Rev. Gyokei Yokoyama is a Soto Zen priest that currently serves as Kokusai Fukyoshi (International Missionary) of Sozenji Buddhist Temple in Montebello, California. Gyokei also serves as the Secretary of Soto Zen Buddhism North America and as a board member of the Association of Soto Zen Buddhists (ASZB) and Soto Zen Buddhist North America (SZBA).Gyokei is the former minister of the Long Beach Buddhist Church, a non-denominational Japanese American Buddhist Church, and the former abbot of Iwoji temple, Shinshiro, Aichi Pref., Japan. Additionally, Gyokei has been a supporting teacher at Angel City Zen Center in Los Angeles and leads Rocky Mountain Zen, a lay sangha in Alberta, Canada.

We discuss the importance of diversity in sanghas, how what's emphasized within Zen communities in America can vary just like Zen sanghas in Japan, collective culture and healthy ego, the experience of leading Japanese American sanghas in Southern California, language, and how practice off of the cushion helps spin the wheel of dharma.