Henry Shukman: Radical Simplicity (#142)
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This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features poet, writer, and Sanbo Zen teacher Henry Shukman. Henry is Guiding Teacher at Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, studying primarily with Joan Rieck Roshi, John Gaynor, Ruben Habito Roshi, and continuing his training under Yamada Ryo’un Roshi. He also trained in mindfulness practice with Shinzen Young, and has published nine books to date, including fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. He writes regularly for Tricycle, The New York Times, and other publications, most recently having published his memoir One Blade of Grass.
He and host Daniel Aitken discuss:
- his path to Zen, starting on a beach in Argentina;
- connecting words with practice in koans and early Chinese poetry;
- Dōgen’s work and the collection Moon In A Dewdrop;
- building a foundation for Zen with mindfulness and love;
- connecting with nature and the vanishing self;
- the books of Yamada Koun;
- and much more!
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About the Interviewee
Henry Shukman (Ryu’un-ken) is a teacher in the Sanbo Zen school, based in Kamakura, Japan, and is Guiding Teacher at Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has trained primarily with Joan Rieck Roshi, Zen teacher John Gaynor, Ruben Habito Roshi, and continues his training under Yamada Ryo’un Roshi. He has also been mentored in mindfulness practice by Shinzen Young, and is co-director of the Rio Grande Mindfulness Institute, a program of Mountain Cloud. Henry is a writer and poet of British-Jewish origin who has published nine books to date, of fiction, poetry and nonfiction. He writes regularly for Tricycle, The New York Times, and other publications, and his most recent book is the memoir One Blade of Grass.
