Redesigning the Dharma

About Redesigning the Dharma

Redesigning the Dharma (RTD) explores the evolution of contemplative practice from traditional models (Proprietary Dharma) to open sourced approaches to contemplative practice and Dharma communities. As an American expat who has lived in Thailand for over ten years, I’m interested in both how The Dharma is evolving in Western countries, as well as how Buddhist traditions and practices are evolving in more traditional contexts in Asia. While RTD has a clear Buddhist bent, it’s also for those interested in conversations between other contemplative traditions and Buddhism, as well as the dialogue between various traditions and schools within Buddhism. Finally, the podcast will also consider how to work with plant medicines such as Ayahuasca and Soma through Buddhist and contemplative perspectives. See all episodes at SahajaSoma.com/redesigning-the-dharma.

Publisher

Adrian Baker

Category

religion & spirituality · science · science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Nov 2021

Latest episode

11 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

31 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   11 Oct 2026

   Zen, Dzogchen, & Nondual Awareness with Kokyo Henkel (part 2)

   In Episode 30 of Redesigning The Dharma by Sahaja Soma, Adrian Baker continues his conversation with Zen priest and Dzogchen practitioner, Kokyo Henkel. They discuss how he balances Zen and Dzogchen practices on a day-to-day basis—keeping ritual practices separate, and dive into his current hermitage life, his upcoming book, and the differences between between group and solitary retreat. This episode presents concrete advice onscheduling, exercise, reading/chanting, boundaries, weekly retreat days, and modern challenges like phone distraction and reintegration. Episode Highlights: 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:33 Balancing Zen and Dzogchen Practices 07:25 Life After Monastery + Daily Schedule at Hermitage 11:06 Month Long Solo Retreats 14:12 Group Retreat Social Dynamics 18:43 Advice for Self Retreats 25:33 Reintegration After Retreat 29:01 Digital Detox and Phones 30:22 Offerings and Closing Guest Bio: Kokyo Henkel has dedicated his life to Buddhist practice since 1990. He spent nearly two decades in monastic training, living at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Green Gulch Farm, and No Abode Hermitage in the Sōtō Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. He also spent a full year studying in Japan at Bukokuji Monastery under Tangen Harada Roshi. Tenshin Reb Anderson Roshi ordained Henkel as a Zen priest in nineteen ninety-four and gave him Dharma transmission in twenty ten, making him the ninety-second generation lineage holder. From 2010 - 2020, Henkel served as the guiding teacher at the Santa Cruz Zen Center. Beyond his roots in Zen, Henkel integrates Tibetan Vajrayana and Dzogchen traditions into his path. He has studied with masters like Tsoknyi Rinpoche since two thousand and three and completed his foundational Ngöndro practices in twenty twenty. Today, Henkel focuses on applying ancient teachings from India, China, and Japan to modern life. He lives with his wife at Bright Window Hermitage, a retreat space in California's Santa Lucia Mountains for practitioners of all traditions. KOKYO HENKEL’S WEBSITE (https://kokyohenkel.weebly.com/) BRIGHT WINDOW HERMITAGE (https://brightwindowhermitage.weebly.com/) SAN FRANCISCO ZEN CENTER (https://www.sfzc.org/teachers/kokyo-henkel) GREEN GULCH FARM SESSHINS (https://www.sfzc.org/locations/green-gulch-farm/zen-meditation-practice-green-gulch/sittings-sesshins-green-gulch-farm)

2. 

