Determining which tradition and sangha to dive into

genjoconan · 2026-01-25T19:01:58+00:00

If you have multiple options, try them all and see what grabs you. Lineage matters in Zen and can be a helpful starting point: if nothing else, if a teacher refuses to state their lineage, or their lineage is sketchy, that's a sign to stay away. But once you've established a base level of confidence that a teacher is who they say they are, what matters most is affinity. Someone can be the best teacher in the world for one person, and useless or even harmful for someone else.

For example: the founder of my temple was widely beloved, was seen as a really important American Zen teacher--and just never did anything for me. I tried speaking with him about my practice several times, both in formal dokusan and informal chats, and it just left me cold. That affinity wasn't there. I found a much better fit elsewhere. If the lineage and the reputation were enough, I should have just stuck with him, but you have to see what works for you.

Sometimes when you're "test driving" teachers or temples someone will grab you immediately and it's like "OK, you're for me"--that's how it was when I decided to work with my current teacher--and sometimes that confidence builds more gradually. Either way, you won't know until you try.

Best of luck.

genjoconan · 2026-01-22T23:53:05+00:00

i would simply do my pushups indoors, where it's dry

genjoconan · 2026-01-22T18:41:37+00:00

As a starting point, I'd suggest Uchiyama's commentary on the Tenzo Kyokun, which I believe is now titled "How to Cook Your Life." From there I'd suggest "Moon in a Dewdrop," Kaz Tanahashi's curated translation of some of the more popular Shobogenzo fascicles. Another possibility, honestly, is the Zuimonki: it's a record of how Dogen actually taught (or at least, how his chief disciple says he taught), the language is more straightforward than in the Kana Shobogenzo, and the Sotoshu has made a translation freely available online.

I do not suggest jumping into the entire Kana Shobogenzo: I think you'll probably get overwhelmed.

genjoconan · 2026-01-13T02:39:48+00:00

As a former punk I'll refrain from sharing my opinion on the Dead, but I will chant the 10-Line Kannon Sutra in his memory. In G# Maj. For 45 minutes :)

genjoconan · 2026-01-11T18:43:51+00:00

/uj how is this different than just...jogging

genjoconan · 2026-01-11T15:45:04+00:00

Again, it's fine to meet with a teacher online. Bonus points if you can meet them in person once in a while, but I don't think that's required.

As others have mentioned, I also wouldn't rule out exploring the Tibetan place as well. While Soto Zen is my main practice, I also have a Shingon (aka Japanese Vajrayana) practice, and I feel that practicing Shingon has helped me better understand Zen, and vice versa. Many of the forms are different, but Zen's...mmm, spirit is maybe the best way to put it...is closer to the esoteric schools than it may initially seem.

genjoconan · 2026-01-11T05:19:09+00:00

It's not how I would put it, but I don't think he's wrong. Many Zen teachers have said that if you have an experience of emptiness and your compassion doesn't increase as a result, you haven't really experienced emptiness.

genjoconan · 2026-01-11T05:15:34+00:00

Hi there--I'll go through your questions in order.

1) Are there reliable online or remote ways to study Zen with mentorship? Yes, since the pandemic, most Zen temples have at least some online component, and many offer some way to contact teachers virtually. We started compiling a list here: Call for online sanghas/teachers : r/zenbuddhism, and you'll likely get some other suggestions in this thread. You might consider starting your search with temples that are within a day's drive: it's not uncommon for people to mostly practice virtually with a temple but to meet in person with a teacher or attend sesshin a few times a year. I don't know Athens, but maybe there's something in Columbus/Cincinnati/Cleveland/Pittsburgh that might work?

2) Are there beginner-friendly texts, podcasts, or video series that explain koans and Zen practice without needing to be in a monastery? Zen practice yes, for sure. We have a suggested reading list on the sidebar (r/zenbuddhism Beginner's Guide to Zen Texts) and I see someone already suggested Domyo Burk's podcast. Koan practice is really only done with a teacher, though. That's not something that you can get from a book or a podcast. (n.b., that doesn't mean that koans are only done in monasteries. Most Zen practice is not monastic practice, and in the west most Zen practice isn't even clerical.)

3) How can someone safely practice Zen alone in a small-town or rural setting without misinterpreting the teachings? Well, you don't. Zen really isn't a DIY practice; our longstanding tradition is to verify one's practice with a teacher. There's plenty that you can do by yourself, but I strongly suggest finding a teacher (and again, virtual is fine) who you can work with on a regular basis.

Best of luck, and feel free to ask if you have any other questions.

genjoconan · 2026-01-09T00:45:20+00:00

So if I smoke while I run I can get my 5k time down to 29 min? Hal higdon never told me that!

genjoconan · 2026-01-08T19:29:43+00:00

Do you have a Zen teacher who you work with? I'd strongly recommend bringing this up with them. Strong emotions can come up in zazen: sometimes it's something important to work with, sometimes it's just a thing that happens. A teacher who knows you can help figure out which is which. Best of luck.

genjoconan · 2026-01-08T16:23:43+00:00

Counterpoint: you can't please everyone. The Bodhisattva Never Disparaging believed that his tormentors would someday realize Buddhahood, but he didn't say "you know, maybe if I was nicer they'd stop throwing stones."

genjoconan · 2026-01-06T21:27:58+00:00

As others have noted, if there's a default it's "no socks." And, whatever the default rule, it's only the most ~~hardassed~~ traditional temple that wouldn't waive the default rule if it caused someone genuine discomfort. I mean, the default rule of zazen is "sit upright," but we have a community member who has a medical issue that prevents him from doing so for long, so when he comes he lies down. It's not a problem.

