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Zazen is Koan, Koan is Zazen
…evidenced by the prevalence in the Shobogenzo of extensive exegeses and interpretations of carefully selected koans from the classical sources… Dogen’s effort was not to destroy, but to restore, the koan to its rightful status… For Dogen, single-minded sitting and the “realization-koan” were two aspects of a single methodology. In brief, zazen was koan, koan was zazen.
Hee-Jin Kim, Flowers of Emptiness, p.4
Hee-Jin Kim, Flowers of Emptiness, p.4
2 comments:
Hi Ted,
My name's Kogen, very nice to find your blog.
I've been following for the last two days or so and I was wondering if there are any fascicles that push this Zazen is Koan, Koan is Zazen like Fukanzazengi does for zazen.
Also, for the record, my teachers have been very open to my practicing with anything that works-koans, shamatha, mantras. Can you point to any Soto teachers being opposed to it?
I've personally always thought the distinction between Soto and Rinzai is silly. Dogen was a lineage holder in both and urged his students, like Rujing, that we were Buddhists, just Buddhists.
Hello Kogen,
Thank you for the kind and encouraging words.
I will respond in the main blog area as the space in the comment section is limited.
Ted
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