   25 Sept 2026

   Zen, Dzogchen, & Nondual Awareness with Kokyo Henkel

   In Episode 29 of Redesigning The Dharma by Sahaja Soma, Adrian Baker interviews Zen priest and Dzogchen practitioner Kokyo Henkel on his decades of Sōtō Zen training, ordination and dharma transmission, study with Tsoknyi Rinpoche, and current retreat life at Bright Window Hermitage. In this conversation, Henkel recounts discovering Zen at Brown University, joining practice groups, and moving to Tassajara and Green Gulch, where short-term residency became nearly two decades of monastic-style life. They discuss differences between monastic and householder practice, Japanese versus Chinese/Korean monasticism, and how Japan shifted to bodhisattva-only precepts and married priesthood. Henkel describes being drawn to Dzogchen for its clear articulation of non-dual awareness and explains Ngöndro’s structure, purpose, and benefits when undertaken after gaining Dzogchen “pointing out.” Episode Highlights: 00:00 Introduction to Kokyo Henkel 01:35 Discovering Zen at Brown 06:54 Monastic Life vs Householder Practice 09:59 Japan Zen History 13:24 Finding Dzogchen and Tsoknyi Rinpoche 19:32 Zen vs Dzogchen Teaching Styles 25:39 What is Ngondro and What Are The Benefits? 32:37 Conclusion and Intro to Part Two Guest Bio: Kokyo Henkel has dedicated his life to Buddhist practice since 1990. He spent nearly two decades in monastic training, living at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Green Gulch Farm, and No Abode Hermitage in the Sōtō Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. He also spent a full year studying in Japan at Bukokuji Monastery under Tangen Harada Roshi. Tenshin Reb Anderson Roshi ordained Henkel as a Zen priest in nineteen ninety-four and gave him Dharma transmission in twenty ten, making him the ninety-second generation lineage holder. From 2010 - 2020, Henkel served as the guiding teacher at the Santa Cruz Zen Center. Beyond his roots in Zen, Henkel integrates Tibetan Vajrayana and Dzogchen traditions into his path. He has studied with masters like Tsoknyi Rinpoche since two thousand and three and completed his foundational Ngöndro practices in twenty twenty. Today, Henkel focuses on applying ancient teachings from India, China, and Japan to modern life. He lives with his wife at Bright Window Hermitage, a retreat space in California's Santa Lucia Mountains for practitioners of all traditions. KOKYO HENKEL’S WEBSITE (https://kokyohenkel.weebly.com/) BRIGHT WINDOW HERMITAGE (https://brightwindowhermitage.weebly.com/) SAN FRANCISCO ZEN CENTER (https://www.sfzc.org/teachers/kokyo-henkel) GREEN GULCH FARM SESSHINS (https://www.sfzc.org/locations/green-gulch-farm/zen-meditation-practice-green-gulch/sittings-sesshins-green-gulch-farm)

3. 

   7 Jul 2026

   A Guide to Tsoknyi Rinpoche's Fully Being Teachings with Scott Tusa

   In Episode 28 of Redesigning The Dharma by Sahaja Soma, Adrian Baker interviews Buddhist meditation teacher Scott Tusa about spiritual materialism and Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s Fully Being teachings. Tusa describes spiritual materialism as using spiritual practice to bolster ego-clinging, noting it can appear in obvious cultural trends and in subtle fixations on beliefs, identities, and “getting rid of” suffering; he recommends tools like mindfulness, hope-and-fear awareness, and curiosity. He outlines Fully Being’s core somatic practices—dropping, vase breathing, and handshaking—developed to address modern disconnection between thinking and the “feeling world,” and explains how they relate to Mahamudra-style letting-be and support deeper Vajrayana practice as “ngöndro before ngöndro.” The conversation covers subtle body theory (tsa, lung, tigle), modern “speediness,” anxiety and lung disorder, essence love as basic okayness, and parallels with plant-medicine experiences, emphasizing meeting feelings compassionately rather than reinforcing stories. Episode Highlights: 00:00 Introduction to Scott Tusa 01:34 What Is Spiritual Materialism? 11:26 What Is Tsoknyi Rinpoche's Fully Being? 18:29 Subtle Body and Speediness 26:42 Tibetan Subtle Body Basics and Fully Being Practices 32:46 Drop the Story Your Experience 39:37 What is Essence Love? 47:14 Nonduality Without Bypass 49:50 Wrap Up and Offerings Guest Bio: Scott Tusa is a Buddhist meditation teacher and practitioner who has spent the last 25 years exploring how to embody and live meaningfully through the Buddhist path.At age sixteen, his mother's death sparked a deep longing for healing and spiritual wisdom that eventually led him to Tibetan Buddhism. He spent my early twenties seeking out and learning from a variety of Tibetan Buddhist masters, and was ordained by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama as a Buddhist monk at age twenty-eight. He spent the next nine years as a monk, deepening his understanding of the Dharma, engaging in solitary meditation retreats, and continuing his studies with teachers in India, Nepal, and the United States, including his main teachers Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Tsoknyi Rinpoche. Since 2008, he has been teaching Buddhist meditation in group and one-to-one settings in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and online, bringing Buddhist wisdom to modern meditators, helping them to deepen and develop more confidence in their practice. SCOTT TUSA’S WEBSITE (https://scotttusa.com/) FULLY BEING WEBSITE (https://fullybeing.org/) TSOKNYI RINPOCHE’S WEBSITE (https://tsoknyirinpoche.org/) CONNECT WITH SCOTT ON SOCIAL (https://www.instagram.com/scotttusa/)

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

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