Irmgard Schloegl
| Ven Myokyo-ni | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| School | Rinzai |
| Personal | |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Born | Irmgard Schlögl 29 January 1921 Leitersdorf, Styria, Austria |
| Died | 29 March 2007 (aged 86) Fairlight Zen Buddhist Monastery, Luton, UK |
| Religious career | |
| Teacher |
Oda Sesso Sojun Kannon |
Ven. Myokyo-ni (born Irmgard Schlögl; 29 January 1921 - 29 March 2007) was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist nun and head of the Zen Centre in London.
Raised in Leitersdorf im Raabtal, Styria, Austria, she obtained a Ph.D. degree in Geology from Graz University before joining the Zen Group at the Buddhist Society under Christmas Humphreys in 1950. In 1960 she went to Japan and trained at Daitoku-ji monastery for six years under Oda Sesso Rōshi and, after his death, for a further six years under his successor Sojun Kannon Rōshi. In 1966, following the death of Oda Sesso Roshi, she returned to England for nine months, during which time she started a small Zazen Group at the Buddhist Society which continued until she returned permanently in 1972. With the introduction of another Zazen class, and then a beginners' class, running alongside Christmas Humphreys' original Zen Class, the Zen Group grew in size until the Zen Centre was formally established in 1979. During this period she was living at the home of Christmas Humphreys whom she referred to affectionately as 'father'. On his death in 1983, his residence was bequeathed to the Zen Centre becoming Shobo-an, Hermitage of the True Dharma, a residential training temple.
In 1984, Sōkō Morinaga Rōshi, who had been head monk at Daitoku-ji during her time there, visited England with a retinue of seven monks, the requisite number to ordain her as both nun and teacher and to inaugurate Shobo-an. The ordination took place at Chithurst Forest Monastery on 22 July at the invitation of the Abbot Ajahn Sumedho. Sōkō Morinaga Rōshi gave her the name Myokyo-ni, which was the name he had given her as a Zen student in Japan. The name is from Myokyo meaning 'mirror of the subtle' and ni meaning 'nun').
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