About Bodaishin
Bodaishin is a newsletter dedicated to merging Zen Buddhism with everyday life and issues. There is a phrase, Hotsu Bodaishin, which means “Arousing the aspiration for enlightenment.” Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō Zen school, also defines this as “To arouse the mind which vows to save all beings before saving oneself.” That is the spirit of Bodaishin.
Bodaishin will cover topics such as:
Zen Practice
Cultural Issues
Personal Experiences
Relevant News Through a Buddhist Lens
In time, Bodaishin may expand into less-heavy topics such as:
Buddhist (and non!) Movie Reviews
Buddhist Arts and Music
Guest Contributions
To subscribe to Bodaishin right now, click below:
What About Paid Subscriptions?
Bodaishin will keep all of its content free of charge, with no paywall, forever.
Bodaishin aims to be as accessible by as many people as possible—with and without means. A one-time donation link will be added to posts and subsequent e-mails if anyone would like to show gratitude with a cup of coffee or tea.
About Koushi
Koushi is a Sōtō Zen novice priest (unsui), ordained in 2022 by Jundo Cohen, with over two-decades of religious study and practice spanning Judeo-Christian, Islam, Pagan, and Eastern religions. A lifelong student of religion and cultural beliefs, Koushi is adept at finding common threads among places, people, belief-systems, and everyday life. Koushi has been called a “Rockstar of Zen,” which he attributes to being heavily tattooed more so than any understanding of Zen Buddhism.
Koushi practices with the Treeleaf sangha, which is an all-digital Sōtō Zen sangha established in 2006 by Jundo Cohen. Treeleaf Zendo is a practice place for Zen practitioners who cannot easily commute to a Zen Center due to health concerns, living in remote areas, or childcare, work and family needs, and seeks to provide Zazen sittings, retreats, discussion, interaction with a teacher, and all other activities of a Sōtō Zen Buddhist Sangha.
Note: As Koushi is an unsui, anything said referencing Zen/Buddhism should be taken with a grain of salt. Although writing from an experiential and learned point of view, some scholarly meanings may be incorrect (if so, it will be corrected and updated when brought to attention).
