Tenzo Kyokun Online Study Group (Dogen’s Instructions for the Cook)

This weekly study group is scheduled for 8 weeks. Our suggested price is $80, but pay what you can, no one will be turned away.

Please join Hokyoji this Spring for an eight week online study of Dogen’s classic work, Tenzo Kyokun.

A short but moving text, Instructions for the Cook, as it is known in English, has long been prized as an inspirational guide for living a whole-hearted life. Over the eight weeks, we will come together to read, discuss, and reflect on how we can apply its principles to our daily lives in the 21st century. We are encouraged to journal, draw, or use other creative forms to express how Dogen’s teachings are manifesting in our lived experience.

Our translation will be the one included in the book Nothing is Hidden: Essays on the Zen Master Dogen’s Instructions for the Cook, by Shohaku Okumura, Jisho Warner, and Taigen Dan Leighton, which includes commentaries by leading Japanese Zen teachers including Hokyoji’s founder Dainin Katagiri Roshi. We encourage the use of supplementary readings (see below).

All are welcome regardless of experience with Zen practice or familiarity with Dogen.

The eight week online study group will be facilitated by Rev. Onryu “GD” Kennedy, Associate Teacher at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community. She will be co-creating this space with several other Zen Practitioners. We will meet Tuesdays, 6:30-8:00pm Central Time, starting March 5, 2024. For more information, contact Onryu at onryukennedy@gmail.com. The suggested donation is $80 for the entire series. Nobody will be turned away; simply donate what you can.

Supplementary texts:

Online version of Instructions for the Cook (used in Nothing is Hidden).

How to Cook Your Life, with commentary by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi.

Dogen’s Pure Standards for the Zen Community, translated by Taigen Daniel Leighton and Shohaku Okumura.

Instructions for the Cook: A Zen Master’s Lesson in Living a Life That Matters, by Bernard Glassman and Rick Fields.

This eight week study group is part of a larger planned exploration of the Tenzo Kyokun. All who participate will be encouraged to help direct the next phases.