Knowledge in Zen

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Zen Yoga
Practice emphases
alignment, energy or qi/ki, mindfulness, meditation (Zen or Dhyāna), awakening or
kensho.
Related schools
Hatha Yoga, Qigong, Dao Yin, Oki-do yoga

Matt Shinkai Kane teaching Zen Taiso at Gyokuryuji temple, Japan

禪 Zen
Part of a series on
Zen Buddhism
Ensō
Main articles[show]
Persons[show]
Doctrines[show]
Traditions[show]
Awakening[show]
Teachings[show]
Practice[show]
Schools[show]
Related schools[show]
vte
Zen yoga refers to a variety of physical and energetic practices that can be found
within the Zen Buddhist tradition, and increasingly taught in the West. Some Zen
temples include a taiso (exercise) period, often early in the morning, including
yoga-like postures, quick repetitive exercises, and/or more flowing exercises
reminiscent of Tai Chi.[1] These exercises are designed to open and unblock the
body in preparation for sitting meditation, develop a deeper awareness of the body,
and as an opportunity to practice "becoming one” with what’s happening in the
moment (expressed in Japanese through the terms narikiru – become one – or ima-koko
– now-here).

Contents
1 History and origins
1.1 Origins with the Buddha
1.2 Hatha and Yantra Yoga
1.3 Evolution into China and Japan
1.4 Modern Zen yoga in Japan
2 Principles
2.1 Alignment
2.2 Energy
2.3 Awareness/mindfulness
3 Practices/schools
3.1 Zen Taiso
3.2 Oki-do yoga
3.3 Zenways school
3.4 Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes
3.5 Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar
3.6 Shosan Victoria Austin
3.7 Zenyoga association
4 References
5 External links
History and origins
Origins with the Buddha
The Buddha grew up around 500 B.C.E. in a time of great political and spiritual
upheaval. The brahmanas, the spiritual orthodoxy, followed the teachings of the
Vedas (written in the ninth century B.C.E.) and the Upanishads (compiled from
around the seventh century B.C.E.). Ritual and offering were central to their
beliefs, and these could only be performed by the spiritual caste, the Brahmins.
The ritual act of making offerings was even, at times, venerated even more than the
gods themselves, and as a consequence the Brahmins became very powerful and
secretive.[2]

A number of ‘radical’ spiritual schools and teachers emerged (the shramana schools)
in reaction to this brahmana orthodoxy (sometimes called the “movement of the
forest sages”), of which the Buddha was one. What the Buddha offered was a
straightforward method to alleviate suffering and lead towards liberation,
accessible to people of all castes. As opposed to some of the more extreme
positions that appeared (emphasising severe austerities or sensual indulgence) he
taught what he called the 'middle way', emphasising moderation, calmness and non-
forcing.

He taught that there are no absolute "things", there are only processes in a
constant state of change (annica); that there is no fixed or permanent essence or
soul (annata); and that suffering is inherent to life (dukkha) (the Three Marks of
Existence). In the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha described four foundations (or
bases) of mindfulness – mindfulness of the body, of sensations, of the mind, and of
dharmas (i.e. phenomena, thoughts, arisings), and is recorded as saying, "There is
one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future; and
what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body." (Anguttara Nikaya, sutta I,
21.) Thus mindfulness of the body is the direct way to liberation and the end of
suffering. Zen yoga practice is primarily concerned with the body and sensations,
and observing life as a process in a constant state of change, so is in direct line
with the Buddha's method of awakening.

Again in the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha says

Furthermore, when going forward & returning, he makes himself fully alert; when
looking toward & looking away... when bending & extending his limbs... when
carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe & his bowl... when eating, drinking,
chewing, & savouring... when urinating & defecating... when walking, standing,
sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, & remaining silent, he makes himself
fully alert.

In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or focused
externally... unsustained by anything in the world. This is how a monk remains
focused on the body in & of itself.

Hatha and Yantra Yoga

Hatha Yoga was followed by Natha Yogis and is traced to Shrimad Bhagwata Geeta, and
was practiced much before Buddha, tracing its origins to the Yoga-sutras written by
the sage Patañjali (from the 2nd century B.C.E.) and the Goraksha Samhita (written
in the 11th century by yogi Gorakshanath). The word 'hatha' in Sanskrit literally
means 'force', so Hatha Yoga is the “Discipline of Force”. It stresses mastery of
the body as a way of attaining a state of spiritual perfection in which the mind is
withdrawn from external objects.[3] The Buddha once related his experiences with a
Hatha Yoga-type breath-retention practice and found it had a great effect, but not
conducive to awakening:

...I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths in my nose & mouth. As I did so, there
was a loud roaring of winds coming out my earholes, just like the loud roar of
winds coming out of a smith's bellows... So I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths
in my nose & mouth & ears. As I did so, extreme forces sliced through my head, just
as if a strong man were slicing my head open with a sharp sword... Extreme pains
arose in my head... There was an extreme burning in my body... And although
tireless persistence was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my
body was aroused & uncalm because of the painful exertion... But with this racking
practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any
distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another
path to Awakening?

The word hatha can also be seen as a combination of two separate "Bīja mantras" or
single syllables – "ha" representing the masculine or solar energy and "tha" as the
feminine or lunar energy. Thus Hatha Yoga is the practice of bringing balance to
the two opposing forces.[4] The first occurrence of the term 'hatha yoga' is in
fact found in the Buddhist Guhyasamāja tantra dating from the 8th century.[5]

Yantra yoga (or Trul khor) is the Tibetan Buddhist parallel to the Hindu or Vedic
Hatha yoga tradition. The discipline includes similar body postures (asanas) and
pranayama practices, and includes mantra practice and visualisations. Originating
with the mahasiddhas of India, it was brought to Tibet in the eighth century by the
great master Padmasambhava and transmitted to the Tibetan Dzogchen master
Vairochana. Its practice is nowadays found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Evolution into China and Japan

With the revival of Hinduism around the turn of the first millennium C.E. and the
Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent in the 12th century C.E., Buddhism began
to decline. However, yoga and Buddhism had already spread into neighbouring
countries, including Tibet and China to the north. At around 500 C.E., an Indian
monk called Bodhidharma arrived in southern China and taught practices centered on
physical health and wellbeing, meditation and the direct mind-to-mind transmission
teachings of the Lankavatara Sutra. According to Chinese legend, the physical
practices he taught monks to prepare them for meditation included a series of
external exercises called the Eighteen Arhat Hands (Shi-ba Lohan Shou)[6] and an
internal (energetic) practice called the Sinew Metamorphosis Classic.[7] The Yijin
Jing ("Muscle/Tendon Change Classic") is also attributed to Bodhidharma. As these
practices developed, they led to the creation of Shaolinquan school of Kung Fu.

As the Buddhism of Bodhidharma fused with the prevailing Chinese philosophies and
practices of Confucianism and Taoism, it became Ch’an (from Sanskrit dhyāna,
meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"). Over the centuries, Ch'an spread to
Japan where it become known as Zen, taking with it the rich combination of physical
and energetic practices known variously as yoga, Qigong, and Tao Yin.

Dating back to around the fourth century C.E., Yogācāra (literally "yoga practice")
is one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies Zen, and includes the
Lankavatara Sutra mentioned above. It contains a sophisticated psychology of
awakening and emphasises the practice of mindfulness. This mindfulness leads not to
an experience but to a total shift in the way we relate to all experiences. This
shift is referred to in the Yogācāra tradition as parāvṛtti, "turning around”.

Modern Zen yoga in Japan

Calligraphy brushed by Zen master Shinzan Miyamae Roshi, with the characters do-zen
There are three terms in contemporary Japan used to describe yoga-style movement
work: do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin), Zen taiso (literally Zen exercise), and Zen
yoga (first coined by Zen master Masahiro Oki). See below for more information.

In modern times, Zen masters Hogen Daido Roshi[8] and Harada Tangen Roshi,[9] in
particular, have advocated and taught yoga practices to complement their Zen
training. One student of Hogen Daido Roshi recalls that he constantly imparted the
importance of mixing moving Zen (do-zen) into Zen practice: "...there are four
kinds of Zen: sitting, standing, lying, and moving. We should practise them all.
Whatever we do, we must do it fully, mindfully, wholeheartedly, one thing at a time
without being attached to or involved in it. When we practise moving Zen, the
quality of our daily lives becomes very different.”[10]

In Zen, the inseparability of the "body-mind" is often stressed, together with the
need to retain our flexibility for life. Hogen Roshi taught that "By doing yoga and
zazen, we can begin to appreciate the real state of our body and mind, both of
which are stiff and unpeaceful. We should not hate them. Please, let them be as
they are. Taste their special bitter taste".[11]

Principles
Zen practice in general, and Zen Yoga in particular, emphasize three intertwined
areas – physical alignment, the flow of energy in the body and awareness or
mindfulness (Japanese “nen” 念).[12]

Alignment
Physical alignment is highly emphasised in Zen. The founder of the Soto Zen school,
Master Dōgen (d. 1253) wrote in his zazen (meditation) instructions:

First of all, we must sit with the spine erect, not leaning left nor right, forward
nor backward. The nose must be in a vertical line with the belly button and our
ears are to be in level with our shoulders.

By practising Zen yoga we therefore prepare the body for prolonged upright sitting.
Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki teaches that we must then carry this alignment out into
all activities of our daily life:

So try always to keep the right posture, not only when you practice zazen, but in
all your activities. Take the right posture when you are driving your car, and when
you are reading. If you read in a slumped position, you cannot stay awake long.
Try. You will discover how important it is to keep the right posture... The state
of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is itself enlightenment.[13]

Energy
One of the reasons why correct posture is so emphasised is because it powerfully
influences both our mind-state and our energy. Underlying Zen is a conception of
the human system as an energetic phenomenon. This energy or ki is seen as something
that can be enhanced or depleted. Moreover, the courses of energy flow are not
random but follow particular directions and routes called “myaku” (Jp.; or
meridians). This energy has two basic dimensions – one that influences our health,
wellbeing and emotional state, and one that takes us beyond any particular state to
a condition of non-dual awareness.[12]

We can characterise these two energetic dimensions as:

Problem-solving – boosting our health & wellbeing, making life better, and feeling
more alive.
The condition in which we realise that there was never a problem in the first
place.
Energy and consciousness are inextricably linked – when we change our energy, we
change our consciousness and vice versa.

One of the traditional Japanese names for yoga is do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin),
which translates as “guiding and stretching”. Through the yoga practice we stretch
the body and energy routes, and guide the energy in beneficial directions.
Intention is ultimately the means through which this guiding happens. The
manifestation of intention may be through the breath, through imagery or simply
through focused attention.

Much modern yoga practice aims to open and energise our wellbeing energy circuits
(energy channels that operate in the world of opposites – left, right, back, front,
etc.) without touching on the non-dual areas. Although it is a worthwhile and noble
aspiration to attain optimal health and wellbeing, the practitioner nevertheless
remains in the world of duality – the world of this and that, of me and the
universe. Zen is emphatic that within this worldview there is no happy ending to
the story of life, no liberation from our fundamental suffering. However healthy
and emotionally balanced we are, we remain in a condition of separation, where the
Universe is seen as huge, threatening and ultimately indifferent.

This is just a worldview. It is possible to live in a place which is beyond this

duality, which is the main aim of Zen practice.

Awareness/mindfulness
The third aspect of Zen yoga is the application of awareness or mindfulness
(Japanese, "nen" 念). As mentioned above, the Buddha is recorded as saying, "There
is one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future;
and what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body."

How do we find this happiness and liberation? Strangely enough it is through coming
face-to-face with our unhappiness and reactivity – in this case as they manifest in
the body. Makko-ho,[14] a traditional Japanese sequence of stretches, literally
means "the practice of facing things". These are a set of curative exercises
originally developed from temple prostration practice in the 1930s by the
pioneering Japanese yoga teacher, Nagai Wataru, then taken up and extended by
Shizuto Masunaga, populariser of shiatsu massage.[15]

The most important Zen master in the last 500 years, Hakuin Zenji had a saying that
"Buddhas are like water and ordinary people are like ice". In Zen yoga practice,
postures and movements are used to bring the body into focus so that we can notice
any tightnesses or restrictions. The student is then directed to bring their non-
judgemental attention to these blocked or closed areas, and it's this simple
awareness that causes the ice to begin to melt. All we need is an attitude of
curiosity and non-judgemental kindness.

Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi, teacher of Zen yoga, says that "rather than
causing our ice to melt into an inert puddle, this liberated water becomes more
like a fountain; it has shape, dynamism and energy but nevertheless there’s an
ungraspable quality."[12]

The Yogacara philosophy (one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies
Zen) emphasises that, as the individual begins to open and become more free,
flowing and dynamic, they come to inhabit a different world which takes on a
similar quality.

Practices/schools
Zen Taiso
As mentioned above, some Zen temples include a taiso (exercise) period somewhere
within their daily (or if not, retreat) schedule. Taiso practice routines differ
from popular modern yoga classes. Rather than focussing on “sun salutations”,
“warrior poses” and muscular flexibility, the quality of mindfulness and honing in
on releasing energy in the body’s meridian lines is deliberately emphasised.

According to the experience of one Zen monk who studied in a variety of

contemporary Japanese and Korean Zen monasteries, both monks and laity practice a
variety of yoga-like practices ranging from individual stretching (lunges, hip
releases, and chest openers) to temple-wide taiso routines held every morning.[16]
He recalls "These routines focussed on consciously and mindfully relaxing areas of
the body through stretching (in particular areas that needed extra care owing to
long hours of sitting). The practice also worked directly with the body as one’s
object of focus, and the corresponding awareness incorporated in the process, was
viewed as extremely powerful.” Ultimately, the time spend doing temple yoga, both
individually and as a group, was taught to be the ideal opportunity for attaining
awakening (kensho) through mindfulness of the body.

In Japan, if the temple holds formal taiso sessions, they would often be held at
the beginning of the day, say 4am each morning for 20-25 mins. See here for an
example. At Bukkoku-ji (where Tangen Harada was the Roshi – see above), they took
the form of a mixture of quick repetitive exercise (everyone counting together)
with poses held for longer times. These poses were incorporated to isolate openings
in for example, the stomach and spleen meridians for a back bend, the liver and
gall bladder meridians for a wide-legged side bend, and so on. They were integrated
with a specific purpose in mind and were to be done with awareness alongside
breathing in the hara (belly).[16]

Temple taiso routines, however, vary according to the temple and teacher. At the
Weoljeong-sa temple in South Korea, for example, the monks spend an hour or more
each morning doing taiso under the direction of the lead monk while on their 3-
month winter retreat.

Oki-do yoga
Oki-do yoga is a system originating with the Japanese teacher-healer-philosopher
Masahiro Oki. It is a unique blend of traditional Indian hatha yoga with Zen
meditation, dancing, physical games, martial arts, and chanting. The training
method emphasizes balance between opposites: tension and relaxation, heat and cold,
stillness and movement.[17]

Masahiro Oki is credited as the first person to use the term "zen yoga".

Zenways school

Daizan Roshi teaching a Zen yoga class at the ZenYoga studio in London
Zenways is an organisation set up by Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi in 2007
to promote and encourage activities and practices that enhance human wellbeing and
awakening (satori or kensho). Zenways offers a 200hr Zen yoga teacher training
course, together with meditation and mindfulness teacher training courses,
workshops, retreats, meditation classes, and opportunities for zen study.

Over the years of his Zen training, Daizan Roshi studied yoga-style physical
movement in Zen temples in Europe, USA and Japan. He synthesises his knowledge of
these disciplines into a Zen yoga practice that combines physical challenge with
mental and spiritual development. He teaches regularly at “Yugagyo Dojo” (ZenYoga),
a Zen training place he established with his students in London. With more than
5000 hours of yoga teaching experience, Daizan Roshi offers a yoga teacher training
programme to help teachers to find an expression that is authentically their own
and will bring them success when they teach.

Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes

Yoga teacher Aaron Hoopes founded a style of yoga he called Zen Yoga as a variation
of traditional yoga that combines the different philosophies of various Eastern
health and fitness traditions. He created this form to increase accessibility to
people who are less athletic.[18] The philosophies of shanti yoga, qigong, and tai-
chi are combined to help increase flexibility, improve the flow of breathing, and
open joints. The philosophy of Zen is incorporated through being mindfully aware of
the present moment.[18] The basic principle of Zen Yoga is that simple breathing,
movement and stretching exercises are available to anyone regardless of age,
fitness, or health.[18]

Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar

Zen Yoga teacher and shiatsu therapist Tatjana Mesar created a contemporary fusion
of holistic asana flow, mindfulness meditation and applied anatomy and physiology
of postures, movement and breathing for the modern body. The central perspective of
her Dynamic Mindfulness Yoga School emerges from Buddhist philosophy, ethics and
methodology, specifically the Chan school of Buddhism.

