Kobun Chino Otogawa

1938–2002 →

A Sōtō Zen teacher who came from Japan in 1967, at Suzuki Roshi’s asking, and stayed. He taught in zendos, and as often at kitchen tables and on living-room floors.

He was among the handful who carried this practice out of Japan and left it growing in places that had never held it: Tassajara and Haiku Zendo, then Jikoji, Hokoji in New Mexico, Felsentor and Puregg in Europe, and twenty-eight summers at Naropa.

When I say your name, it’s another name of the world. →

Collections

1. early 1970sKobun's Talks on the Heart Sutra
   Edited by Angie Boissevain and Judy Cosgrove
2. early 1970sKobun's Teaching on the Platform Sutra
   Edited by Angie Boissevain and Judy Cosgrove
3. 1972–1973Thursday Mornings
   Los Altos Zendo
4. 1974–1993Embracing Mind
   Transcribed by Angie Boissevain, edited by Judy Cosgrove and Shinbō Joseph Hall — Jikoji Zen Center, 2016
5. 1974–1979Hōtō
   Dharma Lamp — the newsletter of Haiku Zendo and Bodhi
6. 1975Los Altos Study Group
   Twelve weekly meetings in members' houses
7. 1979Santa Cruz Zen Center
8. 1999Naropa
   Talks and panels at Naropa University, Boulder
9. 2012–2015Remembering Kobun
   Talks about Kobun by those who knew him
10. Selected Teachings
    Published by Jikoji Zen Center at kobun.jikoji.org

“Dharma talk,” which I don’t understand. What do you mean by dharma talk? Once it is spoken, it is a fake dharma — which I understand.Kobun, at a Tanjo-e sesshin