Buddhist teachers experience with extreme mental states in western meditators lois vanderkooi. She designed a rigorous form of postulant training for aspiring monks as a gateway to ordination. Dont try to study and practice many different things. Typically, no talking is allowed, except for asking necessary. The scholarly answer to that question is that zen is a school of mahayana buddhism that emerged in china about 15 centuries ago.
She developed a liturgical calendar that corresponds with our annual cycles. Pdf the phenomenology of koan meditation in zen buddhism. Essential writings on the zen practice of shikantaza second edition, edited by john daido loori roshi, wisdom publications, 2004. In that senses, koans are neither obscure nor enigmatic. Some schools emphasize philosophical analysis and study of texts, considering these as meditation because they help create wholesome states of. Study of koan literature is common to all schools of zen, though with varying empahsises and curriculae. It includes essays by both ancient and modern zen masters, including dogen, hongzhi, and the teachers of the mountains and river order. Rinzai zen is associated with formal koan contemplation, whereas the soto meditation practice is called shikantaza just sitting. But even when koan study is stressed, shikantaza is not abandoned. Following in the tradition of the art of just sitting endorsed as a a book we ha.
Every once in a while i might nudge someone who seems particularly ripe for koan study toward the practice, but i almost always leave it up to the student to raise the subject. For sheer intensity and singularity of purpose, participating in a sesshin is the essence of zen monastic practice. Essential writings on the zen practice of shikantaza kindle edition by loori, john daido, leighton, taigen dan. This is what is called formal koan study, or just koan study, or sometimes koan introspection. Quizlet flashcards, activities and games help you improve your grades. Transcribed by rob alexander, edited, abbreviated and compiled by the author. Sekkei harada skillfully pushes us to drop those parts of ourselves. She emphasized the everyday life as a koan genjokoan, examining the bodhisattva precepts as koan study. The phenomenology of koan meditation in zen buddhism citeseerx. Zen buddhist zen study guide by capitalm includes 46 questions covering vocabulary, terms and more. Zazen is fundamentally a useless and pointless activity. One of these is the koan collection known in english as the book of. Soto zen pracitioners as a rule do not use koans or huatou as a meditation practice, but practice shikantaza just sitting. Japanese zen, both rinzai and soto, took over the use of koanstudy and commenting.
Zen has heavily influenced artistic styles in asia, and become rather trendy in the west in recent decades. While dogens use of koans generally followed a pattern already established by numerous chan masters in song china, as an innovative thinker and. First to articulate the meditation method known to contemporary zen practitioners as shikantaza just sitting chinese zen master hongzhi is one of the most influential poets in all of zen literature. This moment is the koan 57 necessity of great doubt 57 secrets on cultivating 58 many and the one 60 mind like the moon 60 days like lightning 61 shorter precepts 62 longer precepts 63 four commitments 65 fourfold commitment 66 way of tenderness 66 guidance in shikantaza 67 those who greatly 68 there is no end 70 hope in the. Pdf the dude and the zen master download full pdf book.
But as koan zen or kanna zen zen of seeing the question became popular, the word koan started to mean a zen dialogue selected and presented for a practitioners dedicated study. Seijun ishii komazawa university silent illumination zen and watching koan zen are the two currents of zen that developed in twelfth century song china. Here at one mind dharma, we practice mainly in one tradition of buddhism. It isnt totally clear what the nature of his koan training was, and when he was studying was a transitional period where the huatou form of koan introspection was beginning to include study of. Exploring the use of koans in chinese zen new chan forum no.
While mazus mind is buddha was one of his signature teachings, it was not original with him. Find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. When the chantradition was introduced in japan, japanese monks had to master the chinese language and specific expressions used in the koantraining. Most of the central koans of the contemporary rinzai koan.
In his magisterial study, dogens manuals of zen meditation, carl. John crook chuandeng jingdi during retreat in the maenllwyd chan hall, 1997. Besides their seemingly illogical wording what is the sound of one hand clapping, the use and understanding of koans as a focus of practice in the west today remains problematic for a number of reasons. Rinzai tradition an d the silent illumination or zazenonly. Mokusho zen and kanna zen silent illumination zen and koan zen rev. Shikantazaor just sittingis one of the simplest, most subtle forms of meditation, and one of the most easily misunderstood. If you dont pick up a koan then it is not yours to solve.