Shosan Victoria Austin

Shosan Victoria Austin is a Soto Zen priest transmitted in the lineage of Shunryu
Suzuki Roshi. She began practicing Zen and yoga in 1971, and trained as a yoga
teacher in the 1980s to bring yoga to the Buddhist community in America. A senior
Iyengar yoga teacher, she emphasizes the faithful transmission of each discipline
using its own language and methods. In cross-disciplinary teaching, she emphasizes
teachings common to both traditions, such as bare attention; alignment of posture,
breathing and intention; universal and provisional truth; dedicating the daily
practice; and transformation of the causal body through applying universal moral
precepts and individual practices in daily life. Yoga and Zen

Zenyoga association
Non-profit organization dedicated to practice, study
headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia. The group goes back
founded by Zarko Andricevic,[19] Chan master and one
heirs of the late Chan master Shifu Sheng-yen, as an
Centre[20] in Zagreb.
and teaching of Zenyoga with
to the mid-seventies and was
of the five Western Dharma-
affiliate to Buddhist

Zenyoga, as taught by Zarko and other longtime teachers and mentors - Mira Punik,
Mirjana Halsey, Ela Vukelja and Karmen Mihalinec - is an extension of threefold
training within the Chan tradition of Buddhism - that is, it aims to bring the
body, breath and mind in order or harmony. It rests on the notion that "meditation
in movement" is a valuable companion to "meditation in stillness" of a more formal
Chan practice, especially practice of Silent Illumination[21] or mochao in Chinese
tradition.

Since 2003 Association runs a two-year teachers' training school consisting of over
650 contact hours, including a seven-day Chan meditation retreat. The school is
registered on 500 level with Yoga Alliance since 2005.[22]

Zenyoga is currently taught in a number of locations in Zagreb, in Pula, Rovinj,

Samobor, Krk Island, Rijeka and Split. International affiliates include groups in
Celje (Slovenia), Berlin (Germany) and Cape Cod (USA).[23]

References
Jones, Richard Gensho (May 2014). "Yoga Helped Me to Find the Buddha Way". The
Middle Way. 89 (1): 23.
Berzin, Alexander. "Indian Society and Thought before and at the Time of Buddha".
Retrieved 20 June 2016.
"Hatha Yoga". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
"Yoga Questions Answered". Yoga Journal. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
Berzin, Alexander. "What Is Guhyasamaja Practice?". Study Buddhism. Retrieved 20
June 2016.
Garfinkel, Perry (2006). Buddha or bust: in search of truth, meaning, happiness
and the man who found them all (1st ed.). New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 978-1-4000-
8217-9.
Kit, Wong Kiew (2002). The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for
Self-defense, Health and Enlightenment (1st ed.). Boston, Mass.: Tuttle. ISBN 0-
8048-3439-3.
 http://www.openway.org.au/teachers.html#Hogen
http://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/TangenHarada.html
Daido Hogen Yamahata (2002). Shingan Francis Chauvet (ed.). Folhas caem, um novo
rebento [Falling Leaves, a Shooting Sprout]. Lisbon: Assirio & Alvim. p. 28.
Daido Hogen Yamahata (1986). K. Carne (ed.). The Other Shore. Oxford: Parchment
Press. p. 40.
Skinner, Julian Daizan (May 2014). "A View on Zen and Yoga". The Middle Way. 89
(1): 31.
Suzuki, Shunryu (2011). Zen mind, beginner's mind: [informal talks on Zen
meditation and practice] (New ed.). Boston: Shambhala. p. 10. ISBN 1590308492.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140904185349/http://www.zencenterofdenver.org/stretch
es_for_zazen.aspx
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/shiatsu.htm
Kane, Matt Shinkai (May 2014). "Expressions of Body-based Buddhist Practice in
East Asia". The Middle Way. 89 (1): 3.
http://www.okidoyoga.org.uk/
Hardach, Sophie (2008-02-25). "Zen Yoga founder adds Japanese twist to ancient
practice". Reuters News Agency. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Shikantaza and Silent Illumination". chancenter.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"School Profile | Yoga Alliance". www.yogaalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Zenyoga". zenyoga.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
External links
The Zenways school
The ZenYoga studio in London
Zen Yoga Studio in Berlin, Germany
The Okido Yoga UK webpage
Zen Yoga Training Videos
Eight-Form Moving Meditation Video
Categories: ZenModern Denominational Yoga
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Zen yoga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Zen Yoga
Practice emphases
alignment, energy or qi/ki, mindfulness, meditation (Zen or Dhyāna), awakening or
kensho.
Related schools
Hatha Yoga, Qigong, Dao Yin, Oki-do yoga

Matt Shinkai Kane teaching Zen Taiso at Gyokuryuji temple, Japan

禪 Zen
Part of a series on
Zen Buddhism
Ensō
Main articles[show]
Persons[show]
Doctrines[show]
Traditions[show]
Awakening[show]
Teachings[show]
Practice[show]
Schools[show]
Related schools[show]
vte
Zen yoga refers to a variety of physical and energetic practices that can be found
within the Zen Buddhist tradition, and increasingly taught in the West. Some Zen
temples include a taiso (exercise) period, often early in the morning, including
yoga-like postures, quick repetitive exercises, and/or more flowing exercises
reminiscent of Tai Chi.[1] These exercises are designed to open and unblock the
body in preparation for sitting meditation, develop a deeper awareness of the body,
and as an opportunity to practice "becoming one” with what’s happening in the
moment (expressed in Japanese through the terms narikiru – become one – or ima-koko
– now-here).

Contents
1 History and origins
1.1 Origins with the Buddha
1.2 Hatha and Yantra Yoga
1.3 Evolution into China and Japan
1.4 Modern Zen yoga in Japan
2 Principles
2.1 Alignment
2.2 Energy
2.3 Awareness/mindfulness
3 Practices/schools
3.1 Zen Taiso
3.2 Oki-do yoga
3.3 Zenways school
3.4 Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes
3.5 Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar
3.6 Shosan Victoria Austin
3.7 Zenyoga association
4 References
5 External links
History and origins
Origins with the Buddha
The Buddha grew up around 500 B.C.E. in a time of great political and spiritual
upheaval. The brahmanas, the spiritual orthodoxy, followed the teachings of the
Vedas (written in the ninth century B.C.E.) and the Upanishads (compiled from
around the seventh century B.C.E.). Ritual and offering were central to their
beliefs, and these could only be performed by the spiritual caste, the Brahmins.
The ritual act of making offerings was even, at times, venerated even more than the
gods themselves, and as a consequence the Brahmins became very powerful and
secretive.[2]

A number of ‘radical’ spiritual schools and teachers emerged (the shramana schools)
in reaction to this brahmana orthodoxy (sometimes called the “movement of the
forest sages”), of which the Buddha was one. What the Buddha offered was a
straightforward method to alleviate suffering and lead towards liberation,
accessible to people of all castes. As opposed to some of the more extreme
positions that appeared (emphasising severe austerities or sensual indulgence) he
taught what he called the 'middle way', emphasising moderation, calmness and non-
forcing.

He taught that there are no absolute "things", there are only processes in a
constant state of change (annica); that there is no fixed or permanent essence or
soul (annata); and that suffering is inherent to life (dukkha) (the Three Marks of
Existence). In the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha described four foundations (or
bases) of mindfulness – mindfulness of the body, of sensations, of the mind, and of
dharmas (i.e. phenomena, thoughts, arisings), and is recorded as saying, "There is
one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future; and
what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body." (Anguttara Nikaya, sutta I,
21.) Thus mindfulness of the body is the direct way to liberation and the end of
suffering. Zen yoga practice is primarily concerned with the body and sensations,
and observing life as a process in a constant state of change, so is in direct line
with the Buddha's method of awakening.

Again in the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha says

Furthermore, when going forward & returning, he makes himself fully alert; when
looking toward & looking away... when bending & extending his limbs... when
carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe & his bowl... when eating, drinking,
chewing, & savouring... when urinating & defecating... when walking, standing,
sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, & remaining silent, he makes himself
fully alert.

In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or focused
externally... unsustained by anything in the world. This is how a monk remains
focused on the body in & of itself.

Hatha and Yantra Yoga

Hatha Yoga was followed by Natha Yogis and is traced to Shrimad Bhagwata Geeta, and
was practiced much before Buddha, tracing its origins to the Yoga-sutras written by
the sage Patañjali (from the 2nd century B.C.E.) and the Goraksha Samhita (written
in the 11th century by yogi Gorakshanath). The word 'hatha' in Sanskrit literally
means 'force', so Hatha Yoga is the “Discipline of Force”. It stresses mastery of
the body as a way of attaining a state of spiritual perfection in which the mind is
withdrawn from external objects.[3] The Buddha once related his experiences with a
Hatha Yoga-type breath-retention practice and found it had a great effect, but not
conducive to awakening:

...I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths in my nose & mouth. As I did so, there
was a loud roaring of winds coming out my earholes, just like the loud roar of
winds coming out of a smith's bellows... So I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths
in my nose & mouth & ears. As I did so, extreme forces sliced through my head, just
as if a strong man were slicing my head open with a sharp sword... Extreme pains
arose in my head... There was an extreme burning in my body... And although
tireless persistence was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my
body was aroused & uncalm because of the painful exertion... But with this racking
practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any
distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another
path to Awakening?

The word hatha can also be seen as a combination of two separate "Bīja mantras" or
single syllables – "ha" representing the masculine or solar energy and "tha" as the
feminine or lunar energy. Thus Hatha Yoga is the practice of bringing balance to
the two opposing forces.[4] The first occurrence of the term 'hatha yoga' is in
fact found in the Buddhist Guhyasamāja tantra dating from the 8th century.[5]

Yantra yoga (or Trul khor) is the Tibetan Buddhist parallel to the Hindu or Vedic
Hatha yoga tradition. The discipline includes similar body postures (asanas) and
pranayama practices, and includes mantra practice and visualisations. Originating
with the mahasiddhas of India, it was brought to Tibet in the eighth century by the
great master Padmasambhava and transmitted to the Tibetan Dzogchen master
Vairochana. Its practice is nowadays found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Evolution into China and Japan

With the revival of Hinduism around the turn of the first millennium C.E. and the
Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent in the 12th century C.E., Buddhism began
to decline. However, yoga and Buddhism had already spread into neighbouring
countries, including Tibet and China to the north. At around 500 C.E., an Indian
monk called Bodhidharma arrived in southern China and taught practices centered on
physical health and wellbeing, meditation and the direct mind-to-mind transmission
teachings of the Lankavatara Sutra. According to Chinese legend, the physical
practices he taught monks to prepare them for meditation included a series of
external exercises called the Eighteen Arhat Hands (Shi-ba Lohan Shou)[6] and an
internal (energetic) practice called the Sinew Metamorphosis Classic.[7] The Yijin
Jing ("Muscle/Tendon Change Classic") is also attributed to Bodhidharma. As these
practices developed, they led to the creation of Shaolinquan school of Kung Fu.

As the Buddhism of Bodhidharma fused with the prevailing Chinese philosophies and
practices of Confucianism and Taoism, it became Ch’an (from Sanskrit dhyāna,
meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"). Over the centuries, Ch'an spread to
Japan where it become known as Zen, taking with it the rich combination of physical
and energetic practices known variously as yoga, Qigong, and Tao Yin.

Dating back to around the fourth century C.E., Yogācāra (literally "yoga practice")
is one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies Zen, and includes the
Lankavatara Sutra mentioned above. It contains a sophisticated psychology of
awakening and emphasises the practice of mindfulness. This mindfulness leads not to
an experience but to a total shift in the way we relate to all experiences. This
shift is referred to in the Yogācāra tradition as parāvṛtti, "turning around”.
Modern Zen yoga in Japan

Calligraphy brushed by Zen master Shinzan Miyamae Roshi, with the characters do-zen
There are three terms in contemporary Japan used to describe yoga-style movement
work: do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin), Zen taiso (literally Zen exercise), and Zen
yoga (first coined by Zen master Masahiro Oki). See below for more information.

In modern times, Zen masters Hogen Daido Roshi[8] and Harada Tangen Roshi,[9] in
particular, have advocated and taught yoga practices to complement their Zen
training. One student of Hogen Daido Roshi recalls that he constantly imparted the
importance of mixing moving Zen (do-zen) into Zen practice: "...there are four
kinds of Zen: sitting, standing, lying, and moving. We should practise them all.
Whatever we do, we must do it fully, mindfully, wholeheartedly, one thing at a time
without being attached to or involved in it. When we practise moving Zen, the
quality of our daily lives becomes very different.”[10]

In Zen, the inseparability of the "body-mind" is often stressed, together with the
need to retain our flexibility for life. Hogen Roshi taught that "By doing yoga and
zazen, we can begin to appreciate the real state of our body and mind, both of
which are stiff and unpeaceful. We should not hate them. Please, let them be as
they are. Taste their special bitter taste".[11]

Principles
Zen practice in general, and Zen Yoga in particular, emphasize three intertwined
areas – physical alignment, the flow of energy in the body and awareness or
mindfulness (Japanese “nen” 念).[12]

Alignment
Physical alignment is highly emphasised in Zen. The founder of the Soto Zen school,
Master Dōgen (d. 1253) wrote in his zazen (meditation) instructions:

First of all, we must sit with the spine erect, not leaning left nor right, forward
nor backward. The nose must be in a vertical line with the belly button and our
ears are to be in level with our shoulders.

By practising Zen yoga we therefore prepare the body for prolonged upright sitting.
Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki teaches that we must then carry this alignment out into
all activities of our daily life:

So try always to keep the right posture, not only when you practice zazen, but in
all your activities. Take the right posture when you are driving your car, and when
you are reading. If you read in a slumped position, you cannot stay awake long.
Try. You will discover how important it is to keep the right posture... The state
of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is itself enlightenment.[13]

Energy
One of the reasons why correct posture is so emphasised is because it powerfully
influences both our mind-state and our energy. Underlying Zen is a conception of
the human system as an energetic phenomenon. This energy or ki is seen as something
that can be enhanced or depleted. Moreover, the courses of energy flow are not
random but follow particular directions and routes called “myaku” (Jp.; or
meridians). This energy has two basic dimensions – one that influences our health,
wellbeing and emotional state, and one that takes us beyond any particular state to
a condition of non-dual awareness.[12]

We can characterise these two energetic dimensions as:

Problem-solving – boosting our health & wellbeing, making life better, and feeling
more alive.
The condition in which we realise that there was never a problem in the first
place.
Energy and consciousness are inextricably linked – when we change our energy, we
change our consciousness and vice versa.

One of the traditional Japanese names for yoga is do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin),
which translates as “guiding and stretching”. Through the yoga practice we stretch
the body and energy routes, and guide the energy in beneficial directions.
Intention is ultimately the means through which this guiding happens. The
manifestation of intention may be through the breath, through imagery or simply
through focused attention.

Much modern yoga practice aims to open and energise our wellbeing energy circuits
(energy channels that operate in the world of opposites – left, right, back, front,
etc.) without touching on the non-dual areas. Although it is a worthwhile and noble
aspiration to attain optimal health and wellbeing, the practitioner nevertheless
remains in the world of duality – the world of this and that, of me and the
universe. Zen is emphatic that within this worldview there is no happy ending to
the story of life, no liberation from our fundamental suffering. However healthy
and emotionally balanced we are, we remain in a condition of separation, where the
Universe is seen as huge, threatening and ultimately indifferent.

This is just a worldview. It is possible to live in a place which is beyond this

duality, which is the main aim of Zen practice.

Awareness/mindfulness
The third aspect of Zen yoga is the application of awareness or mindfulness
(Japanese, "nen" 念). As mentioned above, the Buddha is recorded as saying, "There
is one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future;
and what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body."

