Zazen Notes

Miraculous power and marvelous activity:
Drawing water and chopping wood.

(Pangyun, a lay Zen practitioner, eight century C.E.)

Cleave a (piece of) wood, I am there;
lift up the stone and you will find Me there.

(The Gospel According to Thomas, coptic text established and translated by A. Guillaumont, H.-CH. Puech, G. ...  read more

Koun Franz said:

… as an experiment, I recommend trying it, sitting in this posture and trying to feel what it’s like to let your mind, to let the base of your consciousness, move away from your head.

(“No Struggle (Zazen Yojinki, Part 6)”, by koun Franz, from koun’s “Nyoho Zen” ...  read more

In a recent lecture, Koun Franz recommended letting the mind move away from the head as an experiment:

Okay… So, have your hands in the cosmic mudra, palms up, thumbs touching, and there’s this common instruction: place your mind here. Different people interpret this differently. Some people will say this ...  read more