The Order of Buddhist Contemplatives is a Soto Zen religious order founded in 1978 by Reverend Master P.T.N.H. Jiyu Kennett (1924-1996). Born Peggy Kennett in England and after studying music in London and Durham, she travelled to Malaysia to be ordained by the Venerable Seck Kim Seng (a Chinese Buddhist master) and then on to Japan to become a monastic disciple of the Very Reverend Keido Chisan Koho Zenji, Abbot of Dai Han Zen Sojiji Monastery in Yokohama.
She was certified by him as a Master in 1963, eventually returning to the West in 1969. She founded Shasta Abbey in California, www.shastaabbey.org and Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in Northumberland, www.throssel.org.uk Both are retreat centres as well as training monasteries.
The Order of Buddhist Contemplatives, www.obcon.org is comprised of male and female monks training together in the Buddhist priesthood as well as lay practitioners who have taken on a commitment as lay ministers.