How do we find this happiness and liberation? Strangely enough it is through coming
face-to-face with our unhappiness and reactivity – in this case as they manifest in
the body. Makko-ho,[14] a traditional Japanese sequence of stretches, literally
means "the practice of facing things". These are a set of curative exercises
originally developed from temple prostration practice in the 1930s by the
pioneering Japanese yoga teacher, Nagai Wataru, then taken up and extended by
Shizuto Masunaga, populariser of shiatsu massage.[15]

The most important Zen master in the last 500 years, Hakuin Zenji had a saying that
"Buddhas are like water and ordinary people are like ice". In Zen yoga practice,
postures and movements are used to bring the body into focus so that we can notice
any tightnesses or restrictions. The student is then directed to bring their non-
judgemental attention to these blocked or closed areas, and it's this simple
awareness that causes the ice to begin to melt. All we need is an attitude of
curiosity and non-judgemental kindness.

Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi, teacher of Zen yoga, says that "rather than
causing our ice to melt into an inert puddle, this liberated water becomes more
like a fountain; it has shape, dynamism and energy but nevertheless there’s an
ungraspable quality."[12]

The Yogacara philosophy (one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies
Zen) emphasises that, as the individual begins to open and become more free,
flowing and dynamic, they come to inhabit a different world which takes on a
similar quality.

Practices/schools
Zen Taiso
As mentioned above, some Zen temples include a taiso (exercise) period somewhere
within their daily (or if not, retreat) schedule. Taiso practice routines differ
from popular modern yoga classes. Rather than focussing on “sun salutations”,
“warrior poses” and muscular flexibility, the quality of mindfulness and honing in
on releasing energy in the body’s meridian lines is deliberately emphasised.

According to the experience of one Zen monk who studied in a variety of

contemporary Japanese and Korean Zen monasteries, both monks and laity practice a
variety of yoga-like practices ranging from individual stretching (lunges, hip
releases, and chest openers) to temple-wide taiso routines held every morning.[16]
He recalls "These routines focussed on consciously and mindfully relaxing areas of
the body through stretching (in particular areas that needed extra care owing to
long hours of sitting). The practice also worked directly with the body as one’s
object of focus, and the corresponding awareness incorporated in the process, was
viewed as extremely powerful.” Ultimately, the time spend doing temple yoga, both
individually and as a group, was taught to be the ideal opportunity for attaining
awakening (kensho) through mindfulness of the body.

In Japan, if the temple holds formal taiso sessions, they would often be held at
the beginning of the day, say 4am each morning for 20-25 mins. See here for an
example. At Bukkoku-ji (where Tangen Harada was the Roshi – see above), they took
the form of a mixture of quick repetitive exercise (everyone counting together)
with poses held for longer times. These poses were incorporated to isolate openings
in for example, the stomach and spleen meridians for a back bend, the liver and
gall bladder meridians for a wide-legged side bend, and so on. They were integrated
with a specific purpose in mind and were to be done with awareness alongside
breathing in the hara (belly).[16]

Temple taiso routines, however, vary according to the temple and teacher. At the
Weoljeong-sa temple in South Korea, for example, the monks spend an hour or more
each morning doing taiso under the direction of the lead monk while on their 3-
month winter retreat.

Oki-do yoga
Oki-do yoga is a system originating with the Japanese teacher-healer-philosopher
Masahiro Oki. It is a unique blend of traditional Indian hatha yoga with Zen
meditation, dancing, physical games, martial arts, and chanting. The training
method emphasizes balance between opposites: tension and relaxation, heat and cold,
stillness and movement.[17]

Masahiro Oki is credited as the first person to use the term "zen yoga".

Zenways school

Daizan Roshi teaching a Zen yoga class at the ZenYoga studio in London
Zenways is an organisation set up by Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi in 2007
to promote and encourage activities and practices that enhance human wellbeing and
awakening (satori or kensho). Zenways offers a 200hr Zen yoga teacher training
course, together with meditation and mindfulness teacher training courses,
workshops, retreats, meditation classes, and opportunities for zen study.

Over the years of his Zen training, Daizan Roshi studied yoga-style physical
movement in Zen temples in Europe, USA and Japan. He synthesises his knowledge of
these disciplines into a Zen yoga practice that combines physical challenge with
mental and spiritual development. He teaches regularly at “Yugagyo Dojo” (ZenYoga),
a Zen training place he established with his students in London. With more than
5000 hours of yoga teaching experience, Daizan Roshi offers a yoga teacher training
programme to help teachers to find an expression that is authentically their own
and will bring them success when they teach.

Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes

Yoga teacher Aaron Hoopes founded a style of yoga he called Zen Yoga as a variation
of traditional yoga that combines the different philosophies of various Eastern
health and fitness traditions. He created this form to increase accessibility to
people who are less athletic.[18] The philosophies of shanti yoga, qigong, and tai-
chi are combined to help increase flexibility, improve the flow of breathing, and
open joints. The philosophy of Zen is incorporated through being mindfully aware of
the present moment.[18] The basic principle of Zen Yoga is that simple breathing,
movement and stretching exercises are available to anyone regardless of age,
fitness, or health.[18]

Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar

Zen Yoga teacher and shiatsu therapist Tatjana Mesar created a contemporary fusion
of holistic asana flow, mindfulness meditation and applied anatomy and physiology
of postures, movement and breathing for the modern body. The central perspective of
her Dynamic Mindfulness Yoga School emerges from Buddhist philosophy, ethics and
methodology, specifically the Chan school of Buddhism.

Shosan Victoria Austin

Shosan Victoria Austin is a Soto Zen priest transmitted in the lineage of Shunryu
Suzuki Roshi. She began practicing Zen and yoga in 1971, and trained as a yoga
teacher in the 1980s to bring yoga to the Buddhist community in America. A senior
Iyengar yoga teacher, she emphasizes the faithful transmission of each discipline
using its own language and methods. In cross-disciplinary teaching, she emphasizes
teachings common to both traditions, such as bare attention; alignment of posture,
breathing and intention; universal and provisional truth; dedicating the daily
practice; and transformation of the causal body through applying universal moral
precepts and individual practices in daily life. Yoga and Zen

Zenyoga association
Non-profit organization dedicated to practice, study
headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia. The group goes back
founded by Zarko Andricevic,[19] Chan master and one
heirs of the late Chan master Shifu Sheng-yen, as an
Centre[20] in Zagreb.
and teaching of Zenyoga with
to the mid-seventies and was
of the five Western Dharma-
affiliate to Buddhist

Zenyoga, as taught by Zarko and other longtime teachers and mentors - Mira Punik,
Mirjana Halsey, Ela Vukelja and Karmen Mihalinec - is an extension of threefold
training within the Chan tradition of Buddhism - that is, it aims to bring the
body, breath and mind in order or harmony. It rests on the notion that "meditation
in movement" is a valuable companion to "meditation in stillness" of a more formal
Chan practice, especially practice of Silent Illumination[21] or mochao in Chinese
tradition.

Since 2003 Association runs a two-year teachers' training school consisting of over
650 contact hours, including a seven-day Chan meditation retreat. The school is
registered on 500 level with Yoga Alliance since 2005.[22]

Zenyoga is currently taught in a number of locations in Zagreb, in Pula, Rovinj,

Samobor, Krk Island, Rijeka and Split. International affiliates include groups in
Celje (Slovenia), Berlin (Germany) and Cape Cod (USA).[23]

References
Jones, Richard Gensho (May 2014). "Yoga Helped Me to Find the Buddha Way". The
Middle Way. 89 (1): 23.
Berzin, Alexander. "Indian Society and Thought before and at the Time of Buddha".
Retrieved 20 June 2016.
 "Hatha Yoga". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
"Yoga Questions Answered". Yoga Journal. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
Berzin, Alexander. "What Is Guhyasamaja Practice?". Study Buddhism. Retrieved 20
June 2016.
Garfinkel, Perry (2006). Buddha or bust: in search of truth, meaning, happiness
and the man who found them all (1st ed.). New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 978-1-4000-
8217-9.
Kit, Wong Kiew (2002). The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for
Self-defense, Health and Enlightenment (1st ed.). Boston, Mass.: Tuttle. ISBN 0-
8048-3439-3.
http://www.openway.org.au/teachers.html#Hogen
http://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/TangenHarada.html
Daido Hogen Yamahata (2002). Shingan Francis Chauvet (ed.). Folhas caem, um novo
rebento [Falling Leaves, a Shooting Sprout]. Lisbon: Assirio & Alvim. p. 28.
Daido Hogen Yamahata (1986). K. Carne (ed.). The Other Shore. Oxford: Parchment
Press. p. 40.
Skinner, Julian Daizan (May 2014). "A View on Zen and Yoga". The Middle Way. 89
(1): 31.
Suzuki, Shunryu (2011). Zen mind, beginner's mind: [informal talks on Zen
meditation and practice] (New ed.). Boston: Shambhala. p. 10. ISBN 1590308492.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140904185349/http://www.zencenterofdenver.org/stretch
es_for_zazen.aspx
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/shiatsu.htm
Kane, Matt Shinkai (May 2014). "Expressions of Body-based Buddhist Practice in
East Asia". The Middle Way. 89 (1): 3.
http://www.okidoyoga.org.uk/
Hardach, Sophie (2008-02-25). "Zen Yoga founder adds Japanese twist to ancient
practice". Reuters News Agency. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Shikantaza and Silent Illumination". chancenter.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"School Profile | Yoga Alliance". www.yogaalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Zenyoga". zenyoga.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
External links
The Zenways school
The ZenYoga studio in London
Zen Yoga Studio in Berlin, Germany
The Okido Yoga UK webpage
Zen Yoga Training Videos
Eight-Form Moving Meditation Video
Categories: ZenModern Denominational Yoga
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Zen yoga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Zen Yoga
Practice emphases
alignment, energy or qi/ki, mindfulness, meditation (Zen or Dhyāna), awakening or
kensho.
Related schools
Hatha Yoga, Qigong, Dao Yin, Oki-do yoga

Matt Shinkai Kane teaching Zen Taiso at Gyokuryuji temple, Japan

禪 Zen
Part of a series on
Zen Buddhism
Ensō
Main articles[show]
Persons[show]
Doctrines[show]
Traditions[show]
Awakening[show]
Teachings[show]
Practice[show]
Schools[show]
Related schools[show]
vte
Zen yoga refers to a variety of physical and energetic practices that can be found
within the Zen Buddhist tradition, and increasingly taught in the West. Some Zen
temples include a taiso (exercise) period, often early in the morning, including
yoga-like postures, quick repetitive exercises, and/or more flowing exercises
reminiscent of Tai Chi.[1] These exercises are designed to open and unblock the
body in preparation for sitting meditation, develop a deeper awareness of the body,
and as an opportunity to practice "becoming one” with what’s happening in the
moment (expressed in Japanese through the terms narikiru – become one – or ima-koko
– now-here).
Contents
1 History and origins
1.1 Origins with the Buddha
1.2 Hatha and Yantra Yoga
1.3 Evolution into China and Japan
1.4 Modern Zen yoga in Japan
2 Principles
2.1 Alignment
2.2 Energy
2.3 Awareness/mindfulness
3 Practices/schools
3.1 Zen Taiso
3.2 Oki-do yoga
3.3 Zenways school
3.4 Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes
3.5 Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar
3.6 Shosan Victoria Austin
3.7 Zenyoga association
4 References
5 External links
History and origins
Origins with the Buddha
The Buddha grew up around 500 B.C.E. in a time of great political and spiritual
upheaval. The brahmanas, the spiritual orthodoxy, followed the teachings of the
Vedas (written in the ninth century B.C.E.) and the Upanishads (compiled from
around the seventh century B.C.E.). Ritual and offering were central to their
beliefs, and these could only be performed by the spiritual caste, the Brahmins.
The ritual act of making offerings was even, at times, venerated even more than the
gods themselves, and as a consequence the Brahmins became very powerful and
secretive.[2]

A number of ‘radical’ spiritual schools and teachers emerged (the shramana schools)
in reaction to this brahmana orthodoxy (sometimes called the “movement of the
forest sages”), of which the Buddha was one. What the Buddha offered was a
straightforward method to alleviate suffering and lead towards liberation,
accessible to people of all castes. As opposed to some of the more extreme
positions that appeared (emphasising severe austerities or sensual indulgence) he
taught what he called the 'middle way', emphasising moderation, calmness and non-
forcing.

He taught that there are no absolute "things", there are only processes in a
constant state of change (annica); that there is no fixed or permanent essence or
soul (annata); and that suffering is inherent to life (dukkha) (the Three Marks of
Existence). In the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha described four foundations (or
bases) of mindfulness – mindfulness of the body, of sensations, of the mind, and of
dharmas (i.e. phenomena, thoughts, arisings), and is recorded as saying, "There is
one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future; and
what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body." (Anguttara Nikaya, sutta I,
21.) Thus mindfulness of the body is the direct way to liberation and the end of
suffering. Zen yoga practice is primarily concerned with the body and sensations,
and observing life as a process in a constant state of change, so is in direct line
with the Buddha's method of awakening.

Again in the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha says

Furthermore, when going forward & returning, he makes himself fully alert; when
looking toward & looking away... when bending & extending his limbs... when
carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe & his bowl... when eating, drinking,
chewing, & savouring... when urinating & defecating... when walking, standing,
sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, & remaining silent, he makes himself
fully alert.

In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or focused
externally... unsustained by anything in the world. This is how a monk remains
focused on the body in & of itself.

Hatha and Yantra Yoga

Hatha Yoga was followed by Natha Yogis and is traced to Shrimad Bhagwata Geeta, and
was practiced much before Buddha, tracing its origins to the Yoga-sutras written by
the sage Patañjali (from the 2nd century B.C.E.) and the Goraksha Samhita (written
in the 11th century by yogi Gorakshanath). The word 'hatha' in Sanskrit literally
means 'force', so Hatha Yoga is the “Discipline of Force”. It stresses mastery of
the body as a way of attaining a state of spiritual perfection in which the mind is
withdrawn from external objects.[3] The Buddha once related his experiences with a
Hatha Yoga-type breath-retention practice and found it had a great effect, but not
conducive to awakening:

...I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths in my nose & mouth. As I did so, there
was a loud roaring of winds coming out my earholes, just like the loud roar of
winds coming out of a smith's bellows... So I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths
in my nose & mouth & ears. As I did so, extreme forces sliced through my head, just
as if a strong man were slicing my head open with a sharp sword... Extreme pains
arose in my head... There was an extreme burning in my body... And although
tireless persistence was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my
body was aroused & uncalm because of the painful exertion... But with this racking
practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any
distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another
path to Awakening?

The word hatha can also be seen as a combination of two separate "Bīja mantras" or
single syllables – "ha" representing the masculine or solar energy and "tha" as the
feminine or lunar energy. Thus Hatha Yoga is the practice of bringing balance to
the two opposing forces.[4] The first occurrence of the term 'hatha yoga' is in
fact found in the Buddhist Guhyasamāja tantra dating from the 8th century.[5]

Yantra yoga (or Trul khor) is the Tibetan Buddhist parallel to the Hindu or Vedic
Hatha yoga tradition. The discipline includes similar body postures (asanas) and
pranayama practices, and includes mantra practice and visualisations. Originating
with the mahasiddhas of India, it was brought to Tibet in the eighth century by the
great master Padmasambhava and transmitted to the Tibetan Dzogchen master
Vairochana. Its practice is nowadays found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Evolution into China and Japan

With the revival of Hinduism around the turn of the first millennium C.E. and the
Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent in the 12th century C.E., Buddhism began
to decline. However, yoga and Buddhism had already spread into neighbouring
countries, including Tibet and China to the north. At around 500 C.E., an Indian
monk called Bodhidharma arrived in southern China and taught practices centered on
physical health and wellbeing, meditation and the direct mind-to-mind transmission
teachings of the Lankavatara Sutra. According to Chinese legend, the physical
practices he taught monks to prepare them for meditation included a series of
external exercises called the Eighteen Arhat Hands (Shi-ba Lohan Shou)[6] and an
internal (energetic) practice called the Sinew Metamorphosis Classic.[7] The Yijin
Jing ("Muscle/Tendon Change Classic") is also attributed to Bodhidharma. As these
practices developed, they led to the creation of Shaolinquan school of Kung Fu.

As the Buddhism of Bodhidharma fused with the prevailing Chinese philosophies and
practices of Confucianism and Taoism, it became Ch’an (from Sanskrit dhyāna,
meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"). Over the centuries, Ch'an spread to
Japan where it become known as Zen, taking with it the rich combination of physical
and energetic practices known variously as yoga, Qigong, and Tao Yin.

