Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi

February 1, 1938
to
July 26, 2002

Kobun Chino Otogawa, Chief Priest of Jikoji, came to America in 1967 from Eiheiji Monastery in Japan. After serving as the resident teacher at Tassajara Monastery for two years, Kobun Roshi became the Chief Priest of Haiku Zendo in Los Altos, California.

In 1979, Kobun Roshi and his Bodhi students purchased the old Pacific High School property, which became Jikoji in 1983. Kobun officially registered Jikoji as a temple of the Soto Zen School (Japan) in 1984.

On July 26, 2002, in Switzerland, Kobun Roshi drowned while trying to save his daughter Maya, who also drowned. Jikoji performs an annual service in Kobun and Maya's memory.

Calligraphy, "Ji Ko Ji, Compassion Light Temple,"
 by Kobun Chino Ottogawa Roshi

Click image to download large format printable file. Photo by Ellen Warburton.

Kobun by Ellen Warburton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Kobun Roshi's Teachings: How to Sit

Highlights from Kobun's Talks

• Aspects of Sitting

• Who Is Your Teacher?

• Udumbara

• The Other Side of Nothing