Winter Practice Period 2024

Register at the bottom of the page

Every winter Hokyoji hosts a three-week practice period. Participants can sign up for a single week or for multiple weeks.

This year, for the first two weeks, Rev. Dokai Georgesen and Rev. Onryu Kennedy will lead us in a study of the Diamond Sutra.

During the third week, guest teacher Brad Warner will join Dokai in leading a sesshin. The topic is “The Teachings of Dainin Katagiri Roshi.”

Attendance of the full three-week period can be used toward the SZBA’s ango requirement (contact hokyoji@hokyoji.org for more information).

The Diamond Sutra

First week, January 29-February 4
Second week, February 5-11

The Diamond Sutra is a Mahayana teaching and part of the Prajnaparamita sutra. This teaching is alive and relevant in real time.  How is this so?  We will investigate this sutra together. When the mind is groundless the world becomes boundless.

We will study the wonderful conversation between Subhuti and Buddha.  When Subhuti asks the question “How does a noble son and daughter stand, walk, and control their thoughts,” he is asking this question on behalf of all. We are not separate from this past, and we witness the Buddha’s response. We aspiring bodhisattvas are curious to hear this teaching.

In addition, upon hearing this sutra, the 6th ancestor of Chan, Huineng, had a sudden insight and the way was opened to all beings, not only to the monks and nuns.

How do we apply this teaching to our arising conditions: climate change, racial justice, and the many challenging circumstances we are in at this time?

Suggested texts:

• The Diamond Sutra by Red Pine
• Buddhist Wisdom Books: The Diamond Sutra and The Heart Sutra by Edward Conze

Other suggested resources:

• Kikan Michael Howard’s Katagiri Roshi Transcripts. Visit the List of Talks to access recordings and transcripts of Katagiri Roshi’s talks on the Diamond Sutra and many other subjects.
• The Diamond Sutra Sung in English

The Teachings of Dainin Katagiri Roshi

Sesshin, February 12-18

During this sesshin, Dharma talks will be offered by Hokyoji’s Guiding Teacher, Dokai Georgesen, who began studying with Katagiri Roshi in 1974 and received Dharma transmission from him in 1989, and Brad Warner, who says that Katagiri Roshi is one of his heroes. Brad writes:

Katagiri Roshi was one of the best of the Zen teachers who came to America in the 1960s. I never met him, but my first teacher was a student of Kobun Chino Roshi who was a friend of Katagiri Roshi. Katagiri’s book Each Moment is the Universe is the best book about Dogen’s concept of “being-time” that I’ve ever come across. His explanations of Dogen’s difficult philosophy are clear and easy to follow. It’s a lot easier than reading Dogen! I’ll do my best to talk about what I’ve learned from reading Katagiri Roshi’s books.

Practice Period Leaders

Dokai Georgesen began his Zen study at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center with Katagiri Roshi in 1974. He went on a 2-year pilgrimage studying Buddhism in India and Japan. Upon returning, he lived at Hokyoji until his ordination in 1984. He received Dharma Transmission from Katagiri Roshi in 1989. Since then he’s traveled to Japan several times to practice with Ikko Narasaki Roshi, Tsugen Narasaki Roshi, and Maezumi Roshi. Dokai serves as board president of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association. He currently divides his time between Hokyoji and an apartment in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He has been Hokyoji’s guiding teacher since 2007.

Rev. Onryu Kennedy received transmission from Rev. Byakuren Ragir in October 2018 in Katagiri Roshi’s lineage and from Rev. Eido Reinhart in January 2021 in Okumura Roshi’s lineage. She participated in zuise at Eiheiji on January 11, 2023 and at Sojiji on January 14, 2023. She trained at Clouds in Water Zen Center, Hokyoji Zen Practice Community, Sanshin Zen Community, Tassajara Zen Monastery, and Toshoji International Zen Monastery.

Brad Warner is the author of The Other Side of Nothing, Hardcore Zen, Sit Down and Shut Up, Don’t Be a Jerk, and several other books. He was ordained a Zen Buddhist monk by Gudo Nishijima Roshi. He grew up in Akron, Ohio and Nairobi, Kenya. He has practiced Zen for over 40 years. He plays bass in the hardcore punk band Zero Defex. For 11 years, he worked in Japan for the company founded by creator of Godzilla. He’s appeared in the film Zombie Bounty Hunter M.D. and there is a documentary about him titled Brad Warner’s Hardcore Zen.