We want to be plain about who we are. We are lay practitioners and
lifelong students, not ordained priests or teachers. What we offer is
sincere practice, a real connection to a living lineage, and the
willingness to set out the cushions week after week and hold a steady
place for others to sit. We also hope that as this community grows,
someone with deeper training, perhaps even an ordained teacher, may find
their way to it. We would welcome that with open hands.
Jay Motley, MD
Jay came to Zen the way many people do, looking for a steadier way to
meet a demanding life, and he found it in the practice of just
sitting. He has practiced for years, including sesshins, the extended
silent retreats that anchor the tradition, at the Chapel Hill Zen
Center. In his work as a physician trained in anesthesiology and
lifestyle medicine, he has long held that lasting change grows from
steady daily practice, the same truth he keeps meeting on the cushion.
He is a longtime runner and a grateful student of this tradition, glad
to help bring it home to the Upstate.
Adam Barnett, MD
Adam first came to Zen during medical school, when he began sitting at
the Chapel Hill Zen Center looking for a way through the demands of his
training. He found something steadier there, a calm and a clarity that
stayed with him, and he has practiced in the tradition ever since. In
his professional life, Adam is a cardiac electrophysiologist who treats
heart-rhythm disorders through catheter ablation and implantable
devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators. He earned his medical
degree at Duke University and completed his internal medicine
residency, his cardiology fellowship, and a further fellowship in
clinical cardiac electrophysiology there as well. Before medicine he
worked as an electrical engineer, with a degree from the University of
Michigan. Away from the hospital, he spends his time with his wife and
young daughters, cycles, and plays the piano.
This community is meant to outgrow its founders
If you have a deeper connection to the Zen tradition, through long
practice or ordination, and you feel drawn to what we are building, we
would be glad to hear from you. You can write to us anytime at
[email protected].
