Preface
A Manifesto of Sorts

In this book, I explain Zen koan training to non-Buddhists and non-meditators. My intended audience includes many intellectually-curious people who have been intrigued by popular references to Zen and Zen koans. Yet, when they try to pursue that interest through further reading, they conclude that koans are too esoteric or too exotic to be of any use to them.

I believe that a closer acquaintance with the classical koan literature will greatly benefit non-Buddhists and others who may never formally adopt the Buddhist path.

The koan literature is one of the great cultural treasures of humankind on a par with our Western classical inheritance from Greece and Rome. Westerners have neglected the contributions of Eastern cultures for centuries. It is an imbalance that has long needed correction. Providing some familiarity with the koan literature is indispensable for this purpose.

This book can also benefit Zen students for whom koans are not used as the primary vehicle of training. However, students who are working with an authorized Zen teacher should first discuss their intention to do so with their teacher to be sure that this does not interfere with their teacher’s planned course of training.

I am not an authorized Zen Master as that term is understood in the formal tradition. Nevertheless, I have practiced koan Zen for more than fifty years under authorized teachers and have completed the koan curriculum of my small but influential Japanese Soto Zen reform sect, the Harada-Yasutani/Sanbo Zen Lineage.

In that time, I have experienced a deep transformation of my attitude toward life. This has taken the forms of a greater trust in life itself and an increasing confidence in myself to work through any problems that arise. In all humility, I believe that sharing this experience might help those troubled by anxiety or depression.

I have subtitled this book,Finding Your Truth with Zen Koans. Like Zen itself, this book provides a kind of therapy rather than a “philosophy.” Western philosophy is always anex post facto reflection on remembered experiences in which the actualbodilylife of the present moment has gone.

Here, I conju