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Dainin Katagiri Roshi (1928-1990) was born in Osaka, Japan. He trained at Eiheiji, one of the two head temples of Sotoshu, for three years under the guidance of Eko Hashimoto Roshi and attended Komazawa University. In 1963 he came to the United States to the Zenshuji Soto Zen Mission in Los Angeles, later moving to Sokoji Zen Mission and San. DAININ KATAGIRI ROSHI Katagiri Roshi, teacher of Steve Hagen and Norm Randolph, was the founding teacher of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center and Hokyoji Zen Practice Community. Before moving to Minnesota in 1972, Katagiri Roshi taught at the San Francisco Zen Center and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center as assistant to Shunryu Suzuki Roshi.
I’ve transcribed these talks from audio recordings in the online Dainin Katagiri Audio Archive. The talks are a treasure trove of dharma material, most of which is not found in the four books that have been compiled from Dainin Katagiri’s teachings. You can read the transcripts on their own, or follow along while listening to the recordings, which are referenced at the top of each talk.
- Returning to Silence: Zen Practice in Daily Life (Shambhala Dragon Editions) by Katagiri, Dainin and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com.
- Born in Osaka, Japan, in 1928, Dainin Katagiri was trained traditionally as a Zen teacher. He first came to the United States in 1963, to help with a Soto Zen Temple in Los Angeles. He later joined Shunryu Suzuki Roshi at the San Francisco Zen Center and taught there until Suzuki Roshi’s death in 1971.
- Dainin Katagiri Roshi was one of the pioneers who brought Zen Buddhism from Japan to the United States. (“Roshi” means “respected elder teacher.”) Katagiri Roshi’s talks, recorded from 1979 to 1989, contain a huge volume of material not included in the four books compiled from his teachings.
Katagiri Roshi’s energy, enthusiasm and humor come through even better in the audio than in print. On the other hand, he is a non-native English speaker with a Japanese accent, and the audio is of varying quality. So, he can be a little hard to understand. But really, more and more, I think the thing may be that these talks are rather dense: they are brimming over with vital information, which just flies by. These talks demand careful listening and serious reflection. I think the transcripts might help with that.
Each talk requires many hours to carefully transcribe. That said, there may still be inaccuracies. This is a work-in-progress. I am continually adding new transcripts and correcting existing ones.
I am transcribing these talks as a way of studying them myself. I’ve already found a lot here that is personally meaningful, even revolutionary. I hope you find something useful or inspiring here as well.
– Kikan Michael Howard
Podcast Description
Dainin Katagiri Scandal
Dainin Katagiri Roshi was one of the prominent Zen masters who brought Soto Zen Buddhism from Japan to America. Audio recordings of his talks, recorded from 1979 to 1989, are made available by Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, but since he was a non-native speaker and the recording quality varied, he can be difficult to understand. Here these talks are carefully transcribed and read by second-generation student Kikan Michael Howard, with the intention of staying as true as possible to Katagiri Roshi’s words, while smoothing out the grammar to make them easier to understand. New episodes will be posted regularly, going through the talks in order.
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For more information about Katagiri Roshi, visit The Katagiri Project Home Page.
Dainin Katagiri Death
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