Rinzai Zen Naikan

[VolkerK]

is the practice of Rinzai zen naikan serious?

Historically, Zen Naikan had various sources within the Rinzai stream, and in China even today we have examples of this dynamic Zen teaching; the word naikan was used expressly by Master Hakuin Ekaku only three centuries ago to define a method of cultivating energy associated with a new concept of dynamic meditation practice suited both to laypeople having an active life in society and to practicing monks.

https://fontanaeditore.com/en/blogs/ccb ... zen-naikan

if so, why is it not commonly taught in the rinzai tradition? i know some rinzai zen teachers but none of them know it.

[Meido]

Rinzai lineages are not homogeneous: they can transmit varying material depending upon the experience and interests of the teachers in each generation. Different students may also receive different instruction, so one person's experience may not be representative of the totality of methods in that lineage. Finally, if we are talking about Rinzai lines in the west, there are some that I would say have incomplete or broken transmissions of lineage material.

In any case, naikan is certainly still taught in some Rinzai lines.

Fwiw, that link is not to my mind useful for gaining information about the actual practice of naikan. That author seems to be doing a kind of qigong-derived method and linking it to Hakuin's naikan. But i do not recognize anything there, or in a book that author has published, as similar to the actual method as I have experienced it.

(Similarly, I'm sure you know that one can find many sites about "naikan therapy", but this is a modern thing and unrelated to Hakuin's practice).

[VolkerK]

@Meido, thank you for the information. are there any websites where i can find more information about real rinzai naikan? the naikan method of Ishin Yoshimoto and Prof. Akira Ishii is also known to me, i got to know it over 20 years ago in germany.

[Meido]

I don't know of any websites. Hakuin wrote about it in a basic manner, especially the use of koan-like contemplation connected to it. I wrote a little bit about it in my second book, and presented basic instructions. But the full instructions need to be given in dokusan. And the physical aspects of the practice (as I have been taught, anyway) involve the breathing method of tanden soku that is important in Rinzai practice, so one would first have to cultivate that sufficiently.

[VolkerK]

okay, thank you for the information