Dating back to around the fourth century C.E., Yogācāra (literally "yoga practice")
is one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies Zen, and includes the
Lankavatara Sutra mentioned above. It contains a sophisticated psychology of
awakening and emphasises the practice of mindfulness. This mindfulness leads not to
an experience but to a total shift in the way we relate to all experiences. This
shift is referred to in the Yogācāra tradition as parāvṛtti, "turning around”.

Modern Zen yoga in Japan

Calligraphy brushed by Zen master Shinzan Miyamae Roshi, with the characters do-zen
There are three terms in contemporary Japan used to describe yoga-style movement
work: do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin), Zen taiso (literally Zen exercise), and Zen
yoga (first coined by Zen master Masahiro Oki). See below for more information.

In modern times, Zen masters Hogen Daido Roshi[8] and Harada Tangen Roshi,[9] in
particular, have advocated and taught yoga practices to complement their Zen
training. One student of Hogen Daido Roshi recalls that he constantly imparted the
importance of mixing moving Zen (do-zen) into Zen practice: "...there are four
kinds of Zen: sitting, standing, lying, and moving. We should practise them all.
Whatever we do, we must do it fully, mindfully, wholeheartedly, one thing at a time
without being attached to or involved in it. When we practise moving Zen, the
quality of our daily lives becomes very different.”[10]

In Zen, the inseparability of the "body-mind" is often stressed, together with the
need to retain our flexibility for life. Hogen Roshi taught that "By doing yoga and
zazen, we can begin to appreciate the real state of our body and mind, both of
which are stiff and unpeaceful. We should not hate them. Please, let them be as
they are. Taste their special bitter taste".[11]

Principles
Zen practice in general, and Zen Yoga in particular, emphasize three intertwined
areas – physical alignment, the flow of energy in the body and awareness or
mindfulness (Japanese “nen” 念).[12]

Alignment
Physical alignment is highly emphasised in Zen. The founder of the Soto Zen school,
Master Dōgen (d. 1253) wrote in his zazen (meditation) instructions:

First of all, we must sit with the spine erect, not leaning left nor right, forward
nor backward. The nose must be in a vertical line with the belly button and our
ears are to be in level with our shoulders.

By practising Zen yoga we therefore prepare the body for prolonged upright sitting.
Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki teaches that we must then carry this alignment out into
all activities of our daily life:

So try always to keep the right posture, not only when you practice zazen, but in
all your activities. Take the right posture when you are driving your car, and when
you are reading. If you read in a slumped position, you cannot stay awake long.
Try. You will discover how important it is to keep the right posture... The state
of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is itself enlightenment.[13]

Energy
One of the reasons why correct posture is so emphasised is because it powerfully
influences both our mind-state and our energy. Underlying Zen is a conception of
the human system as an energetic phenomenon. This energy or ki is seen as something
that can be enhanced or depleted. Moreover, the courses of energy flow are not
random but follow particular directions and routes called “myaku” (Jp.; or
meridians). This energy has two basic dimensions – one that influences our health,
wellbeing and emotional state, and one that takes us beyond any particular state to
a condition of non-dual awareness.[12]

We can characterise these two energetic dimensions as:

Problem-solving – boosting our health & wellbeing, making life better, and feeling
more alive.
The condition in which we realise that there was never a problem in the first
place.
Energy and consciousness are inextricably linked – when we change our energy, we
change our consciousness and vice versa.

One of the traditional Japanese names for yoga is do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin),
which translates as “guiding and stretching”. Through the yoga practice we stretch
the body and energy routes, and guide the energy in beneficial directions.
Intention is ultimately the means through which this guiding happens. The
manifestation of intention may be through the breath, through imagery or simply
through focused attention.

Much modern yoga practice aims to open and energise our wellbeing energy circuits
(energy channels that operate in the world of opposites – left, right, back, front,
etc.) without touching on the non-dual areas. Although it is a worthwhile and noble
aspiration to attain optimal health and wellbeing, the practitioner nevertheless
remains in the world of duality – the world of this and that, of me and the
universe. Zen is emphatic that within this worldview there is no happy ending to
the story of life, no liberation from our fundamental suffering. However healthy
and emotionally balanced we are, we remain in a condition of separation, where the
Universe is seen as huge, threatening and ultimately indifferent.

This is just a worldview. It is possible to live in a place which is beyond this

duality, which is the main aim of Zen practice.

Awareness/mindfulness
The third aspect of Zen yoga is the application of awareness or mindfulness
(Japanese, "nen" 念). As mentioned above, the Buddha is recorded as saying, "There
is one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future;
and what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body."

How do we find this happiness and liberation? Strangely enough it is through coming
face-to-face with our unhappiness and reactivity – in this case as they manifest in
the body. Makko-ho,[14] a traditional Japanese sequence of stretches, literally
means "the practice of facing things". These are a set of curative exercises
originally developed from temple prostration practice in the 1930s by the
pioneering Japanese yoga teacher, Nagai Wataru, then taken up and extended by
Shizuto Masunaga, populariser of shiatsu massage.[15]

The most important Zen master in the last 500 years, Hakuin Zenji had a saying that
"Buddhas are like water and ordinary people are like ice". In Zen yoga practice,
postures and movements are used to bring the body into focus so that we can notice
any tightnesses or restrictions. The student is then directed to bring their non-
judgemental attention to these blocked or closed areas, and it's this simple
awareness that causes the ice to begin to melt. All we need is an attitude of
curiosity and non-judgemental kindness.

Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi, teacher of Zen yoga, says that "rather than
causing our ice to melt into an inert puddle, this liberated water becomes more
like a fountain; it has shape, dynamism and energy but nevertheless there’s an
ungraspable quality."[12]

The Yogacara philosophy (one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies
Zen) emphasises that, as the individual begins to open and become more free,
flowing and dynamic, they come to inhabit a different world which takes on a
similar quality.

Practices/schools
Zen Taiso
As mentioned above, some Zen temples include a taiso (exercise) period somewhere
within their daily (or if not, retreat) schedule. Taiso practice routines differ
from popular modern yoga classes. Rather than focussing on “sun salutations”,
“warrior poses” and muscular flexibility, the quality of mindfulness and honing in
on releasing energy in the body’s meridian lines is deliberately emphasised.

According to the experience of one Zen monk who studied in a variety of

contemporary Japanese and Korean Zen monasteries, both monks and laity practice a
variety of yoga-like practices ranging from individual stretching (lunges, hip
releases, and chest openers) to temple-wide taiso routines held every morning.[16]
He recalls "These routines focussed on consciously and mindfully relaxing areas of
the body through stretching (in particular areas that needed extra care owing to
long hours of sitting). The practice also worked directly with the body as one’s
object of focus, and the corresponding awareness incorporated in the process, was
viewed as extremely powerful.” Ultimately, the time spend doing temple yoga, both
individually and as a group, was taught to be the ideal opportunity for attaining
awakening (kensho) through mindfulness of the body.

In Japan, if the temple holds formal taiso sessions, they would often be held at
the beginning of the day, say 4am each morning for 20-25 mins. See here for an
example. At Bukkoku-ji (where Tangen Harada was the Roshi – see above), they took
the form of a mixture of quick repetitive exercise (everyone counting together)
with poses held for longer times. These poses were incorporated to isolate openings
in for example, the stomach and spleen meridians for a back bend, the liver and
gall bladder meridians for a wide-legged side bend, and so on. They were integrated
with a specific purpose in mind and were to be done with awareness alongside
breathing in the hara (belly).[16]

Temple taiso routines, however, vary according to the temple and teacher. At the
Weoljeong-sa temple in South Korea, for example, the monks spend an hour or more
each morning doing taiso under the direction of the lead monk while on their 3-
month winter retreat.

Oki-do yoga
Oki-do yoga is a system originating with the Japanese teacher-healer-philosopher
Masahiro Oki. It is a unique blend of traditional Indian hatha yoga with Zen
meditation, dancing, physical games, martial arts, and chanting. The training
method emphasizes balance between opposites: tension and relaxation, heat and cold,
stillness and movement.[17]

Masahiro Oki is credited as the first person to use the term "zen yoga".

Zenways school

Daizan Roshi teaching a Zen yoga class at the ZenYoga studio in London
Zenways is an organisation set up by Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi in 2007
to promote and encourage activities and practices that enhance human wellbeing and
awakening (satori or kensho). Zenways offers a 200hr Zen yoga teacher training
course, together with meditation and mindfulness teacher training courses,
workshops, retreats, meditation classes, and opportunities for zen study.

Over the years of his Zen training, Daizan Roshi studied yoga-style physical
movement in Zen temples in Europe, USA and Japan. He synthesises his knowledge of
these disciplines into a Zen yoga practice that combines physical challenge with
mental and spiritual development. He teaches regularly at “Yugagyo Dojo” (ZenYoga),
a Zen training place he established with his students in London. With more than
5000 hours of yoga teaching experience, Daizan Roshi offers a yoga teacher training
programme to help teachers to find an expression that is authentically their own
and will bring them success when they teach.

Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes

Yoga teacher Aaron Hoopes founded a style of yoga he called Zen Yoga as a variation
of traditional yoga that combines the different philosophies of various Eastern
health and fitness traditions. He created this form to increase accessibility to
people who are less athletic.[18] The philosophies of shanti yoga, qigong, and tai-
chi are combined to help increase flexibility, improve the flow of breathing, and
open joints. The philosophy of Zen is incorporated through being mindfully aware of
the present moment.[18] The basic principle of Zen Yoga is that simple breathing,
movement and stretching exercises are available to anyone regardless of age,
fitness, or health.[18]

Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar

Zen Yoga teacher and shiatsu therapist Tatjana Mesar created a contemporary fusion
of holistic asana flow, mindfulness meditation and applied anatomy and physiology
of postures, movement and breathing for the modern body. The central perspective of
her Dynamic Mindfulness Yoga School emerges from Buddhist philosophy, ethics and
methodology, specifically the Chan school of Buddhism.

Shosan Victoria Austin

Shosan Victoria Austin is a Soto Zen priest transmitted in the lineage of Shunryu
Suzuki Roshi. She began practicing Zen and yoga in 1971, and trained as a yoga
teacher in the 1980s to bring yoga to the Buddhist community in America. A senior
Iyengar yoga teacher, she emphasizes the faithful transmission of each discipline
using its own language and methods. In cross-disciplinary teaching, she emphasizes
teachings common to both traditions, such as bare attention; alignment of posture,
breathing and intention; universal and provisional truth; dedicating the daily
practice; and transformation of the causal body through applying universal moral
precepts and individual practices in daily life. Yoga and Zen

Zenyoga association
Non-profit organization dedicated to practice, study
headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia. The group goes back
founded by Zarko Andricevic,[19] Chan master and one
heirs of the late Chan master Shifu Sheng-yen, as an
Centre[20] in Zagreb.
and teaching of Zenyoga with
to the mid-seventies and was
of the five Western Dharma-
affiliate to Buddhist

Zenyoga, as taught by Zarko and other longtime teachers and mentors - Mira Punik,
Mirjana Halsey, Ela Vukelja and Karmen Mihalinec - is an extension of threefold
training within the Chan tradition of Buddhism - that is, it aims to bring the
body, breath and mind in order or harmony. It rests on the notion that "meditation
in movement" is a valuable companion to "meditation in stillness" of a more formal
Chan practice, especially practice of Silent Illumination[21] or mochao in Chinese
tradition.

Since 2003 Association runs a two-year teachers' training school consisting of over
650 contact hours, including a seven-day Chan meditation retreat. The school is
registered on 500 level with Yoga Alliance since 2005.[22]
Zenyoga is currently taught in a number of locations in Zagreb, in Pula, Rovinj,
Samobor, Krk Island, Rijeka and Split. International affiliates include groups in
Celje (Slovenia), Berlin (Germany) and Cape Cod (USA).[23]

References
Jones, Richard Gensho (May 2014). "Yoga Helped Me to Find the Buddha Way". The
Middle Way. 89 (1): 23.
Berzin, Alexander. "Indian Society and Thought before and at the Time of Buddha".
Retrieved 20 June 2016.
"Hatha Yoga". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
"Yoga Questions Answered". Yoga Journal. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
Berzin, Alexander. "What Is Guhyasamaja Practice?". Study Buddhism. Retrieved 20
June 2016.
Garfinkel, Perry (2006). Buddha or bust: in search of truth, meaning, happiness
and the man who found them all (1st ed.). New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 978-1-4000-
8217-9.
Kit, Wong Kiew (2002). The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for
Self-defense, Health and Enlightenment (1st ed.). Boston, Mass.: Tuttle. ISBN 0-
8048-3439-3.
http://www.openway.org.au/teachers.html#Hogen
http://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/TangenHarada.html
Daido Hogen Yamahata (2002). Shingan Francis Chauvet (ed.). Folhas caem, um novo
rebento [Falling Leaves, a Shooting Sprout]. Lisbon: Assirio & Alvim. p. 28.
Daido Hogen Yamahata (1986). K. Carne (ed.). The Other Shore. Oxford: Parchment
Press. p. 40.
Skinner, Julian Daizan (May 2014). "A View on Zen and Yoga". The Middle Way. 89
(1): 31.
Suzuki, Shunryu (2011). Zen mind, beginner's mind: [informal talks on Zen
meditation and practice] (New ed.). Boston: Shambhala. p. 10. ISBN 1590308492.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140904185349/http://www.zencenterofdenver.org/stretch
es_for_zazen.aspx
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/shiatsu.htm
Kane, Matt Shinkai (May 2014). "Expressions of Body-based Buddhist Practice in
East Asia". The Middle Way. 89 (1): 3.
http://www.okidoyoga.org.uk/
Hardach, Sophie (2008-02-25). "Zen Yoga founder adds Japanese twist to ancient
practice". Reuters News Agency. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Shikantaza and Silent Illumination". chancenter.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"School Profile | Yoga Alliance". www.yogaalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Zenyoga". zenyoga.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
External links
The Zenways school
The ZenYoga studio in London
Zen Yoga Studio in Berlin, Germany
The Okido Yoga UK webpage
Zen Yoga Training Videos
Eight-Form Moving Meditation Video
Categories: ZenModern Denominational Yoga
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Zen yoga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Zen Yoga
Practice emphases
alignment, energy or qi/ki, mindfulness, meditation (Zen or Dhyāna), awakening or
kensho.
Related schools
Hatha Yoga, Qigong, Dao Yin, Oki-do yoga

Matt Shinkai Kane teaching Zen Taiso at Gyokuryuji temple, Japan

禪 Zen
Part of a series on
Zen Buddhism
Ensō
Main articles[show]
Persons[show]
Doctrines[show]
Traditions[show]
Awakening[show]
Teachings[show]
Practice[show]
Schools[show]
Related schools[show]
vte
Zen yoga refers to a variety of physical and energetic practices that can be found
within the Zen Buddhist tradition, and increasingly taught in the West. Some Zen
temples include a taiso (exercise) period, often early in the morning, including
yoga-like postures, quick repetitive exercises, and/or more flowing exercises
reminiscent of Tai Chi.[1] These exercises are designed to open and unblock the
body in preparation for sitting meditation, develop a deeper awareness of the body,
and as an opportunity to practice "becoming one” with what’s happening in the
moment (expressed in Japanese through the terms narikiru – become one – or ima-koko
– now-here).

Contents
1 History and origins
1.1 Origins with the Buddha
1.2 Hatha and Yantra Yoga
1.3 Evolution into China and Japan
1.4 Modern Zen yoga in Japan
2 Principles
2.1 Alignment
2.2 Energy
2.3 Awareness/mindfulness
3 Practices/schools
3.1 Zen Taiso
3.2 Oki-do yoga
3.3 Zenways school
3.4 Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes
3.5 Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar
3.6 Shosan Victoria Austin
3.7 Zenyoga association
4 References
5 External links
History and origins
Origins with the Buddha
The Buddha grew up around 500 B.C.E. in a time of great political and spiritual
upheaval. The brahmanas, the spiritual orthodoxy, followed the teachings of the
Vedas (written in the ninth century B.C.E.) and the Upanishads (compiled from
around the seventh century B.C.E.). Ritual and offering were central to their
beliefs, and these could only be performed by the spiritual caste, the Brahmins.
The ritual act of making offerings was even, at times, venerated even more than the
gods themselves, and as a consequence the Brahmins became very powerful and
secretive.[2]

A number of ‘radical’ spiritual schools and teachers emerged (the shramana schools)
in reaction to this brahmana orthodoxy (sometimes called the “movement of the
forest sages”), of which the Buddha was one. What the Buddha offered was a
straightforward method to alleviate suffering and lead towards liberation,
accessible to people of all castes. As opposed to some of the more extreme
positions that appeared (emphasising severe austerities or sensual indulgence) he
taught what he called the 'middle way', emphasising moderation, calmness and non-
forcing.

