The Joys of Koan Practice: A Soto Zen Teacher's Panel, Online 4/25

Practice Center
Date / Time
April 25, 2026 / 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Event Type
Workshops and Retreats
Description

The Zoom link to participate in this event will be provided at least 24 hours before it begins. Please call 415-354-0360 if you have any questions.


Saturday, April 25, 4–6 pm PT

There are a handful of Suzuki Roshi lineage holding priests who have also been practicing for some years in traditional Rinzai Zen koan work, as popularized by Hakuin Zenji in the 18th century. Join as we gather for an online roundtable to consider how traditional koan practice is taught and lived today. The conversation will range from forms and curriculum to the benefits and joys of the work.

We’ll also look at:

  • Online and in-person settings
  • Lay practice and residential/monastic contexts
  • Public and private (dokusan/secret) approaches
  • Other non-traditional modes of koan study

Kokyo Henkel, Bright Window Hermitage, Carmel Valley, CA
Kokyo has been practicing Zen since 1990, in residence at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Green Gulch Farm, No Abode Hermitage in Mill Valley, Bukkokuji Monastery in Japan, and Santa Cruz Zen Center.

Charlie Korin Pokorny, Brooklyn Zen Center, New York, NY
Charlie practiced as a resident at Tassajara and Green Gulch Farm from 1994–2006 and received Dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 2018. He completed koan study with Daniel Terragno in 2018.

Neti Mushin Parekh, Twining Vines Zen Centre, Canberra, Australia
Rev. Parekh began her Zen training in Australia in 1995 with Subhana Barzaghi Roshi in the Diamond Sangha lineage. In 2001 she moved to the US and continued her training with Daniel Terragno Roshi and completed the koan training in 2007. 

Heather Shōren Iarusso, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Carmel Valley, CA
Heather is the current tanto ("head of practice") of Tassajara, where she’s spent eight years residing amid the trees, creeks, and mountains that continuously expound the Buddha-Dharma.

Nomon Tim Burnett, Red Cedar Zen Community, Bellingham, WA
Tim is Red Cedar Zen Community's Guiding Teacher. Tim has been a student of Zoketsu Norman Fischer since 1987 when he was a resident at Green Gulch Farm. He was ordained as a Zen Priest by Norman in 2000, and received Dharma Transmission in 2011.

Robert Reese, Monterey Bay Zen Center, Monterey, CA
Robert Reese, Gotsuzan Jundo (Steadfast Mountain, Purehearted Way), began formal practice at Monterey Bay Zen Center in 1988 and was lay ordained in 1993. He received priest ordained and Dharma transmission 2010 with Sobun Katherine Thanas, Roshi. From 2007 to 2010, he studied in the Open Source koan tradition with Joan Sutherland, Roshi.

Recordings:
All course sessions will be recorded, and registered participants will receive temporary access to the recordings for later viewing.

Fee Information
  • Sustaining Level: $56
  • Member (Become an SFZC Member): $50
  • Sliding Scale 1: $34
  • Sliding Scale 2: $14
  • Current SFZC residents and qualified SFZC retirees may attend this course for free. To register, please email onlineprograms@sfzc.org at least 72 hours before the program begins.

Register Online

Or call 415-354-0360.

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