures: An Exhibition of Small Site-Specific Works at The Mattress Factory Museum in Pittsburgh. Her installation exhibit, No where to go; nothing to do: Just Sitting, invited visitors to experience aspects of Zazen (seated meditation)."[1]

In March 2006, Roberts served as a member of the Plenary Panel of Venerable Women: Women Living the Dharma in the 21st Century during the first Buddhist Women's Conference held at DePaul University and sponsored by the Buddhist Council of the Midwest. During the conference, she blended her Zen training and her 10 years of experience as a mediator for the State of Nebraska to present a workshop on Difficult Conversations as Practice."[2]

In October 2007, Roberts oversaw the planning and conducting of the inaugural Soto Zen Buddhist Association Training Ango at Jikoji where nine novice priests trained in the ceremonial forms, origins, teachings and practices of Sōtō Zen."[3]