Buddha-Nature in Early Chan and Japanese Zen by Rev. Kokyo Henkel: Conversations on Buddha-Nature

Buddha-Nature in Early Chan and Japanese Zen by Rev. Kokyo Henkel: Conversations on Buddha-Nature

Kokyo Henkel

Interview

Interview

About the interview

In this video, part of the ongoing series entitled "Conversations on Buddha-Nature" produced by the Tsadra Foundation, Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho and Rev. Kokyo Henkel discuss buddha-nature in early Chan and Japanese Zen and comparisons with Tibetan Dzogchen. They also discuss some Koans, Dōgen, and many textual sources from Indian sutras in Tibetan and Chinese translation to sources for key schools of Buddhism in China and Japan up to more modern texts.

Kokyo Henkel has been practicing Zen since 1990 in residence at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (most recently as Head of Practice), Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, No Abode Hermitage in Mill Valley, and Bukkokuji Monastery in Japan. He was ordained as a priest in 1994 by Tenshin Anderson Roshi and received Dharma Transmission from him in 2010. Kokyo is interested in exploring how the original teachings of Buddha-Dharma from ancient India, China, and Japan can still be very much alive and useful in present-day America to bring peace and openness to the minds of this troubled world.

Kokyo has also been practicing with the Tibetan Dzogchen ("Great Completeness") Teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche since 2003, in California, Colorado, and Kathmandu.

Clips from the interview

Clips from the interview

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: On His First Encounter with Buddha-Nature Teachings

---

1 of 13

4:10 min

;

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: On the Term "Big Mind"

---

2 of 13

3:56 min

;

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: On the Famous Mu Koan

---

3 of 13

4:26 min

;

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: On Dogen's Articulation of Buddha-Nature

---

4 of 13

3:58 min

;

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: On Mazu's Statements: "Mind Itself Is Buddha" and "Ordinary Mind Is the Way"

---

5 of 13

3:01 min

;

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: On the Connection between Zen and Dzogchen

---

6 of 13

7:56 min

;

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: Sources of Buddha-Nature Teachings in the Zen Tradition

---

7 of 13

20:56 min

;

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: On the Use of the Term "Atman" in Buddha-Nature Scriptures

---

8 of 13

5:02 min

;

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: On the Various Early Influences on the Formation of the Zen Tradition

---

9 of 13

8:05 min

;

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: On the Differences between Zen and Dzogchen and the Practice of Shikantaza, or "Just Sitting"

---

10 of 13

8:07 min

;

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: Zhiyi's Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime and the Relationship between Tiantai and Zen

---

11 of 13

4:14 min

;

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: Does the Zen Tradition Have an Equivalent to Mandala Practice in Vajrayana?

---

12 of 13

3:05 min

;

Rev. Kokyo Henkel: Resource Recommendations for Learning about Buddha-Nature in the Zen Tradition

---

13 of 13

5:25 min

;

Dzogchen - Dzogchen is an advanced system of meditation techniques to reveal the innate state of perfection primarily, but not exclusively, espoused by the Nyingma Buddhist tradition and the Tibetan Bön tradition. Skt. महासन्धि Tib. རྫོགས་ཆེན།