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Bon Yeon Jane Dobisz

Bon Yeon (Jane McLaughlin-Dobisz) is a Zen master in the Kwan Um School of Zen, a dharma heir of the late Seung Sahn. She currently serves as Guiding teacher of the Cambridge Zen Center in Massachusetts, a practice center where she has lived and practiced for many years. Prior to becoming a student of Zen master Seung Sahn in 1982, Bon Yeon had background in Tibetan Buddhism as well a Vipassana meditation. She has led several Kyol Che’s (the Korean equivalent of ango) in the United States as well as Poland and South Africa, and she is the author of the books The Wisdom of Solitude: A Zen Retreat in the Woods and One Hundred Days of Solitude: Losing Myself and Finding Grace on a Zen Retreat.

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Jane Dobisz on Amazon.com

(Photo by Arunas Kulikauskas via Flickr using a CC-BY-SA license.)

Jane Dobisz on Amazon.com

In the middle of winter, Jane Dobisz arrives at a lonely, primitive cabin armed with nothing but modest food supplies and an intensely regimented daily schedule that she thumbtacks to the wall. “3:15 A.M. Wake Up. 3:20 300 Bows. 4:00 Ma. 4:15 Sitting. 4:45 Walking.” And so it goes, for 100 days. Dobisz, inspired by her Korean Zen master’s discipline of long, solitary retreats, has decided to embark on a retreat of her own. The unfolding story of her experience is related here. The suburban-raised Dobisz weaves amusing anecdotes about learning to live a Walden-like existence — water comes from a well, wood needs to be chopped — with Zen teachings and striking insights into the miracles and foibles of the human mind when there’s nothing on hand to distract it. Entertaining and inspiring, the book is a joyous testament to the benefits that solitude and reflection can bring to all.

The whole idea of being alone had always intrigued me, yet at the same time scared me half to death. Being alone would mean no human contact, no talking, no going to work, paying bills, running errands, or doing any of the usual things I spent so much energy on. What would that be like? Who would I find there, underneath all the layers of social conditioning, obligations, rules, and cultural filters? Would I even like this person? It seemed the best way to find out would be to follow the traditional monastic schedule of sitting, walking, chanting, bowing, and cutting wood for one hundred days.

— from the Introduction

Inspired by her Korean Zen master’s discipline of long, solitary retreats, Jane Dobisz strikes out to a lone cabin in the countryside of New England, armed with nothing but determination, modest food supplies, and an intensely regimented daily practice schedule. The unfolding story of her experience is threaded through with Zen teachings and striking insights into the miracles and foibles of the human mind when left to its own devices, with little distraction at hand.

Both entertaining and inspiring, The Wisdom of Solitude offers a poignant testament to the benefits that reflection and retreat of any duration bring to our lives.

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