SO TO ZEN - Shasta Abbey

ForewordxvThis is one of the characteristics of the S‡t‡ Zen Church ofJapan, which was founded by Great Master D‡gen and furtherenlarged by Great Master Keizan.It is often said that ÒRinzai is for a general and S‡t‡ for afarmer,Ó and indeed S‡t‡ has found its way into the hearts ofthe common people. Since it is a religion into which ordinarypeople can easily be initiated, it is only natural that it hasdeveloped into a large religious school. The S‡t‡ Zen Churchhas established an inseparable contact with the people of Japanand revealed a true way of living for us to follow. It is by nomeans asceticism. The Buddhist ideal has always been the middleway, free from extremes. Buddhist meditation teaches theway to true life, independent of both asceticism and pleasure,discarding the contradicting views of existence and nonexistence.The aims of S‡t‡ Zen are thorough training, harmonizationof body and mind and transcending the extremes ofdualistic thinking. It is said that in the West, Zen generallymeans Rinzai Zen. However, I hope that people in the Westwill realize that in addition to Rinzai Zen, there is another greattradition in Zen, that of S‡t‡ Zen, or the Serene ReflectionMeditation tradition, which is at once both philosophical andpractical, and will, I believe, appeal to the people of the West.This is the reason why I have written this book.CHISAN KOH‡