Cuke Audio Podcast

With Guest Lynne (Warkov) Lockie

Lynne Lockie, then Warkov, came to Sokoji in 1960 with her husband Saul Warkov.  She  was a founder of the Minneapolis Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis that invited Dainin Katagiri to be their teacher. She became a psychoanalyst and  retired recently from teaching mindfulness at the New College in Sarasota., Florida. She is still involved in contemplative practice.

With Linda Hess

Linda Hess came to the SF Zen Center in 1974 after a decade of studies and seeking in India. She has continued returning to India through the years. She became a senior lecturer emeritus at Stanford University in religious studies. She's written three books focusing on the poet Kabir and translating his songs/poems and is working on another.  The Bijak of Kabir 1983, Bodies of Song, Kabir Oral Traditions and Performative Worlds in North India - 2015. Emptiness. Kumar Gandharva performs the poetry of Kabir. She and husband Kazuaki Tanahashi live in Berkeley. She tells about all that and her life in this podcast.

 

With guest John K. Nelson

John Nelson was for years a Professor of East Asian religions in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of San Francisco. He is the author of Experimental Buddhism: Innovation and Activism in Contemporary Japan. His studies and teaching have included a good deal on Zen. In this podcast he talks about experiences and observations in Japan, Indonesia, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and more. Check out his blog Far West Passage: Experimental Views on Asia, Buddhism, and the Awakening Mind at <nelsonjblog.wordpress.com>.. More on John Nelson at his page on cuke.com.

With Guest Stuart Lachs

Stuart Lachs was at the first practice period at Tassajara. and has practiced  with many other groups through the years. including two years with Eido Shimano and eleven years with Walter Nowick. Check out his website Zen Perspectives: Commentaries on Zen and Society - https://lachs.inter-link.com and learn more about him in this podcast.

With Guest JJ Wilson for a 2nd podcast

JJ Wilson founded the Women's Studies program at Sonoma State U. Her husband Phillip Wilson was one of Shunryu Suzuki's early ordained disciples. They came  to Sokoji , Suzuki's SF temple, in 1961. She wrote her thesis on Virginia Wolf there and is a leading authority on Virginia Wolf.

With Guest Daigaku Rumme

Daigaku Rumme is the teacher at the Confluence Zen Center (confluencezen.org) in Maplewood, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. He was ordained by and received transmission from Seikkei Harada and practiced for 27 years at Hosshinji in Obama, Japan. He was with the Soto Zen International Center for seven years while living at the SFZC City Center. For five years he was director of the Soto Zen Buddhism North America Office and the Head Priest of Zenshuji in LA.  In 2015 he moved to St. Louis and has been teaching there ever since. In this podcast, Daigaku fills in the blanks on all that, and talks about the latest book he's translated working with the author:  “The Formless Record of the Transmission of Illumination:  a Contemporary Commentary on Keizan Zenji’s Denkoroku - volume 1"   by Gien Inoue.

With guest Neil Rubenking

Neil Rubenking came to the SF Zen Center in the seventies and  had this interest in computers that benefitted the SFZC when hardly anyone knew anything about them and he sailed into a career with PC Magazine that continues to this day as their senior security analyst.  He also worked for the CIA as a student summer job. Listen to this podcast and you'll learn more vital information about Neil and so forth. 

With Guest Vicki Austin

Shosan Vicki Austin is a priest and teacher at the SF Zen Center whose reach has spread further due to her knowledge of ceremonies, meditation, and Iyengar Yoga.  Her practice began in 1971 with a near death experience. She has studied and taught in America, India, Japan, and Australia where she became fascinated with the aboriginal ways . Listen to this podcast with her and  find out what she has to say about all this - and more.

With Guest Jane Hirshfield

Jane Hirshfield is a renowned poet. She first came to the SF Zen Center, showing up at Tassajara in 1974 when I was head monk, a  good day for us both.  In this podcast she talks about her life as a poet, a Buddhist, a lover of life and this planet and all that is living.  She  reads from her recently published  The Asking: New and Selected Poems (from fifty years of poetry).

Shamsul Bahari

Shamsul Bahari was born in Penang, Malaysia, and through a circuitous route through Dennis Kelly ended up at Green Gulch Farm. He's back in  Penang now. Check him out in this podcast and at  cheeseburgerbuddha.blogspot.com.