He taught that there are no absolute "things", there are only processes in a
constant state of change (annica); that there is no fixed or permanent essence or
soul (annata); and that suffering is inherent to life (dukkha) (the Three Marks of
Existence). In the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha described four foundations (or
bases) of mindfulness – mindfulness of the body, of sensations, of the mind, and of
dharmas (i.e. phenomena, thoughts, arisings), and is recorded as saying, "There is
one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future; and
what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body." (Anguttara Nikaya, sutta I,
21.) Thus mindfulness of the body is the direct way to liberation and the end of
suffering. Zen yoga practice is primarily concerned with the body and sensations,
and observing life as a process in a constant state of change, so is in direct line
with the Buddha's method of awakening.

Again in the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha says

Furthermore, when going forward & returning, he makes himself fully alert; when
looking toward & looking away... when bending & extending his limbs... when
carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe & his bowl... when eating, drinking,
chewing, & savouring... when urinating & defecating... when walking, standing,
sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, & remaining silent, he makes himself
fully alert.

In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or focused
externally... unsustained by anything in the world. This is how a monk remains
focused on the body in & of itself.

Hatha and Yantra Yoga

Hatha Yoga was followed by Natha Yogis and is traced to Shrimad Bhagwata Geeta, and
was practiced much before Buddha, tracing its origins to the Yoga-sutras written by
the sage Patañjali (from the 2nd century B.C.E.) and the Goraksha Samhita (written
in the 11th century by yogi Gorakshanath). The word 'hatha' in Sanskrit literally
means 'force', so Hatha Yoga is the “Discipline of Force”. It stresses mastery of
the body as a way of attaining a state of spiritual perfection in which the mind is
withdrawn from external objects.[3] The Buddha once related his experiences with a
Hatha Yoga-type breath-retention practice and found it had a great effect, but not
conducive to awakening:

...I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths in my nose & mouth. As I did so, there
was a loud roaring of winds coming out my earholes, just like the loud roar of
winds coming out of a smith's bellows... So I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths
in my nose & mouth & ears. As I did so, extreme forces sliced through my head, just
as if a strong man were slicing my head open with a sharp sword... Extreme pains
arose in my head... There was an extreme burning in my body... And although
tireless persistence was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my
body was aroused & uncalm because of the painful exertion... But with this racking
practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any
distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another
path to Awakening?

The word hatha can also be seen as a combination of two separate "Bīja mantras" or
single syllables – "ha" representing the masculine or solar energy and "tha" as the
feminine or lunar energy. Thus Hatha Yoga is the practice of bringing balance to
the two opposing forces.[4] The first occurrence of the term 'hatha yoga' is in
fact found in the Buddhist Guhyasamāja tantra dating from the 8th century.[5]

Yantra yoga (or Trul khor) is the Tibetan Buddhist parallel to the Hindu or Vedic
Hatha yoga tradition. The discipline includes similar body postures (asanas) and
pranayama practices, and includes mantra practice and visualisations. Originating
with the mahasiddhas of India, it was brought to Tibet in the eighth century by the
great master Padmasambhava and transmitted to the Tibetan Dzogchen master
Vairochana. Its practice is nowadays found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Evolution into China and Japan

With the revival of Hinduism around the turn of the first millennium C.E. and the
Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent in the 12th century C.E., Buddhism began
to decline. However, yoga and Buddhism had already spread into neighbouring
countries, including Tibet and China to the north. At around 500 C.E., an Indian
monk called Bodhidharma arrived in southern China and taught practices centered on
physical health and wellbeing, meditation and the direct mind-to-mind transmission
teachings of the Lankavatara Sutra. According to Chinese legend, the physical
practices he taught monks to prepare them for meditation included a series of
external exercises called the Eighteen Arhat Hands (Shi-ba Lohan Shou)[6] and an
internal (energetic) practice called the Sinew Metamorphosis Classic.[7] The Yijin
Jing ("Muscle/Tendon Change Classic") is also attributed to Bodhidharma. As these
practices developed, they led to the creation of Shaolinquan school of Kung Fu.

As the Buddhism of Bodhidharma fused with the prevailing Chinese philosophies and
practices of Confucianism and Taoism, it became Ch’an (from Sanskrit dhyāna,
meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"). Over the centuries, Ch'an spread to
Japan where it become known as Zen, taking with it the rich combination of physical
and energetic practices known variously as yoga, Qigong, and Tao Yin.

Dating back to around the fourth century C.E., Yogācāra (literally "yoga practice")
is one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies Zen, and includes the
Lankavatara Sutra mentioned above. It contains a sophisticated psychology of
awakening and emphasises the practice of mindfulness. This mindfulness leads not to
an experience but to a total shift in the way we relate to all experiences. This
shift is referred to in the Yogācāra tradition as parāvṛtti, "turning around”.

Modern Zen yoga in Japan

Calligraphy brushed by Zen master Shinzan Miyamae Roshi, with the characters do-zen
There are three terms in contemporary Japan used to describe yoga-style movement
work: do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin), Zen taiso (literally Zen exercise), and Zen
yoga (first coined by Zen master Masahiro Oki). See below for more information.

In modern times, Zen masters Hogen Daido Roshi[8] and Harada Tangen Roshi,[9] in
particular, have advocated and taught yoga practices to complement their Zen
training. One student of Hogen Daido Roshi recalls that he constantly imparted the
importance of mixing moving Zen (do-zen) into Zen practice: "...there are four
kinds of Zen: sitting, standing, lying, and moving. We should practise them all.
Whatever we do, we must do it fully, mindfully, wholeheartedly, one thing at a time
without being attached to or involved in it. When we practise moving Zen, the
quality of our daily lives becomes very different.”[10]

In Zen, the inseparability of the "body-mind" is often stressed, together with the
need to retain our flexibility for life. Hogen Roshi taught that "By doing yoga and
zazen, we can begin to appreciate the real state of our body and mind, both of
which are stiff and unpeaceful. We should not hate them. Please, let them be as
they are. Taste their special bitter taste".[11]

Principles
Zen practice in general, and Zen Yoga in particular, emphasize three intertwined
areas – physical alignment, the flow of energy in the body and awareness or
mindfulness (Japanese “nen” 念).[12]

Alignment
Physical alignment is highly emphasised in Zen. The founder of the Soto Zen school,
Master Dōgen (d. 1253) wrote in his zazen (meditation) instructions:

First of all, we must sit with the spine erect, not leaning left nor right, forward
nor backward. The nose must be in a vertical line with the belly button and our
ears are to be in level with our shoulders.

By practising Zen yoga we therefore prepare the body for prolonged upright sitting.
Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki teaches that we must then carry this alignment out into
all activities of our daily life:
So try always to keep the right posture, not only when you practice zazen, but in
all your activities. Take the right posture when you are driving your car, and when
you are reading. If you read in a slumped position, you cannot stay awake long.
Try. You will discover how important it is to keep the right posture... The state
of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is itself enlightenment.[13]

Energy
One of the reasons why correct posture is so emphasised is because it powerfully
influences both our mind-state and our energy. Underlying Zen is a conception of
the human system as an energetic phenomenon. This energy or ki is seen as something
that can be enhanced or depleted. Moreover, the courses of energy flow are not
random but follow particular directions and routes called “myaku” (Jp.; or
meridians). This energy has two basic dimensions – one that influences our health,
wellbeing and emotional state, and one that takes us beyond any particular state to
a condition of non-dual awareness.[12]

We can characterise these two energetic dimensions as:

Problem-solving – boosting our health & wellbeing, making life better, and feeling
more alive.
The condition in which we realise that there was never a problem in the first
place.
Energy and consciousness are inextricably linked – when we change our energy, we
change our consciousness and vice versa.

One of the traditional Japanese names for yoga is do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin),
which translates as “guiding and stretching”. Through the yoga practice we stretch
the body and energy routes, and guide the energy in beneficial directions.
Intention is ultimately the means through which this guiding happens. The
manifestation of intention may be through the breath, through imagery or simply
through focused attention.

Much modern yoga practice aims to open and energise our wellbeing energy circuits
(energy channels that operate in the world of opposites – left, right, back, front,
etc.) without touching on the non-dual areas. Although it is a worthwhile and noble
aspiration to attain optimal health and wellbeing, the practitioner nevertheless
remains in the world of duality – the world of this and that, of me and the
universe. Zen is emphatic that within this worldview there is no happy ending to
the story of life, no liberation from our fundamental suffering. However healthy
and emotionally balanced we are, we remain in a condition of separation, where the
Universe is seen as huge, threatening and ultimately indifferent.

This is just a worldview. It is possible to live in a place which is beyond this

duality, which is the main aim of Zen practice.

Awareness/mindfulness
The third aspect of Zen yoga is the application of awareness or mindfulness
(Japanese, "nen" 念). As mentioned above, the Buddha is recorded as saying, "There
is one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future;
and what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body."

How do we find this happiness and liberation? Strangely enough it is through coming
face-to-face with our unhappiness and reactivity – in this case as they manifest in
the body. Makko-ho,[14] a traditional Japanese sequence of stretches, literally
means "the practice of facing things". These are a set of curative exercises
originally developed from temple prostration practice in the 1930s by the
pioneering Japanese yoga teacher, Nagai Wataru, then taken up and extended by
Shizuto Masunaga, populariser of shiatsu massage.[15]
The most important Zen master in the last 500 years, Hakuin Zenji had a saying that
"Buddhas are like water and ordinary people are like ice". In Zen yoga practice,
postures and movements are used to bring the body into focus so that we can notice
any tightnesses or restrictions. The student is then directed to bring their non-
judgemental attention to these blocked or closed areas, and it's this simple
awareness that causes the ice to begin to melt. All we need is an attitude of
curiosity and non-judgemental kindness.

Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi, teacher of Zen yoga, says that "rather than
causing our ice to melt into an inert puddle, this liberated water becomes more
like a fountain; it has shape, dynamism and energy but nevertheless there’s an
ungraspable quality."[12]

The Yogacara philosophy (one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies
Zen) emphasises that, as the individual begins to open and become more free,
flowing and dynamic, they come to inhabit a different world which takes on a
similar quality.

Practices/schools
Zen Taiso
As mentioned above, some Zen temples include a taiso (exercise) period somewhere
within their daily (or if not, retreat) schedule. Taiso practice routines differ
from popular modern yoga classes. Rather than focussing on “sun salutations”,
“warrior poses” and muscular flexibility, the quality of mindfulness and honing in
on releasing energy in the body’s meridian lines is deliberately emphasised.

According to the experience of one Zen monk who studied in a variety of

contemporary Japanese and Korean Zen monasteries, both monks and laity practice a
variety of yoga-like practices ranging from individual stretching (lunges, hip
releases, and chest openers) to temple-wide taiso routines held every morning.[16]
He recalls "These routines focussed on consciously and mindfully relaxing areas of
the body through stretching (in particular areas that needed extra care owing to
long hours of sitting). The practice also worked directly with the body as one’s
object of focus, and the corresponding awareness incorporated in the process, was
viewed as extremely powerful.” Ultimately, the time spend doing temple yoga, both
individually and as a group, was taught to be the ideal opportunity for attaining
awakening (kensho) through mindfulness of the body.

In Japan, if the temple holds formal taiso sessions, they would often be held at
the beginning of the day, say 4am each morning for 20-25 mins. See here for an
example. At Bukkoku-ji (where Tangen Harada was the Roshi – see above), they took
the form of a mixture of quick repetitive exercise (everyone counting together)
with poses held for longer times. These poses were incorporated to isolate openings
in for example, the stomach and spleen meridians for a back bend, the liver and
gall bladder meridians for a wide-legged side bend, and so on. They were integrated
with a specific purpose in mind and were to be done with awareness alongside
breathing in the hara (belly).[16]

Temple taiso routines, however, vary according to the temple and teacher. At the
Weoljeong-sa temple in South Korea, for example, the monks spend an hour or more
each morning doing taiso under the direction of the lead monk while on their 3-
month winter retreat.

Oki-do yoga
Oki-do yoga is a system originating with the Japanese teacher-healer-philosopher
Masahiro Oki. It is a unique blend of traditional Indian hatha yoga with Zen
meditation, dancing, physical games, martial arts, and chanting. The training
method emphasizes balance between opposites: tension and relaxation, heat and cold,
stillness and movement.[17]

Masahiro Oki is credited as the first person to use the term "zen yoga".

Zenways school

Daizan Roshi teaching a Zen yoga class at the ZenYoga studio in London
Zenways is an organisation set up by Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi in 2007
to promote and encourage activities and practices that enhance human wellbeing and
awakening (satori or kensho). Zenways offers a 200hr Zen yoga teacher training
course, together with meditation and mindfulness teacher training courses,
workshops, retreats, meditation classes, and opportunities for zen study.

Over the years of his Zen training, Daizan Roshi studied yoga-style physical
movement in Zen temples in Europe, USA and Japan. He synthesises his knowledge of
these disciplines into a Zen yoga practice that combines physical challenge with
mental and spiritual development. He teaches regularly at “Yugagyo Dojo” (ZenYoga),
a Zen training place he established with his students in London. With more than
5000 hours of yoga teaching experience, Daizan Roshi offers a yoga teacher training
programme to help teachers to find an expression that is authentically their own
and will bring them success when they teach.

Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes

Yoga teacher Aaron Hoopes founded a style of yoga he called Zen Yoga as a variation
of traditional yoga that combines the different philosophies of various Eastern
health and fitness traditions. He created this form to increase accessibility to
people who are less athletic.[18] The philosophies of shanti yoga, qigong, and tai-
chi are combined to help increase flexibility, improve the flow of breathing, and
open joints. The philosophy of Zen is incorporated through being mindfully aware of
the present moment.[18] The basic principle of Zen Yoga is that simple breathing,
movement and stretching exercises are available to anyone regardless of age,
fitness, or health.[18]

Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar

Zen Yoga teacher and shiatsu therapist Tatjana Mesar created a contemporary fusion
of holistic asana flow, mindfulness meditation and applied anatomy and physiology
of postures, movement and breathing for the modern body. The central perspective of
her Dynamic Mindfulness Yoga School emerges from Buddhist philosophy, ethics and
methodology, specifically the Chan school of Buddhism.

Shosan Victoria Austin

Shosan Victoria Austin is a Soto Zen priest transmitted in the lineage of Shunryu
Suzuki Roshi. She began practicing Zen and yoga in 1971, and trained as a yoga
teacher in the 1980s to bring yoga to the Buddhist community in America. A senior
Iyengar yoga teacher, she emphasizes the faithful transmission of each discipline
using its own language and methods. In cross-disciplinary teaching, she emphasizes
teachings common to both traditions, such as bare attention; alignment of posture,
breathing and intention; universal and provisional truth; dedicating the daily
practice; and transformation of the causal body through applying universal moral
precepts and individual practices in daily life. Yoga and Zen

Zenyoga association
Non-profit organization dedicated to practice, study
headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia. The group goes back
founded by Zarko Andricevic,[19] Chan master and one
heirs of the late Chan master Shifu Sheng-yen, as an
Centre[20] in Zagreb.
and teaching of Zenyoga with
to the mid-seventies and was
of the five Western Dharma-
affiliate to Buddhist

Zenyoga, as taught by Zarko and other longtime teachers and mentors - Mira Punik,
Mirjana Halsey, Ela Vukelja and Karmen Mihalinec - is an extension of threefold
training within the Chan tradition of Buddhism - that is, it aims to bring the
body, breath and mind in order or harmony. It rests on the notion that "meditation
in movement" is a valuable companion to "meditation in stillness" of a more formal
Chan practice, especially practice of Silent Illumination[21] or mochao in Chinese
tradition.

