Zazen, literally “sitting Zen,” refers to seated meditation and is the foundational practice of Zen Buddhism. With sustained, whole hearted effort and commitment, this ancient practice naturally grows, expands, and deepens over time. Click here for zazen instructions.

At Windhorse, dokusan is an important part of practice for many practitioners. This is a chance for students to meet one-on-one with a teacher to join together in the spirit of practice. These encounters provide a setting for people to bring forth anything related to practice that feels pressing: to ask questions, to demonstrate their experience of practice in the moment, or to come and just sit with the teacher and see what arises.

Dokusan is offered to everyone during retreats. Otherwise, it is available once or twice a week to Windhorse members, and to newer people during their first six months at Windhorse. Please refer to our calendar to see when dokusan is being offered, and email windhorse@windhorsezen.org to sign up.

Chanting is an important element of Zen training at Windhorse. Generally done throughout the week outside of retreats, and daily during sesshins and Zentensives, chanting can be a powerful form of zazen involving the whole mind-body and bringing practice energy into collective expression. Zen chanting comes from the hara, or “belly brain” – the energetic center at the pit of the lower abdomen. 

You can find our chant book here in pdf format.

Some Tips on Chanting

•  The best posture for chanting is seiza: kneeling with knees apart and the buttocks resting on the heels, with or without a zafu (round zazen cushion). If this isn’t comfortable, one may use a bench, or a zafu turned on its side, or sit in any cross-legged position or, if necessary, in a chair. The most important thing is that the spine be upright, with head up, and chest and lower belly open and relaxed, with no tight clothing constricting those areas.

• Zen chanting is ideally done from the hara, or lower abdomen, allowing the chest, throat and head to become resounding chambers. Be sure, if using a chant book, to hold it up so that the neck doesn’t tilt forward and the throat and chest are open. Listen to the sounds of others’ voices around you, and try to harmonize your tone with the group: a living expression of our fundamental unity.

• While chanting, there is no need to concern oneself with grasping intellectually the meaning of the words, nor to clearly articulate each word. Simply allow the sounds, especially open vowels, to flow and vibrate through you. Gradually, through on-going zazen practice and repeated chanting of these sutras and dharani (strings of mantra-like sounds), the deep meaning of these chants begins to permeate our understanding on a subtle level, and to support and inspire our practice.

At Windhorse, we engage in a number of devotional practices.This takes the form of incense offerings during ceremonies, bowing when entering and leaving the zendo (meditation hall), chanting, dedicating merit of our chanting and practice, and doing prostrations both in front of a figure of the Buddha or a bodhisattva and (optionally) before a teacher when entering dokusan. 

Devotional practices remind us that practice is not an isolated activity aimed merely at self-improvement.  We exist in an infinite ecosystem of practice and awakening extending in all directions through space and time.  Each of us is supported by—and responsible for supporting--this all-encompassing Web. Devotional practices are expressions of respect and humility in the face of this benevolent interconnectedness.

The kyosaku, or “encouragement stick,” is perhaps the most controversial and misunderstood element of Zen practice in the West.  Use of the kyosaku, a flat wooden stick used to strike a person on the shoulders during rounds of zazen, is an ancient practice and easily misinterpreted.  

During a formal period of zazen, a teacher or designated monitor will offer to use the kyosaku on anyone who requests it. It is never used punitively and is only administered in response to a direct request from the recipient.

The kyosaku can be a powerful and skillful part of group zazen in the zendo, helping to release energy and to wake us up (especially helpful during long hours of zazen in retreats). Practitioners are struck at specific acupressure points that help the energy to flow from the head, where it typically gets stuck, and down into the belly region. Use of the stick can also involve an energetic joining between the people involved, as well as an auditory and sensory reminder of the here-and-now.

At Windhorse, students may work on a kōan (KOH-ahn) under the guidance of a teacher. A koan is a question, statement, or brief story to be worked with in zazen and in dokusan (one-on-one interviews with a teacher). The spirit of each koan transcends logic, language, thought, and the dualism of subject-object, and must be demonstrated with one’s whole being. If you are interested in koan practice, it is best to speak about it with a teacher in dokusan.