The rinzaischool uses extensive koancurricula, checking questions, and jakogo capping phrases, quotations from chinese poetry in its use of koans. The silent illumination of zen master hongzhi was recommended to me by sensei daishin at zcla. Sittingwithkoans eastern religionbuddhism wisdom sittingwithkoans johndaidoloori essential writings on the practice of zen koan introspection edited by john daido loori. Essential writings on the zen practice of koan study. In integrative clinical psychology, psychiatry and behavioral medicine. His successor, keizan zenji, not only wrote the zazen yojinki, a manual for zazen, but. After students finish koan study, they then take up the practice of shikantaza. In this practice, a fragment of the koan, such as mu, or a what isquestion is used by focusing on this fragment and repeating it over and over again. To study the reality of genjo koan is not to anticipate and seek to know how the world of genjo koan may be perceived but to realize the world as genjo koan through the everyday activities of a zen practitioner. This volume presents a wealth of writings on shikantaza, or just sitting, one of the most subtle and profoundyet often misunderstoodforms of meditation. Normally, i have a lot of trouble making sense of asian metaphors. Zazen usually begins with a focus on the breath, and students will move on to simply sitting known as shikantaza and koan study with a zen teacher.
How we work with koans and how they work on us lions roar. Mokusho zen and kanna zen silent illumination zen and. It takes its extreme form in the case of the paranoidschizophrenic, who cannot respond to the simple question, how are you. In sotozen, shikantaza is the main practice for deepening insight. Do not sit where it is too bright or too dark, too cold or too hot. Entangling vines is a translation of the shumon kattoshu, the only major koan text to have been compiled in japan rather than china. Zen practice and psychotherapy robert aitken haiku, hawaii the division of self in the condition of selfconsciousness is. The first scholarly examination in any language of the historical development and traditional method of koan study in zen buddhism. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. She designed a rigorous form of postulant training for aspiring monks as a gateway to. In the koan system students will typically work through 200 introductory koan, followed by more advanced koan collections known as the mumonkan, the hekiganroku, the.
The psychology of zen in practice by jerry cusumano, s. At a jodo at eiheiji, he said, the true dharma correctly transmitted by buddhaancestors is simply just sitting. Zen practice and psychotherapy robert aitken haiku, hawaii the division of self in the condition of selfconsciousness is the bane of zen practice, and of mental health. So it is obvious that practitioners in either one of. One way to categorize the meditation practice of shikantaza, or just sitting, is as an objectless meditation. Jan chozen bays on shikantaza and koan study, zens two primary practices. Download pdf the dude and the zen master book full free. Shikantaza or just sittingis one of the simplest, most subtle forms of meditation, and one of the most easily misunderstood. Loori writes, after students finish koan study, they then take up the practice of shikantaza. Skull with zen koan greeting card for sale by nadja van ghelue zen koan carwil without borders how to practice zen koans lions roar.
The sanbo kyodan, and its western derivates of taizan maezumi and the white plum asanga, also use koancurricula, but have omitted the use. We are registered as a charity in england and wales, but we also have contacts in europe, principally in norway, poland, germany, croatia and switzerland, and also in usa. Every once in a while i might nudge someone who seems particularly ripe for koan study toward the. The most contemporary of the the classic koan collectionsrepresenting centuries of practical refinement by zen masters working with their students. On the one hand, koans harness doubts so we can smash through our conditioned way of thinking. He wanted them to be realized facetoface in the koan study between. The dude and the zen master available for download and read online in other formats.
Manual of zazen he is an expert of dogen study in this country. Shikantaza wikipedia zen koan as a means of attaining enlightenment by d. Just chop wood and fetch water for the benefit of others. Genjo koan complete manifestation of established truth.
