Biography - Nancy O'Hara Nancy’s first book, Find A Quiet Corner, (published in 1995) still strikes a chord with thousands of people who are looking for A Simple Guide to Self-Peace. Nancy’s simple, mindful approach to serenity and her open and honest offering of her own life, resonates for anyone who is searching for a harmoniously balanced life. With one foot firmly planted in the West and the other in the East, Nancy O’Hara brings to us a rich and powerful message laced with simplicity and compassion.

Originally from New England, Nancy O'Hara has come to think of herself as a New Yorker. For more than thirty years she has lived and worked and loved in New York City. During this time she worked in various corporate settings, in a small bookstore (her all-time favorite job), and in large and stress-inducing companies. She dropped out of the work world twice - once by choice to return to school in the early eighties, and once when she was fired from a cherished job. Both times her life changed dramatically. The first sent her into the business of book retailing and publishing, which she loved, the second sent her to live in a Zen Buddhist Monastery, which radically altered her view of the world.

Nancy had always been curious about 'spiritual' issues, like 'what does it all mean?' but had come to believe that spirituality was not something one talked about, so she suffered her questions silently. When her father died in 1985 her world fell apart and she could no longer contain her longing for some answers. Her search led her to Zen meditation and to pursuing her lifelong desire to write. Nancy’s formal study in spiritual matters deepened in 1992 when she participated in Kessei (an intensive three-month training program) at Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji, a Buddhist monastery in the Catskill mountains of New York. That same year she took the ten precepts of Buddhism in a formal Jukei ceremony and was given the name Myochi, which means 'Wondrous Wisdom' by Japanese Zen Master Eido Shimano Roshi, who continues to be her spiritual teacher. He is the director of the Zen Studies Society of New York and abbot of Shobo-ji Temple in New York City and Dai Bosatsu Zendo in Livingston Manor, New York.

Today, along with writing full time, Nancy shares her experience through her books, meditation classes and private Zen Life Coaching sessions.