Rev. Kyōki Roberts is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Sōtō Zen priest and the current head priest of the Zen Center of Pittsburgh at the Deep Spring Temple in Bell Acres, Pennsylvania

Bell Acres, Pennsylvania

Bell Acres is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 1,388 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Bell Acres is located at ....

. A Dharma heir and senior ordained student of Nonin Chowaney

Nonin Chowaney

Rev. Nonin Chowaney is an American Soto Zen priest, brush calligrapher, and the current abbot and head priest of the at the Heartland Temple in Omaha, Nebraska. A Dharma heir of the late Dainin Katagiri-roshi, Chowaney received Dharma transmission in 1989 and is the founder of an organization of...

-roshi

Roshi

is a Japanese honorific title used in Zen Buddhism that literally means "old teacher" or "elder master" and sometimes denotes a person who gives spiritual guidance to a Zen sangha or congregation...

, Roberts received Dharma transmission

Dharma transmission

Dharma transmission refers to "the manner in which the teaching, or Dharma, is passed from a Zen master to their disciple and heir...

 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

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 at the Zuiō-ji (瑞応寺) and Shōgo-ji (聖護寺) monasteries and in the United States at Minnesota Zen Center

Minnesota Zen Center

Minnesota Zen Meditation Center was formed when the founding head teacher, Dainin Katagiri, was invited to come from California in 1972 to teach a small but growing group of Minneapolis students interested in the dharma. After his death, Shohaku Okumura served as interim head teacher until the...

, San Francisco Zen Center

San Francisco Zen Center

San Francisco Zen Center , is a network of affiliated Sōtō Zen practice and retreat centers in the San Francisco Bay area, comprising the City Center or Beginner's Mind Temple, the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. The sangha was incorporated by Shunryu...

, and Green Gulch Farm, Roberts is certified by the Sōtō School of Japan and serves on the Board of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association

Soto Zen Buddhist Association

The Soto Zen Buddhist Association was formed in 1996 by American and Japanese Zen teachers in response to a perceived need to draw the various autonomous lineages of the North American Sōtō stream of Zen together for mutual support as well as the development of common training and ethical standards...

 as Vice President, and the Community Advisory Board of WQED Pittsburgh

WQED (TV)

WQED is a Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Established April 1, 1954, it was the first community-sponsored television station in the United States as well as the fifth public TV station...

."http://www.wqed.org/about/board.php

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

Mattress Factory

The Mattress Factory is a museum of contemporary art located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It exhibits room-sized installation art by regional, national and international artists....

 in Pittsburgh. Her installation exhibit, No where to go; nothing to do: Just Sitting, invited visitors to experience aspects of Zazen

Zazen

In Zen Buddhism, zazen is a meditative discipline practitioners perform to calm the body and the mind, and be able to concentrate enough to experience insight into the nature of existence and thereby gain enlightenment .- Significance :Zazen is considered the heart of Zen Buddhist practice...

 (seated meditation)."http://www.mattress.org/index.cfm?event=ShowArtist&eid=34&id=154&c=Past

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

DePaul University

DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...

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."http://www.dharmawomen.org/BWC_web01.pdf

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."http://www.jikoji.org/newsletters/newsletter_dec_07_insert.pdf