Vince Horn
Gerry Shishin Wick
Ryan Oelke
Episode 109: Koan Training and the Different Styles of Zen
Gerry Shishen Wick, Roshi is a dual-lineage holder of
both the Soto and Rinzai schools of Zen. His teacher Maezumi Roshi
passed along both lineages, and so we take this unique opportunity to
ask Roshi to compare these two different approaches. He talks about shikantaza (Just Sitting) and also about koan practice--sometimes referred to as logical paradoxes.
He
explains that the koan system includes many different kinds of koans,
each with different purposes. Some are meant to reveal the oneness of
reality, while others are point to the multiplicity within that
oneness. He also discusses the difference between "live words" and
"dead words," and why that distinction is so important in the practice
of Koan training.
This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to part 2, Embodied Zen.
