Gerry Shishen Wick, Roshi is a dual-lineage holder of both the Soto and Rinzai schools of Zen. His teacher Maezumi Roshi passed along both lineages, and so we take this unique opportunity to ask Roshi to compare these two different approaches. He talks about shikantaza (Just Sitting) and also about koan practice–sometimes referred to as logical paradoxes.

He explains that the koan system includes many different kinds of koans, each with different purposes. Some are meant to reveal the oneness of reality, while others are point to the multiplicity within that oneness. He also discusses the difference between “live words” and “dead words,” and why that distinction is so important in the practice of Koan training.

This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to part 2, Embodied Zen.

Episode Links:

The Three Pillars of Zen ( http://bit.ly/dTTbS )

Great Mountain Zen Center ( http://www.gmzc.org )

The Book of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans ( http://bit.ly/la3Lt )

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