About

Ira Rabois

Writer and Author.

After earning a B.A. from the University of Michigan as a philosophy major, Ira Rabois traveled to Sierra Leone in 1969 where he taught English as a member of the Peace Corps. Upon his return to the U.S., Rabois settled in upstate New York as part of an intentional community and worked as an English teacher at the private free Clearwater School. He earned a M.A.T. from SUNY-Binghamton in 1973 and studied Karate and meditation with Hidy Ochiai starting in 1975. While teaching for 27 years at the Lehman Alternative School in Ithaca, Ira Rabois developed innovative curriculum in English, Philosophy, History, Drama, Karate, and Psychology, and refined a method of mindful questioning.

Rabois has also been the Head Instructor for Hidy Ochiai’s Karate of Ithaca for 18 years. He first learned about Zen meditation in a lecture and meditation session with Philip Kapleau Roshi, author of The Three Pillars of Zen, in October, 1968. He furthered his study of meditation and mindfulness at Namgyal Institute for Tibetan Studies, and at The Omega Institute with Robert Thurman, Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, David Loy and others. Ira Rabois continues to study the mind and life. He and his wife, Linda, live outside Ithaca, NY, in an old apple orchard.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

1985–2012                  Lehman Alternative Community School, Ithaca NY

Courses included Psychology East-West, Questions, Eastern Philosophy, Historical Development of Human Thought in The West and Japan, Drama, Karate, Scriptwriting, The Story from Day One, Psychological Literature.

Psychology of Mindfulness, workshop leader for teachers

February 2012 and 2013

Essential Questions, In-service Workshop Leader, Ithaca City School District, 2001

 

1996-present               Hidy Ochiai’s Washin-Ryu Karate-Do

Head Instructor, Ithaca, NY

 

1969-1974                   Clearwater School, a private free school in Trumansburg, NY English and social studies grades 3-8

 

Vestal High School, Vestal NY

High School English part-time.

 

Peace Corps, Sierra Leone, West Africa

English and math grades 4-7

 

EDUCATION

M.A.T. English, SUNY Binghamton, Permanent Certification Secondary School English, Graduated with Distinction, 1973.

BA, Major in Philosophy. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Graduated with Honors, 1969.

 

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Hidy Ochiai’s Washin-ryu Karate-Do, Vestal, NY  Karate, Zen meditation with Hidy Ochiai, 1975-present.

Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NY

David Loy, Ph. D., Money, Sex, War, Karma, August 2012.

Dennis Genpo Merzel Roshi, Big Mind: Accessing Universal Consciousness. Co-sponsored by the Institute for the Advancement of Human Behavior, July 2006.

Fritjof Capra, Ph.D., Complexity and Life, August 2004.

Lou Marinoff, Ph.D., The Big Questions: How Philosophy Can Change Your Life, July 2004.

Saki Santorelli, Melissa Blacker, Florence Meyer, Mindfulness Tools, July 2003.

Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, The Practice of an Open and Wise Heart, August 2001.

Sam Keen, Ph.D., Loving the Questions, July 2000..

Robert Thurman, Ph.D., Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness, July 1999.

Amit Goswami, Ph.D., Quantum Physics, Consciousness and Creativity, August 1998.

Linda Trichter-Metcalf, Ph.D., and Tobin Simon, Ph.D., Proprioceptive Writing, July 1991, August 1992.

Lee Pulos, Ph.D., High Performance Learning, August 1990.

Mel Bucholtz, Eriksonian Hypnosis, August 1989.

Consciousness Research and Training Project, created by Lawrence LeShan, psychotherapist and author of How to Meditate.  Meditation, mind-body medicine, and stress reduction coursework. October of 1991 and 1992.

Namgyal Monastery Institute For Tibetan Studies, Ron Liefer, Ph.D., Buddhism and Psychology.

Thukchen Rinpoche, Meditation.

 

CONFERENCES

August 2011 and 2013 – Omega Institute, Education and Mindfulness.

Oct. 2009 – Sponsored by The Mind And Life Institute in Washington, D.C., Educating World Citizens for the 21st Century

August 2009 – Omega Institute, organized by The Shambhala Sun Magazine, Discovering Happiness: What the Buddha Taught

Nov. 2000 – Coalition for Essential Schools, Fall Forum Conference in Providence, RI