Kosho Uchiyama

Kosho Uchiyama on Terebess site

Interview with Tom Wright, long time student of Kosho Uchiyama

Shohaku Okumura, dharma heir of Uchiyama

Wikipedia page with long list of books he authored including

Laughter Through the Tears: Kosho Uchiyama Roshi on Life as a Zen Beggar - BY  AND  - in Lion's Roar

 

Wisdom Publications link

 

 


A poem for Uchiyama Kosho by Takamine Doyu in 1998 Wind Bell, p.58-61

Words about zazen from Uchiyama on the Antaiji site

 


A Poem by Uchiyama Kosho

Life-and-Death

Water isn't formed by being ladled into a bucket
Simply the water of the whole Universe has been ladled into a bucket
The water does not disappear because it has been scattered over the ground
It is only that the water of the whole Universe has been emptied into the whole Universe
Life is not born because a person is born
The life of the whole Universe has been ladled into the hardened "idea" called "I"
Life does not disappear because a person dies
Simply, the life of the whole Universe has been poured out of this hardened "idea" of "I" back into the universe
thanks Kaveh


I cannot compare Christianity to Buddhism. Some Buddhist teacher who was once Christian, you know, can compare Buddhism to Christianity. Like Uchiyama Roshi, who lives in Kyoto, he was once a Christian minister and he converted to Buddhism. So he knows both Christianity and Buddhism. I am sorry, I cannot [laughs], you know, answer. - from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-08-12.

From Chapter 17 of Crooked Cucumber:

"You clearly need to see Antaiji," Grahame told Suzuki. The zazen-only approach appealed to Grahame, and so did the abbot, Uchiyama. He didn't try to accommodate the hierarchy as Suzuki did, and he scoffed at the state of Zen in Japan. Grahame had been displeased with the growing formality he'd experienced during his visit to Tassajara and hoped that a little of Antaiji's way would rub off on Suzuki, bringing him back to the approach they'd had in San Francisco in the early days.

They went to Kyoto and met Uchiyama. In the afternoon Suzuki gave a brief talk in Japanese to Uchiyama's Japanese zazen students. In the evening he met with Uchiyama's Western students, and there was a lively, three-hour question-and-answer session. Some of the Japanese students who went to the English discussion as well said it was only then, when they heard Suzuki speak in English, that they realized why he had so many students. In Japanese he just bored them.

[I remember that when Suzuki arrived at Antaiji he said to Uchiyama that he wished to go to the founder's hall to pay his respects to Kodo Sawaki and maybe prior abbots. It was locked and Uchiyama had to go look for a key, a clear sign of his departure from ceremonial norms. - dc]


For more mentions of Kosho Uchiyama on cuke.com, do a site search below.

Many links to be found on the Intenet.