Study of koan literature is common to all schools of zen, though with varying emphases and curricula. John crook chuandeng jingdi during retreat in the maenllwyd chan. They are interesting and there is a lot to learn from them. May 24, 2019 the scholarly answer to that question is that zen is a school of mahayana buddhism that emerged in china about 15 centuries ago. Following in the tradition of the art of just sitting endorsed as a a book we have needed for a long, long time, this new anthology from john daido loori illuminates the subtle. For me its as plain as the nose on your face and the critical key to understanding dogens manual. Japanese zen, both rinzai and soto, took over the use of koan study and commenting. Essential writings on the zen practice of shikantaza. The phrase koan study confuses people, because it suggests that the student hauls out a stack of books about koans and studies them the way she might study a chemistry text. Even if you may seem to have some understanding while reading koans, the attainment of enlightenment is due to the merit of sitting zazen. The zen tradition has just two main meditative practices.
From the fundamental point of view, there is no time or place where truth is not revealed. A classic of koan zen like the blue cliff record is a fabulous mine of wisdom, but. In the sung dynasty zen tradition, genjo koan meant, in many cases, that all that appears before us is, just as it is, the absolute truth. In bendowa dogen stated, in our country the principles and practice of zazen have not.
But this is not study in the normal sense of the word. Hakuun yasutani agrees, stating, the rinzai and obaku schools emphasize koan study. Koan, huatou, and kensho ama samy bodhi zendo, perumalmalai, kodaikanal, india the zen of encounter dialogue in koan stories, koan dialogues and transmission stories is a captivating form of zen, more so than the soto variety of just sitting or silent illumination. In sotozen, koan commentary was not linked to seated meditation. From basic research to clinical practice claire braboszcz1. The best answer to most of them is not to make a koan where there is none. During such meditation retreats, typically a week in length, the practitioner engages in breathcounting practice, rinzai koan study or soto shikantaza, just sitting, for ten or more hours a day. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the art of just sitting. The western chan fellowship is an association of lay chan practitioners, a lay sangha, based in the uk. My simple answer is that rinzai practice is characterized by the study of koans, while soto practice is founded upon the practice of shikantaza. There have been numerous excellent studies in english of the role of koans in the history of zen. According to the account given in dan leightons cultivating the empty field, hongzhi was born to a family named li in xizhou, presentday shangxi province.
A koan is simply the time and place where truth is manifest. Though in contrast to the formulaic method of koan study in rinzai zen, he routinely held up koans as topics for analysis and commentary when instructing his followers. To read it is to enter into one of modern japanese zens most subtle and sophisticated minds. Zoketsu norman fischer one way to categorize the meditation practice of shikantaza, or just sitting, is as an objectless. This is one reason why its so important to put our awareness in the hara and get out of our heads. If you ever study formally in one of those schools, this distinction will be very important. The temple teachers offer guidance in traditional zen practices such as breath awareness, mindfulness practices, inquiry into the moment, shikantaza just sitting and koan practice. Dogen zenji introduction dogen 12001253, founder of the soto school of zen buddhism in japan, is a renowned writer, philosopher, poet, and buddhist priest. Sep 17, 2018 how we work with koans and how they work on us.
At ease and in harmony 56 this moment is the koan 57 necessity of great doubt 57 secrets on cultivating 58 many and the one 60 mind like the moon 60 days like lightning 61 shorter precepts 62 longer precepts 63 four commitments 65 fourfold commitment 66 way of tenderness 66 guidance in shikantaza 67 those who. Sitting with koans by john daido loori overdrive rakuten. Understanding the different types of buddhism one mind. In chinese chan and korean seon, the primary form of koan study is kanhua, reflection on the koan, also called hua tou, word head. Jul 12, 2017 rinzai zen is associated with formal koan contemplation, whereas the soto meditation practice is called shikantaza just sitting. This peerless volume brings together a wealth of writings, from the buddha himself to bodhidharma and dogen and many of modern zen buddhisms most influential masters, all pointing directly to the heart of this powerful practice. First thing he did after went back to japan was writing manual of zazen, and the title of that.
Introduction in this essay, after giving some background information, i present reflections on some of my own psychological experiences of doing zen over the last 35 years. As represented by basos the mind itself is buddha, zen thought is based on a complete. Chan is the chinese rendering of the sanskrit word dhyana, which refers to a mind absorbed in meditation. Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is that you dont have to read every title listed here. So it is obvious that practitioners in either one of these schools make use of both sitting techniques during the course of their training. Dogen zenji connects genjo koan and zazen in fukanzazengi. The point of this page is just to provide a broad range of titles on buddhism available today in the english language. Shikantaza, just sitting, is less pointed than koan study.