Introduction to Koans – A Talk
Learn about koans and how they can precipitate the experience of awakening.
One Bright Pearl – Practicing with Koans
Discover how a stubbed toe led to a stunning surprise—and not a single step taken.
Beginner’s Mind
Relax into the mind that knows little, but is full of possibilities.
Who Am I (with Zen posture)
Practice Zen meditation posture, and inquire into the nature of your self.
Ordinary Mind is the Way
Discover how ordinary experience can in fact be quite extraordinary.
What is This
Inquire into the very essence of everything you experience.
Sweeping the Yard
See how a single sound could knock away everything you know.
Original Nature – A Talk
Revisit the central experience in Zen known as kenshō, or awakening.
The Whole Earth is Medicine
Discover how our psychological wounds can also be the agents of our healing.
Not Knowing is Most Intimate
Release your plans, schemes, and ideas—and discover what's here, now.
Everyday Awakening
See how ordinary activities can feel boundless, free, and fulfilling.
Four Levels of Love – A Talk
Discover the four reasons for practice, from a Zen perspective.
Hakuin - A Talk
Meet a great reformer of Zen koan practice, and learn about his life.
Sound of One Hand
Explore one of the most famous (and baffling) Zen koans of all time.
Seamless Tomb
Sense the hidden dynamism and peace of being alive, right now.
Great Wide Earth - A Talk
Listen to a profound personal account of awakening from a modern Zen master.
Huineng 1: Original Face
Question if there is some level of consciousness that predates your existence.
Huineng 2: Dwelling Nowhere
Examine where you are right now, and see where experience is coming from.
Huineng 3: Polishing the Mirror
Discover how your own internal commentary obscures the openness of this moment.
Huineng 4: No Mirror to Polish
See through your sense of self and realize that it's always been illusory.
Huineng 5: Original Face (revisited)
Feel into your experience and see for yourself what has always been there.
Huineng 6: Is the Wind Moving?
See that the world around you is in fact your very own consciousness.
Pluralist Awakening
Discover the various hazards and missteps associated with awakening practice.
Just Sitting
Let go of tension in the body and relax into the felt sense of sitting.
The Hoe
Explore the hidden side of everyday experience.
Trust the Heart-mind
Discover the heart not as an organ, but as an energy center.
The Heart-mind
Allow your experience to be exactly as it is, with love and acceptance.
Trust
Learn how to begin trusting your body, heart, and mind.
No Choosing
Fall back into your experience, with no sense of choice or deciding.
Hair's Breadth
Close the distance between yourself and your experience, and see what happens.
Sink Like a Pebble
Give up all effort and feel the downward settling of just sitting.
Two Sides
Learn how meditation can help end suffering—and lead to awakening.
A Garden
Let go of forcing your experience, so you can tend to it like a gardener.
Autumn Foliage
Become an intimate participant in the transitory nature of all experience.
Shit Stick
Transform your ideas about awakening being a special and rarified state.
About Koans – A Talk
Reorient yourself to koan practice and learn the deeper purpose of practice.
Rice in the Bowl
Rest your mind with the simplicity of two phrases.
The Gateless Gate
Drop all projects and agendas and come home to your experience, right now.
The Rose Apple Tree – A Talk
Find inspiration in an ancient story about the Buddha's enlightenment.
One Finger
Listen to the crazy wisdom of Gutei, a Zen master who taught in a peculiar way.
What is Restlessness
Let the breath soften and dissolve the feeling of restlessness.
Tea Lady
Explore the concepts of past, present, and future.
Blowing out a Lamp
Experience the moment from a different angle, and see how it actually is.
No Thing
Invite yourself to let go and trust the power of a simple phrase.
Koans and Difficult Times – A Talk
Learn how to work with suffering and difficult emotions during meditation.
No Beard
Enjoy the paradoxical story of a bearded man who has no beard.
Bodhidharma – A Talk
Learn about a semi-mythical figure and his fantastical story.
One Blade of Grass – A Talk
Listen to Henry's personal account of Zen koan practice and how it's helped him.
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The Koan Way
The Koan Way consists of guided meditations as well as short talks providing context on koan practice.
What are Koans and Why Practice Them?
A koan is a question or phrase used in Zen practice to help reveal greater truths about the nature of the mind. Koans are often derived from the biographies of awakened practitioners and typically record something a Zen master either said or did.
A koan may seem paradoxical at first, but its purpose is to facilitate the discovery of certain aspects of consciousness. It's in this discovery that the practitioner can be said to have understood the koan.
to listen to all 48 sessions in this series.
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