Since 2003 Association runs a two-year teachers' training school consisting of over
650 contact hours, including a seven-day Chan meditation retreat. The school is
registered on 500 level with Yoga Alliance since 2005.[22]

Zenyoga is currently taught in a number of locations in Zagreb, in Pula, Rovinj,

Samobor, Krk Island, Rijeka and Split. International affiliates include groups in
Celje (Slovenia), Berlin (Germany) and Cape Cod (USA).[23]

References
Jones, Richard Gensho (May 2014). "Yoga Helped Me to Find the Buddha Way". The
Middle Way. 89 (1): 23.
Berzin, Alexander. "Indian Society and Thought before and at the Time of Buddha".
Retrieved 20 June 2016.
"Hatha Yoga". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
"Yoga Questions Answered". Yoga Journal. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
Berzin, Alexander. "What Is Guhyasamaja Practice?". Study Buddhism. Retrieved 20
June 2016.
Garfinkel, Perry (2006). Buddha or bust: in search of truth, meaning, happiness
and the man who found them all (1st ed.). New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 978-1-4000-
8217-9.
Kit, Wong Kiew (2002). The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for
Self-defense, Health and Enlightenment (1st ed.). Boston, Mass.: Tuttle. ISBN 0-
8048-3439-3.
http://www.openway.org.au/teachers.html#Hogen
http://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/TangenHarada.html
Daido Hogen Yamahata (2002). Shingan Francis Chauvet (ed.). Folhas caem, um novo
rebento [Falling Leaves, a Shooting Sprout]. Lisbon: Assirio & Alvim. p. 28.
Daido Hogen Yamahata (1986). K. Carne (ed.). The Other Shore. Oxford: Parchment
Press. p. 40.
Skinner, Julian Daizan (May 2014). "A View on Zen and Yoga". The Middle Way. 89
(1): 31.
Suzuki, Shunryu (2011). Zen mind, beginner's mind: [informal talks on Zen
meditation and practice] (New ed.). Boston: Shambhala. p. 10. ISBN 1590308492.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140904185349/http://www.zencenterofdenver.org/stretch
es_for_zazen.aspx
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/shiatsu.htm
Kane, Matt Shinkai (May 2014). "Expressions of Body-based Buddhist Practice in
East Asia". The Middle Way. 89 (1): 3.
http://www.okidoyoga.org.uk/
Hardach, Sophie (2008-02-25). "Zen Yoga founder adds Japanese twist to ancient
practice". Reuters News Agency. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Shikantaza and Silent Illumination". chancenter.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"School Profile | Yoga Alliance". www.yogaalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Zenyoga". zenyoga.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
External links
The Zenways school
The ZenYoga studio in London
Zen Yoga Studio in Berlin, Germany
The Okido Yoga UK webpage
Zen Yoga Training Videos
Eight-Form Moving Meditation Video
Categories: ZenModern Denominational Yoga
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Zen yoga
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Zen Yoga
Practice emphases
alignment, energy or qi/ki, mindfulness, meditation (Zen or Dhyāna), awakening or
kensho.
Related schools
Hatha Yoga, Qigong, Dao Yin, Oki-do yoga

Matt Shinkai Kane teaching Zen Taiso at Gyokuryuji temple, Japan

禪 Zen
Part of a series on
Zen Buddhism
Ensō
Main articles[show]
Persons[show]
Doctrines[show]
Traditions[show]
Awakening[show]
Teachings[show]
Practice[show]
Schools[show]
Related schools[show]
vte
Zen yoga refers to a variety of physical and energetic practices that can be found
within the Zen Buddhist tradition, and increasingly taught in the West. Some Zen
temples include a taiso (exercise) period, often early in the morning, including
yoga-like postures, quick repetitive exercises, and/or more flowing exercises
reminiscent of Tai Chi.[1] These exercises are designed to open and unblock the
body in preparation for sitting meditation, develop a deeper awareness of the body,
and as an opportunity to practice "becoming one” with what’s happening in the
moment (expressed in Japanese through the terms narikiru – become one – or ima-koko
– now-here).

Contents
1 History and origins
1.1 Origins with the Buddha
1.2 Hatha and Yantra Yoga
1.3 Evolution into China and Japan
1.4 Modern Zen yoga in Japan
2 Principles
2.1 Alignment
2.2 Energy
2.3 Awareness/mindfulness
3 Practices/schools
3.1 Zen Taiso
3.2 Oki-do yoga
3.3 Zenways school
3.4 Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes
3.5 Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar
3.6 Shosan Victoria Austin
3.7 Zenyoga association
4 References
5 External links
History and origins
Origins with the Buddha
The Buddha grew up around 500 B.C.E. in a time of great political and spiritual
upheaval. The brahmanas, the spiritual orthodoxy, followed the teachings of the
Vedas (written in the ninth century B.C.E.) and the Upanishads (compiled from
around the seventh century B.C.E.). Ritual and offering were central to their
beliefs, and these could only be performed by the spiritual caste, the Brahmins.
The ritual act of making offerings was even, at times, venerated even more than the
gods themselves, and as a consequence the Brahmins became very powerful and
secretive.[2]

A number of ‘radical’ spiritual schools and teachers emerged (the shramana schools)
in reaction to this brahmana orthodoxy (sometimes called the “movement of the
forest sages”), of which the Buddha was one. What the Buddha offered was a
straightforward method to alleviate suffering and lead towards liberation,
accessible to people of all castes. As opposed to some of the more extreme
positions that appeared (emphasising severe austerities or sensual indulgence) he
taught what he called the 'middle way', emphasising moderation, calmness and non-
forcing.
He taught that there are no absolute "things", there are only processes in a
constant state of change (annica); that there is no fixed or permanent essence or
soul (annata); and that suffering is inherent to life (dukkha) (the Three Marks of
Existence). In the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha described four foundations (or
bases) of mindfulness – mindfulness of the body, of sensations, of the mind, and of
dharmas (i.e. phenomena, thoughts, arisings), and is recorded as saying, "There is
one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future; and
what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body." (Anguttara Nikaya, sutta I,
21.) Thus mindfulness of the body is the direct way to liberation and the end of
suffering. Zen yoga practice is primarily concerned with the body and sensations,
and observing life as a process in a constant state of change, so is in direct line
with the Buddha's method of awakening.

Again in the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha says

Furthermore, when going forward & returning, he makes himself fully alert; when
looking toward & looking away... when bending & extending his limbs... when
carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe & his bowl... when eating, drinking,
chewing, & savouring... when urinating & defecating... when walking, standing,
sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, & remaining silent, he makes himself
fully alert.

In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or focused
externally... unsustained by anything in the world. This is how a monk remains
focused on the body in & of itself.

Hatha and Yantra Yoga

Hatha Yoga was followed by Natha Yogis and is traced to Shrimad Bhagwata Geeta, and
was practiced much before Buddha, tracing its origins to the Yoga-sutras written by
the sage Patañjali (from the 2nd century B.C.E.) and the Goraksha Samhita (written
in the 11th century by yogi Gorakshanath). The word 'hatha' in Sanskrit literally
means 'force', so Hatha Yoga is the “Discipline of Force”. It stresses mastery of
the body as a way of attaining a state of spiritual perfection in which the mind is
withdrawn from external objects.[3] The Buddha once related his experiences with a
Hatha Yoga-type breath-retention practice and found it had a great effect, but not
conducive to awakening:

...I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths in my nose & mouth. As I did so, there
was a loud roaring of winds coming out my earholes, just like the loud roar of
winds coming out of a smith's bellows... So I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths
in my nose & mouth & ears. As I did so, extreme forces sliced through my head, just
as if a strong man were slicing my head open with a sharp sword... Extreme pains
arose in my head... There was an extreme burning in my body... And although
tireless persistence was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my
body was aroused & uncalm because of the painful exertion... But with this racking
practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any
distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another
path to Awakening?

The word hatha can also be seen as a combination of two separate "Bīja mantras" or
single syllables – "ha" representing the masculine or solar energy and "tha" as the
feminine or lunar energy. Thus Hatha Yoga is the practice of bringing balance to
the two opposing forces.[4] The first occurrence of the term 'hatha yoga' is in
fact found in the Buddhist Guhyasamāja tantra dating from the 8th century.[5]

Yantra yoga (or Trul khor) is the Tibetan Buddhist parallel to the Hindu or Vedic
Hatha yoga tradition. The discipline includes similar body postures (asanas) and
pranayama practices, and includes mantra practice and visualisations. Originating
with the mahasiddhas of India, it was brought to Tibet in the eighth century by the
great master Padmasambhava and transmitted to the Tibetan Dzogchen master
Vairochana. Its practice is nowadays found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Evolution into China and Japan

With the revival of Hinduism around the turn of the first millennium C.E. and the
Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent in the 12th century C.E., Buddhism began
to decline. However, yoga and Buddhism had already spread into neighbouring
countries, including Tibet and China to the north. At around 500 C.E., an Indian
monk called Bodhidharma arrived in southern China and taught practices centered on
physical health and wellbeing, meditation and the direct mind-to-mind transmission
teachings of the Lankavatara Sutra. According to Chinese legend, the physical
practices he taught monks to prepare them for meditation included a series of
external exercises called the Eighteen Arhat Hands (Shi-ba Lohan Shou)[6] and an
internal (energetic) practice called the Sinew Metamorphosis Classic.[7] The Yijin
Jing ("Muscle/Tendon Change Classic") is also attributed to Bodhidharma. As these
practices developed, they led to the creation of Shaolinquan school of Kung Fu.

As the Buddhism of Bodhidharma fused with the prevailing Chinese philosophies and
practices of Confucianism and Taoism, it became Ch’an (from Sanskrit dhyāna,
meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"). Over the centuries, Ch'an spread to
Japan where it become known as Zen, taking with it the rich combination of physical
and energetic practices known variously as yoga, Qigong, and Tao Yin.

Dating back to around the fourth century C.E., Yogācāra (literally "yoga practice")
is one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies Zen, and includes the
Lankavatara Sutra mentioned above. It contains a sophisticated psychology of
awakening and emphasises the practice of mindfulness. This mindfulness leads not to
an experience but to a total shift in the way we relate to all experiences. This
shift is referred to in the Yogācāra tradition as parāvṛtti, "turning around”.

Modern Zen yoga in Japan

Calligraphy brushed by Zen master Shinzan Miyamae Roshi, with the characters do-zen
There are three terms in contemporary Japan used to describe yoga-style movement
work: do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin), Zen taiso (literally Zen exercise), and Zen
yoga (first coined by Zen master Masahiro Oki). See below for more information.

In modern times, Zen masters Hogen Daido Roshi[8] and Harada Tangen Roshi,[9] in
particular, have advocated and taught yoga practices to complement their Zen
training. One student of Hogen Daido Roshi recalls that he constantly imparted the
importance of mixing moving Zen (do-zen) into Zen practice: "...there are four
kinds of Zen: sitting, standing, lying, and moving. We should practise them all.
Whatever we do, we must do it fully, mindfully, wholeheartedly, one thing at a time
without being attached to or involved in it. When we practise moving Zen, the
quality of our daily lives becomes very different.”[10]

In Zen, the inseparability of the "body-mind" is often stressed, together with the
need to retain our flexibility for life. Hogen Roshi taught that "By doing yoga and
zazen, we can begin to appreciate the real state of our body and mind, both of
which are stiff and unpeaceful. We should not hate them. Please, let them be as
they are. Taste their special bitter taste".[11]

Principles
Zen practice in general, and Zen Yoga in particular, emphasize three intertwined
areas – physical alignment, the flow of energy in the body and awareness or
mindfulness (Japanese “nen” 念).[12]

Alignment
Physical alignment is highly emphasised in Zen. The founder of the Soto Zen school,
Master Dōgen (d. 1253) wrote in his zazen (meditation) instructions:

First of all, we must sit with the spine erect, not leaning left nor right, forward
nor backward. The nose must be in a vertical line with the belly button and our
ears are to be in level with our shoulders.

By practising Zen yoga we therefore prepare the body for prolonged upright sitting.
Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki teaches that we must then carry this alignment out into
all activities of our daily life:

So try always to keep the right posture, not only when you practice zazen, but in
all your activities. Take the right posture when you are driving your car, and when
you are reading. If you read in a slumped position, you cannot stay awake long.
Try. You will discover how important it is to keep the right posture... The state
of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is itself enlightenment.[13]

Energy
One of the reasons why correct posture is so emphasised is because it powerfully
influences both our mind-state and our energy. Underlying Zen is a conception of
the human system as an energetic phenomenon. This energy or ki is seen as something
that can be enhanced or depleted. Moreover, the courses of energy flow are not
random but follow particular directions and routes called “myaku” (Jp.; or
meridians). This energy has two basic dimensions – one that influences our health,
wellbeing and emotional state, and one that takes us beyond any particular state to
a condition of non-dual awareness.[12]

We can characterise these two energetic dimensions as:

Problem-solving – boosting our health & wellbeing, making life better, and feeling
more alive.
The condition in which we realise that there was never a problem in the first
place.
Energy and consciousness are inextricably linked – when we change our energy, we
change our consciousness and vice versa.

One of the traditional Japanese names for yoga is do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin),
which translates as “guiding and stretching”. Through the yoga practice we stretch
the body and energy routes, and guide the energy in beneficial directions.
Intention is ultimately the means through which this guiding happens. The
manifestation of intention may be through the breath, through imagery or simply
through focused attention.

Much modern yoga practice aims to open and energise our wellbeing energy circuits
(energy channels that operate in the world of opposites – left, right, back, front,
etc.) without touching on the non-dual areas. Although it is a worthwhile and noble
aspiration to attain optimal health and wellbeing, the practitioner nevertheless
remains in the world of duality – the world of this and that, of me and the
universe. Zen is emphatic that within this worldview there is no happy ending to
the story of life, no liberation from our fundamental suffering. However healthy
and emotionally balanced we are, we remain in a condition of separation, where the
Universe is seen as huge, threatening and ultimately indifferent.

This is just a worldview. It is possible to live in a place which is beyond this

duality, which is the main aim of Zen practice.

Awareness/mindfulness
The third aspect of Zen yoga is the application of awareness or mindfulness
(Japanese, "nen" 念). As mentioned above, the Buddha is recorded as saying, "There
is one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future;
and what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body."

How do we find this happiness and liberation? Strangely enough it is through coming
face-to-face with our unhappiness and reactivity – in this case as they manifest in
the body. Makko-ho,[14] a traditional Japanese sequence of stretches, literally
means "the practice of facing things". These are a set of curative exercises
originally developed from temple prostration practice in the 1930s by the
pioneering Japanese yoga teacher, Nagai Wataru, then taken up and extended by
Shizuto Masunaga, populariser of shiatsu massage.[15]

The most important Zen master in the last 500 years, Hakuin Zenji had a saying that
"Buddhas are like water and ordinary people are like ice". In Zen yoga practice,
postures and movements are used to bring the body into focus so that we can notice
any tightnesses or restrictions. The student is then directed to bring their non-
judgemental attention to these blocked or closed areas, and it's this simple
awareness that causes the ice to begin to melt. All we need is an attitude of
curiosity and non-judgemental kindness.

Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi, teacher of Zen yoga, says that "rather than
causing our ice to melt into an inert puddle, this liberated water becomes more
like a fountain; it has shape, dynamism and energy but nevertheless there’s an
ungraspable quality."[12]

The Yogacara philosophy (one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies
Zen) emphasises that, as the individual begins to open and become more free,
flowing and dynamic, they come to inhabit a different world which takes on a
similar quality.

Practices/schools
Zen Taiso
As mentioned above, some Zen temples include a taiso (exercise) period somewhere
within their daily (or if not, retreat) schedule. Taiso practice routines differ
from popular modern yoga classes. Rather than focussing on “sun salutations”,
“warrior poses” and muscular flexibility, the quality of mindfulness and honing in
on releasing energy in the body’s meridian lines is deliberately emphasised.

According to the experience of one Zen monk who studied in a variety of

contemporary Japanese and Korean Zen monasteries, both monks and laity practice a
variety of yoga-like practices ranging from individual stretching (lunges, hip
releases, and chest openers) to temple-wide taiso routines held every morning.[16]
He recalls "These routines focussed on consciously and mindfully relaxing areas of
the body through stretching (in particular areas that needed extra care owing to
long hours of sitting). The practice also worked directly with the body as one’s
object of focus, and the corresponding awareness incorporated in the process, was
viewed as extremely powerful.” Ultimately, the time spend doing temple yoga, both
individually and as a group, was taught to be the ideal opportunity for attaining
awakening (kensho) through mindfulness of the body.

