Paintings of rice cakes, to satisfy painted hunger
Kokyo doing takuhatsu (alms collecting) in Japan
From the beginning, Zen Buddhism has been known as a “separate transmission outside the scriptures, not based on written words, pointing directly to the human mind, seeing true nature and becoming buddha.” However, the Zen ancestors were also thoroughly steeped in the traditional teachings of Buddha-Dharma that guide people to awakening from entrapment in false beliefs about themselves and the world, teachings for relieving the discontent that arises from dualistic projections. Especially in the modern age, when Buddha-Dharma is still just beginning to take root in the West, it is essential for all sincere practitioners to understand the basic principles of practice and realization that have been passed down for centuries.
For those vowing to enter and study all Dharma gates as skillful means to assist in the liberation of all beings, it is also necessary to deeply understand the profound and subtle teachings of the Mahayana, the Great Vehicle of Bodhisattvas, including the views of Mind-Only, the Middle-Way of emptiness, and Buddha-Nature, which form the basis for the Zen tradition. Though intellectual study of the words of the ancient realized ones is certainly not the same as their direct realization, some would say that it is virtually impossible to realize what they did without such thorough and far-reaching study, to unravel our most deeply held false assumptions.
Dōgen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō Zen lineage in Japan wrote: "An ancient buddha said that a painting of a rice cake does not satisfy hunger... However, to think this statement means that skillful teachings are useless is a great mistake... There is no remedy for satisfying hunger other than paintings of rice cakes. Without painted hunger you never become a true person."
Rev. Kōkyō Henkel has long been interested in exploring how the classic teachings of Buddha-Dharma from ancient India, China, and Japan can still be very much alive and useful here and now, to bring peace and openness to the minds and hearts of this troubled world. This website offers Kōkyō's line-by-line commentaries on many of these classic texts, which are often difficult to fully appreciate and understand without commentary.
Kōkyō has been practicing Zen Buddhism since 1990 in residence at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, and No Abode Hermitage - all in the Sōtō Zen lineage of Shunryū Suzuki Rōshi - and a year at Bukkokuji Monastery in Japan (with Harada Tangen Rōshi). After living in these monastic communities for almost two decades, Kōkyō was then teacher at Santa Cruz Zen Center from 2010-2020, and since then has been studying and practicing with no fixed abode along with his wife, Rev. Shōhō Kuebast.
Kōkyō was ordained as a Zen priest in 1994 by Tenshin Reb Anderson Rōshi, receiving the Dharma name Kōkyō Yakai (Luminous Owl, Midnight Liberation 光梟夜解). He received Dharma Transmission from Tenshin Rōshi in 2010, becoming a 92nd generation lineage-holder authorized to guide others on the path. Kōkyō has also been practicing with the Tibetan Dzogchen (“Great Perfection”) Teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche since 2003, in California, Colorado, and Kathmandu. Kōkyō gave Dharma Transmission in 2021 to Rev. Mushin Neti Parekh, who is offering Zen teachings from her home in Canberra, Australia.
May all those who encounter the teachings of the Buddhas and Zen Ancestors be filled with boundless freedom and joy, finding no edges in the vast ocean of eternal brightness!
For those vowing to enter and study all Dharma gates as skillful means to assist in the liberation of all beings, it is also necessary to deeply understand the profound and subtle teachings of the Mahayana, the Great Vehicle of Bodhisattvas, including the views of Mind-Only, the Middle-Way of emptiness, and Buddha-Nature, which form the basis for the Zen tradition. Though intellectual study of the words of the ancient realized ones is certainly not the same as their direct realization, some would say that it is virtually impossible to realize what they did without such thorough and far-reaching study, to unravel our most deeply held false assumptions.
Dōgen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō Zen lineage in Japan wrote: "An ancient buddha said that a painting of a rice cake does not satisfy hunger... However, to think this statement means that skillful teachings are useless is a great mistake... There is no remedy for satisfying hunger other than paintings of rice cakes. Without painted hunger you never become a true person."
Rev. Kōkyō Henkel has long been interested in exploring how the classic teachings of Buddha-Dharma from ancient India, China, and Japan can still be very much alive and useful here and now, to bring peace and openness to the minds and hearts of this troubled world. This website offers Kōkyō's line-by-line commentaries on many of these classic texts, which are often difficult to fully appreciate and understand without commentary.
Kōkyō has been practicing Zen Buddhism since 1990 in residence at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, and No Abode Hermitage - all in the Sōtō Zen lineage of Shunryū Suzuki Rōshi - and a year at Bukkokuji Monastery in Japan (with Harada Tangen Rōshi). After living in these monastic communities for almost two decades, Kōkyō was then teacher at Santa Cruz Zen Center from 2010-2020, and since then has been studying and practicing with no fixed abode along with his wife, Rev. Shōhō Kuebast.
Kōkyō was ordained as a Zen priest in 1994 by Tenshin Reb Anderson Rōshi, receiving the Dharma name Kōkyō Yakai (Luminous Owl, Midnight Liberation 光梟夜解). He received Dharma Transmission from Tenshin Rōshi in 2010, becoming a 92nd generation lineage-holder authorized to guide others on the path. Kōkyō has also been practicing with the Tibetan Dzogchen (“Great Perfection”) Teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche since 2003, in California, Colorado, and Kathmandu. Kōkyō gave Dharma Transmission in 2021 to Rev. Mushin Neti Parekh, who is offering Zen teachings from her home in Canberra, Australia.
May all those who encounter the teachings of the Buddhas and Zen Ancestors be filled with boundless freedom and joy, finding no edges in the vast ocean of eternal brightness!
With Zen Teacher Tenshin Reb Anderson Roshi
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Kokyo Henkel
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With Dzogchen Teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche
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"Alms and Dharma both given, unsurpassed merit and virtue - the perfection of generosity completely fulfilled."
(Zen verse traditionally recited when receiving donations)
Kokyo is supported only by donations, entrusting his life to the generosity of others.
(Zen verse traditionally recited when receiving donations)
Kokyo is supported only by donations, entrusting his life to the generosity of others.
