To a modern reader, Linji can appear brusque, relying on confrontation, humiliation, and physical force as methods of instruction. He demands immediate spontaneity from his students and frequently resorts to physical actions that would be unacceptable in most contemporary practice settings. In this sixth installment of our investigation of the Rinzai Zen lineage, we take a modern consideration of the namesake of our lineage Master Rinzai – Linji Xijuan.

When we sing together, we get that experience of one taste of all in the one, one and all. I don't know of a more expedient medium than when we sing together. It's transcendent. Shen Yi Nich Von brings together medicine, meditation and music.

In the fifth of our series tracing the origins of Hollow Bones Rinzai Zen, we turn to the beginnings of Chan in 6th-century China. Having explored the Japanese lineage across four previous posts—including two devoted to Hakuin Ekaku—we now look further back to how Mahayana teachings entered China through the First Patriarch, Bodhidharma.

Jun Po Roshi certified eleven Roshis and ordained 52 priests. Not all of these clergy continue to serve in an active manner. I’ve done my best to sort this out and offer an overview of Jun Po’s dharma offspring.

When you look around, the world is suffering. People are in pain, every kind of pain. I feel really called to offer something that can help alleviate that suffering. Author of Turds of Wisdom and Confessions of a Sacred Fool, Simha Frederick Marx and I caught up on Zoom.

Traditional koans often test or deepen realization of non-dual awareness. Emotional koans, by contrast, examine the relative world—how feelings and behaviors manifest in lived experience. They assume that the practitioner has already tasted kensho, which Jun Po described as Pure Awareness or Clear Deep Heart-Mind.

I’ve been investigating and sharing my Rinzai lineage in several blogs. Noticeably, there are no women. While I cannot change the past, I have been looking into the role of women in the 25 centuries of Buddhist teachings. This led me to find and add to our evening service the “Hymn to the Perfection of Wisdom of Our Great Matriarchs.” This blog will share brief stories of women we honor in our evening service. Part one will look at the 20th-century matriarchs, beginning with the recent passing of Joanna Macy.

To study the Precepts is therefore to step fully into the Sangha — to take responsibility not only for our personal conduct, but for the well-being of all beings with whom we practice.

An Interview with Kogen Keith Martin-Smith

It doesn't matter how deep your spiritual insight is. You can transform shadows when they arise. I think that is absolutely true, but you're not going to be able to understand what's actually driving the shadows themselves, unless you do relative ego shadow work.

Hakuin was a genius in the conventional sense of the word.  His command of textual Zen was outstanding.  He was a committed dharma patriarch, who lived and breath dharma truth, and he shared this with his students and with his audience.  In this way, Hakuin brought Zen back into fashion in the early 18th Century.

Koans and Post-Enlightenment Training

We’ve been examining the origins of the Rinzai lineage of my teacher Jun Po Roshi. Our first blog started with Jun Po Roshi and we worked our way backwards to Hakuin. The second installment started with Nampo Shomyo, who traveled to China to receive the transmission from Xutang Zhiyi, a direct lineage holder of Linji Yixuan, or Master Rinzai. We skipped Hakuin Ekaku, who so deservedly requires several blogs devoted to his teachings.

Nampo Shomyo to Hakuin Ekaku

Hukuins Rinzai Zen is brought from China through Xutang Zhiyi’s direct transmission to Nampo Jomyo. This was not the first time Rinzai was transmitted to a Japanese monk. This time, Rinzai would continue.

It's like opening up the shell, peering out the shell, and then casting off the shell and allowing a new outer appearance.

Jun Po Roshi to Hakuin Ekaku

Zen lore includes a belief that a direct person to person transmission has occurred all the way back to Shakyamuni Buddha himself. Let’s start by tracing back our lineage from Jun Po Roshi to Hakuin Zenji.

I have a group that I feed every night. I sit on a bench, and some will sit on my lap and I'll meditate out there. They have full bellies. They'll come hang out with me, thank me and meditate with me. It's a connection to pure spirit, pure source.

And that's my prayer, may I truly be of benefit. May these words be aligned in such a way that I can really transmit.

With Jun Po Roshi and Karla McLaren’s true teachings in hand, we are developing a tailored approach to emotional self-inquiry and koan work. This broader approach aligns with modern psychological insights and traditional Zen teachings, ensuring a more comprehensive integration of emotional wisdom into spiritual practice.

One of the things I love about Hollow Bones is the Mondo Zen process, which has brought the practice of koans in a way that the Western mind can understand.