In Japan, if the temple holds formal taiso sessions, they would often be held at
the beginning of the day, say 4am each morning for 20-25 mins. See here for an
example. At Bukkoku-ji (where Tangen Harada was the Roshi – see above), they took
the form of a mixture of quick repetitive exercise (everyone counting together)
with poses held for longer times. These poses were incorporated to isolate openings
in for example, the stomach and spleen meridians for a back bend, the liver and
gall bladder meridians for a wide-legged side bend, and so on. They were integrated
with a specific purpose in mind and were to be done with awareness alongside
breathing in the hara (belly).[16]
Temple taiso routines, however, vary according to the temple and teacher. At the
Weoljeong-sa temple in South Korea, for example, the monks spend an hour or more
each morning doing taiso under the direction of the lead monk while on their 3-
month winter retreat.

Oki-do yoga
Oki-do yoga is a system originating with the Japanese teacher-healer-philosopher
Masahiro Oki. It is a unique blend of traditional Indian hatha yoga with Zen
meditation, dancing, physical games, martial arts, and chanting. The training
method emphasizes balance between opposites: tension and relaxation, heat and cold,
stillness and movement.[17]

Masahiro Oki is credited as the first person to use the term "zen yoga".

Zenways school

Daizan Roshi teaching a Zen yoga class at the ZenYoga studio in London
Zenways is an organisation set up by Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi in 2007
to promote and encourage activities and practices that enhance human wellbeing and
awakening (satori or kensho). Zenways offers a 200hr Zen yoga teacher training
course, together with meditation and mindfulness teacher training courses,
workshops, retreats, meditation classes, and opportunities for zen study.

Over the years of his Zen training, Daizan Roshi studied yoga-style physical
movement in Zen temples in Europe, USA and Japan. He synthesises his knowledge of
these disciplines into a Zen yoga practice that combines physical challenge with
mental and spiritual development. He teaches regularly at “Yugagyo Dojo” (ZenYoga),
a Zen training place he established with his students in London. With more than
5000 hours of yoga teaching experience, Daizan Roshi offers a yoga teacher training
programme to help teachers to find an expression that is authentically their own
and will bring them success when they teach.

Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes

Yoga teacher Aaron Hoopes founded a style of yoga he called Zen Yoga as a variation
of traditional yoga that combines the different philosophies of various Eastern
health and fitness traditions. He created this form to increase accessibility to
people who are less athletic.[18] The philosophies of shanti yoga, qigong, and tai-
chi are combined to help increase flexibility, improve the flow of breathing, and
open joints. The philosophy of Zen is incorporated through being mindfully aware of
the present moment.[18] The basic principle of Zen Yoga is that simple breathing,
movement and stretching exercises are available to anyone regardless of age,
fitness, or health.[18]

Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar

Zen Yoga teacher and shiatsu therapist Tatjana Mesar created a contemporary fusion
of holistic asana flow, mindfulness meditation and applied anatomy and physiology
of postures, movement and breathing for the modern body. The central perspective of
her Dynamic Mindfulness Yoga School emerges from Buddhist philosophy, ethics and
methodology, specifically the Chan school of Buddhism.

Shosan Victoria Austin

Shosan Victoria Austin is a Soto Zen priest transmitted in the lineage of Shunryu
Suzuki Roshi. She began practicing Zen and yoga in 1971, and trained as a yoga
teacher in the 1980s to bring yoga to the Buddhist community in America. A senior
Iyengar yoga teacher, she emphasizes the faithful transmission of each discipline
using its own language and methods. In cross-disciplinary teaching, she emphasizes
teachings common to both traditions, such as bare attention; alignment of posture,
breathing and intention; universal and provisional truth; dedicating the daily
practice; and transformation of the causal body through applying universal moral
precepts and individual practices in daily life. Yoga and Zen

Zenyoga association
Non-profit organization dedicated to practice, study
headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia. The group goes back
founded by Zarko Andricevic,[19] Chan master and one
heirs of the late Chan master Shifu Sheng-yen, as an
Centre[20] in Zagreb.
and teaching of Zenyoga with
to the mid-seventies and was
of the five Western Dharma-
affiliate to Buddhist

Zenyoga, as taught by Zarko and other longtime teachers and mentors - Mira Punik,
Mirjana Halsey, Ela Vukelja and Karmen Mihalinec - is an extension of threefold
training within the Chan tradition of Buddhism - that is, it aims to bring the
body, breath and mind in order or harmony. It rests on the notion that "meditation
in movement" is a valuable companion to "meditation in stillness" of a more formal
Chan practice, especially practice of Silent Illumination[21] or mochao in Chinese
tradition.

Since 2003 Association runs a two-year teachers' training school consisting of over
650 contact hours, including a seven-day Chan meditation retreat. The school is
registered on 500 level with Yoga Alliance since 2005.[22]

Zenyoga is currently taught in a number of locations in Zagreb, in Pula, Rovinj,

Samobor, Krk Island, Rijeka and Split. International affiliates include groups in
Celje (Slovenia), Berlin (Germany) and Cape Cod (USA).[23]

References
Jones, Richard Gensho (May 2014). "Yoga Helped Me to Find the Buddha Way". The
Middle Way. 89 (1): 23.
Berzin, Alexander. "Indian Society and Thought before and at the Time of Buddha".
Retrieved 20 June 2016.
"Hatha Yoga". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
"Yoga Questions Answered". Yoga Journal. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
Berzin, Alexander. "What Is Guhyasamaja Practice?". Study Buddhism. Retrieved 20
June 2016.
Garfinkel, Perry (2006). Buddha or bust: in search of truth, meaning, happiness
and the man who found them all (1st ed.). New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 978-1-4000-
8217-9.
Kit, Wong Kiew (2002). The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for
Self-defense, Health and Enlightenment (1st ed.). Boston, Mass.: Tuttle. ISBN 0-
8048-3439-3.
http://www.openway.org.au/teachers.html#Hogen
http://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/TangenHarada.html
Daido Hogen Yamahata (2002). Shingan Francis Chauvet (ed.). Folhas caem, um novo
rebento [Falling Leaves, a Shooting Sprout]. Lisbon: Assirio & Alvim. p. 28.
Daido Hogen Yamahata (1986). K. Carne (ed.). The Other Shore. Oxford: Parchment
Press. p. 40.
Skinner, Julian Daizan (May 2014). "A View on Zen and Yoga". The Middle Way. 89
(1): 31.
Suzuki, Shunryu (2011). Zen mind, beginner's mind: [informal talks on Zen
meditation and practice] (New ed.). Boston: Shambhala. p. 10. ISBN 1590308492.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140904185349/http://www.zencenterofdenver.org/stretch
es_for_zazen.aspx
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/shiatsu.htm
Kane, Matt Shinkai (May 2014). "Expressions of Body-based Buddhist Practice in
East Asia". The Middle Way. 89 (1): 3.
http://www.okidoyoga.org.uk/
Hardach, Sophie (2008-02-25). "Zen Yoga founder adds Japanese twist to ancient
practice". Reuters News Agency. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
 "Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Shikantaza and Silent Illumination". chancenter.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"School Profile | Yoga Alliance". www.yogaalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Zenyoga". zenyoga.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
External links
The Zenways school
The ZenYoga studio in London
Zen Yoga Studio in Berlin, Germany
The Okido Yoga UK webpage
Zen Yoga Training Videos
Eight-Form Moving Meditation Video
Categories: ZenModern Denominational Yoga
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Zen yoga
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Zen Yoga
Practice emphases
alignment, energy or qi/ki, mindfulness, meditation (Zen or Dhyāna), awakening or
kensho.
Related schools
Hatha Yoga, Qigong, Dao Yin, Oki-do yoga

Matt Shinkai Kane teaching Zen Taiso at Gyokuryuji temple, Japan

禪 Zen
Part of a series on
Zen Buddhism
Ensō
Main articles[show]
Persons[show]
Doctrines[show]
Traditions[show]
Awakening[show]
Teachings[show]
Practice[show]
Schools[show]
Related schools[show]
vte
Zen yoga refers to a variety of physical and energetic practices that can be found
within the Zen Buddhist tradition, and increasingly taught in the West. Some Zen
temples include a taiso (exercise) period, often early in the morning, including
yoga-like postures, quick repetitive exercises, and/or more flowing exercises
reminiscent of Tai Chi.[1] These exercises are designed to open and unblock the
body in preparation for sitting meditation, develop a deeper awareness of the body,
and as an opportunity to practice "becoming one” with what’s happening in the
moment (expressed in Japanese through the terms narikiru – become one – or ima-koko
– now-here).

Contents
1 History and origins
1.1 Origins with the Buddha
1.2 Hatha and Yantra Yoga
1.3 Evolution into China and Japan
1.4 Modern Zen yoga in Japan
2 Principles
2.1 Alignment
2.2 Energy
2.3 Awareness/mindfulness
3 Practices/schools
3.1 Zen Taiso
3.2 Oki-do yoga
3.3 Zenways school
3.4 Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes
3.5 Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar
3.6 Shosan Victoria Austin
3.7 Zenyoga association
4 References
5 External links
History and origins
Origins with the Buddha
The Buddha grew up around 500 B.C.E. in a time of great political and spiritual
upheaval. The brahmanas, the spiritual orthodoxy, followed the teachings of the
Vedas (written in the ninth century B.C.E.) and the Upanishads (compiled from
around the seventh century B.C.E.). Ritual and offering were central to their
beliefs, and these could only be performed by the spiritual caste, the Brahmins.
The ritual act of making offerings was even, at times, venerated even more than the
gods themselves, and as a consequence the Brahmins became very powerful and
secretive.[2]

A number of ‘radical’ spiritual schools and teachers emerged (the shramana schools)
in reaction to this brahmana orthodoxy (sometimes called the “movement of the
forest sages”), of which the Buddha was one. What the Buddha offered was a
straightforward method to alleviate suffering and lead towards liberation,
accessible to people of all castes. As opposed to some of the more extreme
positions that appeared (emphasising severe austerities or sensual indulgence) he
taught what he called the 'middle way', emphasising moderation, calmness and non-
forcing.

He taught that there are no absolute "things", there are only processes in a
constant state of change (annica); that there is no fixed or permanent essence or
soul (annata); and that suffering is inherent to life (dukkha) (the Three Marks of
Existence). In the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha described four foundations (or
bases) of mindfulness – mindfulness of the body, of sensations, of the mind, and of
dharmas (i.e. phenomena, thoughts, arisings), and is recorded as saying, "There is
one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future; and
what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body." (Anguttara Nikaya, sutta I,
21.) Thus mindfulness of the body is the direct way to liberation and the end of
suffering. Zen yoga practice is primarily concerned with the body and sensations,
and observing life as a process in a constant state of change, so is in direct line
with the Buddha's method of awakening.

Again in the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha says

Furthermore, when going forward & returning, he makes himself fully alert; when
looking toward & looking away... when bending & extending his limbs... when
carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe & his bowl... when eating, drinking,
chewing, & savouring... when urinating & defecating... when walking, standing,
sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, & remaining silent, he makes himself
fully alert.

In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or focused
externally... unsustained by anything in the world. This is how a monk remains
focused on the body in & of itself.

Hatha and Yantra Yoga

Hatha Yoga was followed by Natha Yogis and is traced to Shrimad Bhagwata Geeta, and
was practiced much before Buddha, tracing its origins to the Yoga-sutras written by
the sage Patañjali (from the 2nd century B.C.E.) and the Goraksha Samhita (written
in the 11th century by yogi Gorakshanath). The word 'hatha' in Sanskrit literally
means 'force', so Hatha Yoga is the “Discipline of Force”. It stresses mastery of
the body as a way of attaining a state of spiritual perfection in which the mind is
withdrawn from external objects.[3] The Buddha once related his experiences with a
Hatha Yoga-type breath-retention practice and found it had a great effect, but not
conducive to awakening:

...I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths in my nose & mouth. As I did so, there
was a loud roaring of winds coming out my earholes, just like the loud roar of
winds coming out of a smith's bellows... So I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths
in my nose & mouth & ears. As I did so, extreme forces sliced through my head, just
as if a strong man were slicing my head open with a sharp sword... Extreme pains
arose in my head... There was an extreme burning in my body... And although
tireless persistence was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my
body was aroused & uncalm because of the painful exertion... But with this racking
practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any
distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another
path to Awakening?
The word hatha can also be seen as a combination of two separate "Bīja mantras" or
single syllables – "ha" representing the masculine or solar energy and "tha" as the
feminine or lunar energy. Thus Hatha Yoga is the practice of bringing balance to
the two opposing forces.[4] The first occurrence of the term 'hatha yoga' is in
fact found in the Buddhist Guhyasamāja tantra dating from the 8th century.[5]

Yantra yoga (or Trul khor) is the Tibetan Buddhist parallel to the Hindu or Vedic
Hatha yoga tradition. The discipline includes similar body postures (asanas) and
pranayama practices, and includes mantra practice and visualisations. Originating
with the mahasiddhas of India, it was brought to Tibet in the eighth century by the
great master Padmasambhava and transmitted to the Tibetan Dzogchen master
Vairochana. Its practice is nowadays found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Evolution into China and Japan

With the revival of Hinduism around the turn of the first millennium C.E. and the
Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent in the 12th century C.E., Buddhism began
to decline. However, yoga and Buddhism had already spread into neighbouring
countries, including Tibet and China to the north. At around 500 C.E., an Indian
monk called Bodhidharma arrived in southern China and taught practices centered on
physical health and wellbeing, meditation and the direct mind-to-mind transmission
teachings of the Lankavatara Sutra. According to Chinese legend, the physical
practices he taught monks to prepare them for meditation included a series of
external exercises called the Eighteen Arhat Hands (Shi-ba Lohan Shou)[6] and an
internal (energetic) practice called the Sinew Metamorphosis Classic.[7] The Yijin
Jing ("Muscle/Tendon Change Classic") is also attributed to Bodhidharma. As these
practices developed, they led to the creation of Shaolinquan school of Kung Fu.

As the Buddhism of Bodhidharma fused with the prevailing Chinese philosophies and
practices of Confucianism and Taoism, it became Ch’an (from Sanskrit dhyāna,
meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"). Over the centuries, Ch'an spread to
Japan where it become known as Zen, taking with it the rich combination of physical
and energetic practices known variously as yoga, Qigong, and Tao Yin.

Dating back to around the fourth century C.E., Yogācāra (literally "yoga practice")
is one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies Zen, and includes the
Lankavatara Sutra mentioned above. It contains a sophisticated psychology of
awakening and emphasises the practice of mindfulness. This mindfulness leads not to
an experience but to a total shift in the way we relate to all experiences. This
shift is referred to in the Yogācāra tradition as parāvṛtti, "turning around”.

Modern Zen yoga in Japan

Calligraphy brushed by Zen master Shinzan Miyamae Roshi, with the characters do-zen
There are three terms in contemporary Japan used to describe yoga-style movement
work: do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin), Zen taiso (literally Zen exercise), and Zen
yoga (first coined by Zen master Masahiro Oki). See below for more information.

In modern times, Zen masters Hogen Daido Roshi[8] and Harada Tangen Roshi,[9] in
particular, have advocated and taught yoga practices to complement their Zen
training. One student of Hogen Daido Roshi recalls that he constantly imparted the
importance of mixing moving Zen (do-zen) into Zen practice: "...there are four
kinds of Zen: sitting, standing, lying, and moving. We should practise them all.
Whatever we do, we must do it fully, mindfully, wholeheartedly, one thing at a time
without being attached to or involved in it. When we practise moving Zen, the
quality of our daily lives becomes very different.”[10]

In Zen, the inseparability of the "body-mind" is often stressed, together with the
need to retain our flexibility for life. Hogen Roshi taught that "By doing yoga and
zazen, we can begin to appreciate the real state of our body and mind, both of
which are stiff and unpeaceful. We should not hate them. Please, let them be as
they are. Taste their special bitter taste".[11]

Principles
Zen practice in general, and Zen Yoga in particular, emphasize three intertwined
areas – physical alignment, the flow of energy in the body and awareness or
mindfulness (Japanese “nen” 念).[12]

Alignment
Physical alignment is highly emphasised in Zen. The founder of the Soto Zen school,
Master Dōgen (d. 1253) wrote in his zazen (meditation) instructions:

First of all, we must sit with the spine erect, not leaning left nor right, forward
nor backward. The nose must be in a vertical line with the belly button and our
ears are to be in level with our shoulders.

