Henry Shukman gave this Dharma talk to Sydney Zen Centre students and guests on the topic of his latest book, ‘Original Love’, on 20th March 2026 at the Annandale Community Centre.

Henry Shukman, a close dharma cousin to our Diamond sangha lineage, is a teacher in the Sanbo Zen lineage and has trained in various other meditation schools and practices. After a spontaneous spiritual awakening at the age of 19, he embarked on a long journey of healing and deeper awakening, guided by Roshis John Gaynor, Joan Rieck, Ruben Habito, and Yamada Roshi, international abbot of Sanbo Zen, who ultimately appointed him a teacher in 2010. 

Since then he has been leading a growing number of practitioners on the path of awakening, in Europe, the US and through his meditation app, The Way. He is the Spiritual Director Emeritus of Mountain Cloud Zen Centre in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is also a poet and author, having penned One Blade of Grass (a Zen memoir) and Original Love.