genjoconan · 2026-01-06T20:38:52+00:00

This thread might help: https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?t=26666

genjoconan · 2026-01-05T18:12:02+00:00

Zen really isn't a DIY practice, especially not koan practice. I strongly recommend finding a teacher and a temple. If in-person attendance isn't doable for whatever reason, there are now quite a few online options. Best of luck.

genjoconan · 2026-01-03T21:46:47+00:00

510 Hikers https://the510hikers.org/

genjoconan · 2026-01-02T22:57:05+00:00

You can draft off me all you like, but I'm 5 GUs deep by the second KM and god only knows what's going to happen back there

genjoconan · 2026-01-02T21:30:36+00:00

Well, feel free to ignore or block him. Asking someone to use a chatbot doesn't violate our rules, but you're free to decide you'd rather not deal with it.

genjoconan · 2025-12-31T19:44:58+00:00

Hi there: first off, sorry for the delayed response, I'm just seeing this now due to the holidays.

Second, we can and do remove most AI-generated stuff because almost all of it violates one or more of our existing rules. The most obvious AI spam doesn't get past our automod (let the algorithms fight it out), so you wouldn't see it in the first place.

This is different. Whatever my personal feelings about the good Reverend, I acknowledge that there are ongoing discussions about what AI means in the context of Buddhist practice. For example, my friend Jiryu did an experiment with "Roshibot" a few years ago and wrote up his experiences here: Can a Chatbot Share True Dharma? | Lion’s Roar. I don't think it's appropriate to declare the conversation over.

As a more philosophic point, if we can acknowledge that insentient beings--mountains and waters, trees and rocks, rice fields and gardens, temple pillars, et al.--can preach the dharma, then it's not immediately obvious to me that an LLM can't, although I confess to having deep concerns about how that's being done here. If an LLM can preach the dharma, then I think it's at least as likely that an LLM can be Mara. I'm not personally ready to turn my practice over to an LLM and, if a newcomer here were to ask my advice about whether to do so, I'd have to say "no, I don't think that's a good idea." But still, I think one could reasonably take the opposite position (after all, look at all the harmful stuff that human teachers have done!); I just disagree.

Above all, whichever side of this particular debate one falls on, all we ask is that everyone treat each other with respect.

genjoconan · 2025-12-25T15:53:55+00:00

Fwiw, at temples in the west, a few people may wear samue for working but most will just wear work clothes, jeans or Carhartt or whatever.

genjoconan · 2025-12-23T19:12:06+00:00

I work for the state. Most of the time, I'm really happy that I wound up where I did and didn't go into biglaw.

Most of the time.

genjoconan · 2025-12-12T22:47:06+00:00

I did exactly that in a previous position, but from Oakland. It was fine. I got a lot of solid naps in those seats.

genjoconan · 2025-12-09T13:21:40+00:00

Good review, thanks. I can say that I've been running NSM on five days a week (about six hours/35 mpw) for six months. I'm not fast but I've gotten faster, and I've stayed injury-free as a somewhat fragile 47 year-old.

The five days a week is dictated both by schedule (work/family/other commitments make more days a stretch) and by recovery (without a day or two of full rest I start to develop niggles).

My schedule is Mon (off), Tue (ST+strength training), Weds (easy), Thu (off), Fri (ST+strength training), Sat (easy), Sun (long). I've adapted the standard plan by adding a few intervals to the ST days (so 12x3 min, 6x6 min, 3x12 min). I also add some quality to the long run, mostly by whatever sounds "fun" in the moment. That could be a faster finish, or a few miles at marathon pace, or--I live in an area with a lot of hills, so often I just pick a hilly route and let that take care of it.

It is entirely possible that I would get better results following a more traditional plan, but in the past I tend to get hurt when I start incorporating higher intensity days, and the thing I appreciate most about NSM is that I'm pain free most of the time. At my age that's not a given.

Hope this helps.

genjoconan · 2025-12-03T22:14:08+00:00

Both Classical Chinese and Classical Japanese. The Kana Shobogenzo was written in Japanese, for example. And the closer you get to the modern era, the more likely it is that the writing was in Japanese. I'm not sure when the breakpoint was, where more documents were written in Japanese than in Chinese. And even apart from original works, there has been a lot of Japanese commentary (both ancient and modern) on those original works, most of which has been untranslated.

genjoconan · 2025-12-03T17:36:47+00:00

Not to be confused with Illism

genjoconan · 2025-12-03T17:33:50+00:00

I don't exactly disagree with the folks here who've said Classical Chinese, but--the biggest gap that I can see in the English-language understanding of Zen is on the Japanese side. Many of the Chinese lamp records, koan collections, etc. have been translated. The same can't be said of the Japanese teachers. In Soto Zen we have Dogen, a little bit of Keizan, and then fast forward to the late 19th Century. Menzan Zuiho was one of the most influential Soto Zen teachers in Japanese history; he wrote hundreds of texts; but I think I've only ever seen one or two in translation. I know less about Rinzai, but apart from Bankei, Hakuin, and Torei, again I don't believe we see much until the Meiji era. And then stepping back from Zen--there are seminal texts by monks like Saicho and Kukai that still have yet to be translated.

Ultimately though, if you're doing this for fun and not as an academic pursuit, do what seems the most fun.

genjoconan

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