By practising Zen yoga we therefore prepare the body for prolonged upright sitting.
Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki teaches that we must then carry this alignment out into
all activities of our daily life:

So try always to keep the right posture, not only when you practice zazen, but in
all your activities. Take the right posture when you are driving your car, and when
you are reading. If you read in a slumped position, you cannot stay awake long.
Try. You will discover how important it is to keep the right posture... The state
of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is itself enlightenment.[13]

Energy
One of the reasons why correct posture is so emphasised is because it powerfully
influences both our mind-state and our energy. Underlying Zen is a conception of
the human system as an energetic phenomenon. This energy or ki is seen as something
that can be enhanced or depleted. Moreover, the courses of energy flow are not
random but follow particular directions and routes called “myaku” (Jp.; or
meridians). This energy has two basic dimensions – one that influences our health,
wellbeing and emotional state, and one that takes us beyond any particular state to
a condition of non-dual awareness.[12]

We can characterise these two energetic dimensions as:

Problem-solving – boosting our health & wellbeing, making life better, and feeling
more alive.
The condition in which we realise that there was never a problem in the first
place.
Energy and consciousness are inextricably linked – when we change our energy, we
change our consciousness and vice versa.

One of the traditional Japanese names for yoga is do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin),
which translates as “guiding and stretching”. Through the yoga practice we stretch
the body and energy routes, and guide the energy in beneficial directions.
Intention is ultimately the means through which this guiding happens. The
manifestation of intention may be through the breath, through imagery or simply
through focused attention.

Much modern yoga practice aims to open and energise our wellbeing energy circuits
(energy channels that operate in the world of opposites – left, right, back, front,
etc.) without touching on the non-dual areas. Although it is a worthwhile and noble
aspiration to attain optimal health and wellbeing, the practitioner nevertheless
remains in the world of duality – the world of this and that, of me and the
universe. Zen is emphatic that within this worldview there is no happy ending to
the story of life, no liberation from our fundamental suffering. However healthy
and emotionally balanced we are, we remain in a condition of separation, where the
Universe is seen as huge, threatening and ultimately indifferent.

This is just a worldview. It is possible to live in a place which is beyond this

duality, which is the main aim of Zen practice.

Awareness/mindfulness
The third aspect of Zen yoga is the application of awareness or mindfulness
(Japanese, "nen" 念). As mentioned above, the Buddha is recorded as saying, "There
is one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future;
and what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body."

How do we find this happiness and liberation? Strangely enough it is through coming
face-to-face with our unhappiness and reactivity – in this case as they manifest in
the body. Makko-ho,[14] a traditional Japanese sequence of stretches, literally
means "the practice of facing things". These are a set of curative exercises
originally developed from temple prostration practice in the 1930s by the
pioneering Japanese yoga teacher, Nagai Wataru, then taken up and extended by
Shizuto Masunaga, populariser of shiatsu massage.[15]

The most important Zen master in the last 500 years, Hakuin Zenji had a saying that
"Buddhas are like water and ordinary people are like ice". In Zen yoga practice,
postures and movements are used to bring the body into focus so that we can notice
any tightnesses or restrictions. The student is then directed to bring their non-
judgemental attention to these blocked or closed areas, and it's this simple
awareness that causes the ice to begin to melt. All we need is an attitude of
curiosity and non-judgemental kindness.

Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi, teacher of Zen yoga, says that "rather than
causing our ice to melt into an inert puddle, this liberated water becomes more
like a fountain; it has shape, dynamism and energy but nevertheless there’s an
ungraspable quality."[12]

The Yogacara philosophy (one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies
Zen) emphasises that, as the individual begins to open and become more free,
flowing and dynamic, they come to inhabit a different world which takes on a
similar quality.

Practices/schools
Zen Taiso
As mentioned above, some Zen temples include a taiso (exercise) period somewhere
within their daily (or if not, retreat) schedule. Taiso practice routines differ
from popular modern yoga classes. Rather than focussing on “sun salutations”,
“warrior poses” and muscular flexibility, the quality of mindfulness and honing in
on releasing energy in the body’s meridian lines is deliberately emphasised.

According to the experience of one Zen monk who studied in a variety of

contemporary Japanese and Korean Zen monasteries, both monks and laity practice a
variety of yoga-like practices ranging from individual stretching (lunges, hip
releases, and chest openers) to temple-wide taiso routines held every morning.[16]
He recalls "These routines focussed on consciously and mindfully relaxing areas of
the body through stretching (in particular areas that needed extra care owing to
long hours of sitting). The practice also worked directly with the body as one’s
object of focus, and the corresponding awareness incorporated in the process, was
viewed as extremely powerful.” Ultimately, the time spend doing temple yoga, both
individually and as a group, was taught to be the ideal opportunity for attaining
awakening (kensho) through mindfulness of the body.
In Japan, if the temple holds formal taiso sessions, they would often be held at
the beginning of the day, say 4am each morning for 20-25 mins. See here for an
example. At Bukkoku-ji (where Tangen Harada was the Roshi – see above), they took
the form of a mixture of quick repetitive exercise (everyone counting together)
with poses held for longer times. These poses were incorporated to isolate openings
in for example, the stomach and spleen meridians for a back bend, the liver and
gall bladder meridians for a wide-legged side bend, and so on. They were integrated
with a specific purpose in mind and were to be done with awareness alongside
breathing in the hara (belly).[16]

Temple taiso routines, however, vary according to the temple and teacher. At the
Weoljeong-sa temple in South Korea, for example, the monks spend an hour or more
each morning doing taiso under the direction of the lead monk while on their 3-
month winter retreat.

Oki-do yoga
Oki-do yoga is a system originating with the Japanese teacher-healer-philosopher
Masahiro Oki. It is a unique blend of traditional Indian hatha yoga with Zen
meditation, dancing, physical games, martial arts, and chanting. The training
method emphasizes balance between opposites: tension and relaxation, heat and cold,
stillness and movement.[17]

Masahiro Oki is credited as the first person to use the term "zen yoga".

Zenways school

Daizan Roshi teaching a Zen yoga class at the ZenYoga studio in London
Zenways is an organisation set up by Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi in 2007
to promote and encourage activities and practices that enhance human wellbeing and
awakening (satori or kensho). Zenways offers a 200hr Zen yoga teacher training
course, together with meditation and mindfulness teacher training courses,
workshops, retreats, meditation classes, and opportunities for zen study.

Over the years of his Zen training, Daizan Roshi studied yoga-style physical
movement in Zen temples in Europe, USA and Japan. He synthesises his knowledge of
these disciplines into a Zen yoga practice that combines physical challenge with
mental and spiritual development. He teaches regularly at “Yugagyo Dojo” (ZenYoga),
a Zen training place he established with his students in London. With more than
5000 hours of yoga teaching experience, Daizan Roshi offers a yoga teacher training
programme to help teachers to find an expression that is authentically their own
and will bring them success when they teach.

Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes

Yoga teacher Aaron Hoopes founded a style of yoga he called Zen Yoga as a variation
of traditional yoga that combines the different philosophies of various Eastern
health and fitness traditions. He created this form to increase accessibility to
people who are less athletic.[18] The philosophies of shanti yoga, qigong, and tai-
chi are combined to help increase flexibility, improve the flow of breathing, and
open joints. The philosophy of Zen is incorporated through being mindfully aware of
the present moment.[18] The basic principle of Zen Yoga is that simple breathing,
movement and stretching exercises are available to anyone regardless of age,
fitness, or health.[18]

Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar

Zen Yoga teacher and shiatsu therapist Tatjana Mesar created a contemporary fusion
of holistic asana flow, mindfulness meditation and applied anatomy and physiology
of postures, movement and breathing for the modern body. The central perspective of
her Dynamic Mindfulness Yoga School emerges from Buddhist philosophy, ethics and
methodology, specifically the Chan school of Buddhism.
Shosan Victoria Austin
Shosan Victoria Austin is a Soto Zen priest transmitted in the lineage of Shunryu
Suzuki Roshi. She began practicing Zen and yoga in 1971, and trained as a yoga
teacher in the 1980s to bring yoga to the Buddhist community in America. A senior
Iyengar yoga teacher, she emphasizes the faithful transmission of each discipline
using its own language and methods. In cross-disciplinary teaching, she emphasizes
teachings common to both traditions, such as bare attention; alignment of posture,
breathing and intention; universal and provisional truth; dedicating the daily
practice; and transformation of the causal body through applying universal moral
precepts and individual practices in daily life. Yoga and Zen

Zenyoga association
Non-profit organization dedicated to practice, study
headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia. The group goes back
founded by Zarko Andricevic,[19] Chan master and one
heirs of the late Chan master Shifu Sheng-yen, as an
Centre[20] in Zagreb.
and teaching of Zenyoga with
to the mid-seventies and was
of the five Western Dharma-
affiliate to Buddhist

Zenyoga, as taught by Zarko and other longtime teachers and mentors - Mira Punik,
Mirjana Halsey, Ela Vukelja and Karmen Mihalinec - is an extension of threefold
training within the Chan tradition of Buddhism - that is, it aims to bring the
body, breath and mind in order or harmony. It rests on the notion that "meditation
in movement" is a valuable companion to "meditation in stillness" of a more formal
Chan practice, especially practice of Silent Illumination[21] or mochao in Chinese
tradition.

Since 2003 Association runs a two-year teachers' training school consisting of over
650 contact hours, including a seven-day Chan meditation retreat. The school is
registered on 500 level with Yoga Alliance since 2005.[22]

Zenyoga is currently taught in a number of locations in Zagreb, in Pula, Rovinj,

Samobor, Krk Island, Rijeka and Split. International affiliates include groups in
Celje (Slovenia), Berlin (Germany) and Cape Cod (USA).[23]

References
Jones, Richard Gensho (May 2014). "Yoga Helped Me to Find the Buddha Way". The
Middle Way. 89 (1): 23.
Berzin, Alexander. "Indian Society and Thought before and at the Time of Buddha".
Retrieved 20 June 2016.
"Hatha Yoga". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
"Yoga Questions Answered". Yoga Journal. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
Berzin, Alexander. "What Is Guhyasamaja Practice?". Study Buddhism. Retrieved 20
June 2016.
Garfinkel, Perry (2006). Buddha or bust: in search of truth, meaning, happiness
and the man who found them all (1st ed.). New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 978-1-4000-
8217-9.
Kit, Wong Kiew (2002). The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for
Self-defense, Health and Enlightenment (1st ed.). Boston, Mass.: Tuttle. ISBN 0-
8048-3439-3.
http://www.openway.org.au/teachers.html#Hogen
http://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/TangenHarada.html
Daido Hogen Yamahata (2002). Shingan Francis Chauvet (ed.). Folhas caem, um novo
rebento [Falling Leaves, a Shooting Sprout]. Lisbon: Assirio & Alvim. p. 28.
Daido Hogen Yamahata (1986). K. Carne (ed.). The Other Shore. Oxford: Parchment
Press. p. 40.
Skinner, Julian Daizan (May 2014). "A View on Zen and Yoga". The Middle Way. 89
(1): 31.
Suzuki, Shunryu (2011). Zen mind, beginner's mind: [informal talks on Zen
meditation and practice] (New ed.). Boston: Shambhala. p. 10. ISBN 1590308492.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140904185349/http://www.zencenterofdenver.org/stretch
es_for_zazen.aspx
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/shiatsu.htm
Kane, Matt Shinkai (May 2014). "Expressions of Body-based Buddhist Practice in
East Asia". The Middle Way. 89 (1): 3.
http://www.okidoyoga.org.uk/
Hardach, Sophie (2008-02-25). "Zen Yoga founder adds Japanese twist to ancient
practice". Reuters News Agency. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Shikantaza and Silent Illumination". chancenter.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"School Profile | Yoga Alliance". www.yogaalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Zenyoga". zenyoga.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
External links
The Zenways school
The ZenYoga studio in London
Zen Yoga Studio in Berlin, Germany
The Okido Yoga UK webpage
Zen Yoga Training Videos
Eight-Form Moving Meditation Video
Categories: ZenModern Denominational Yoga
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Zen yoga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Zen Yoga
Practice emphases
alignment, energy or qi/ki, mindfulness, meditation (Zen or Dhyāna), awakening or
kensho.
Related schools
Hatha Yoga, Qigong, Dao Yin, Oki-do yoga

Matt Shinkai Kane teaching Zen Taiso at Gyokuryuji temple, Japan

禪 Zen
Part of a series on
Zen Buddhism
Ensō
Main articles[show]
Persons[show]
Doctrines[show]
Traditions[show]
Awakening[show]
Teachings[show]
Practice[show]
Schools[show]
Related schools[show]
vte
Zen yoga refers to a variety of physical and energetic practices that can be found
within the Zen Buddhist tradition, and increasingly taught in the West. Some Zen
temples include a taiso (exercise) period, often early in the morning, including
yoga-like postures, quick repetitive exercises, and/or more flowing exercises
reminiscent of Tai Chi.[1] These exercises are designed to open and unblock the
body in preparation for sitting meditation, develop a deeper awareness of the body,
and as an opportunity to practice "becoming one” with what’s happening in the
moment (expressed in Japanese through the terms narikiru – become one – or ima-koko
– now-here).

Contents
1 History and origins
1.1 Origins with the Buddha
1.2 Hatha and Yantra Yoga
1.3 Evolution into China and Japan
1.4 Modern Zen yoga in Japan
2 Principles
2.1 Alignment
2.2 Energy
2.3 Awareness/mindfulness
3 Practices/schools
3.1 Zen Taiso
3.2 Oki-do yoga
3.3 Zenways school
3.4 Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes
3.5 Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar
3.6 Shosan Victoria Austin
3.7 Zenyoga association
4 References
5 External links
History and origins
Origins with the Buddha
The Buddha grew up around 500 B.C.E. in a time of great political and spiritual
upheaval. The brahmanas, the spiritual orthodoxy, followed the teachings of the
Vedas (written in the ninth century B.C.E.) and the Upanishads (compiled from
around the seventh century B.C.E.). Ritual and offering were central to their
beliefs, and these could only be performed by the spiritual caste, the Brahmins.
The ritual act of making offerings was even, at times, venerated even more than the
gods themselves, and as a consequence the Brahmins became very powerful and
secretive.[2]

A number of ‘radical’ spiritual schools and teachers emerged (the shramana schools)
in reaction to this brahmana orthodoxy (sometimes called the “movement of the
forest sages”), of which the Buddha was one. What the Buddha offered was a
straightforward method to alleviate suffering and lead towards liberation,
accessible to people of all castes. As opposed to some of the more extreme
positions that appeared (emphasising severe austerities or sensual indulgence) he
taught what he called the 'middle way', emphasising moderation, calmness and non-
forcing.

He taught that there are no absolute "things", there are only processes in a
constant state of change (annica); that there is no fixed or permanent essence or
soul (annata); and that suffering is inherent to life (dukkha) (the Three Marks of
Existence). In the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha described four foundations (or
bases) of mindfulness – mindfulness of the body, of sensations, of the mind, and of
dharmas (i.e. phenomena, thoughts, arisings), and is recorded as saying, "There is
one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future; and
what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body." (Anguttara Nikaya, sutta I,
21.) Thus mindfulness of the body is the direct way to liberation and the end of
suffering. Zen yoga practice is primarily concerned with the body and sensations,
and observing life as a process in a constant state of change, so is in direct line
with the Buddha's method of awakening.

Again in the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha says

Furthermore, when going forward & returning, he makes himself fully alert; when
looking toward & looking away... when bending & extending his limbs... when
carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe & his bowl... when eating, drinking,
chewing, & savouring... when urinating & defecating... when walking, standing,
sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, & remaining silent, he makes himself
fully alert.

In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or focused
externally... unsustained by anything in the world. This is how a monk remains
focused on the body in & of itself.

Hatha and Yantra Yoga

Hatha Yoga was followed by Natha Yogis and is traced to Shrimad Bhagwata Geeta, and
was practiced much before Buddha, tracing its origins to the Yoga-sutras written by
the sage Patañjali (from the 2nd century B.C.E.) and the Goraksha Samhita (written
in the 11th century by yogi Gorakshanath). The word 'hatha' in Sanskrit literally
means 'force', so Hatha Yoga is the “Discipline of Force”. It stresses mastery of
the body as a way of attaining a state of spiritual perfection in which the mind is
withdrawn from external objects.[3] The Buddha once related his experiences with a
Hatha Yoga-type breath-retention practice and found it had a great effect, but not
conducive to awakening:

...I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths in my nose & mouth. As I did so, there
was a loud roaring of winds coming out my earholes, just like the loud roar of
winds coming out of a smith's bellows... So I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths
in my nose & mouth & ears. As I did so, extreme forces sliced through my head, just
as if a strong man were slicing my head open with a sharp sword... Extreme pains
arose in my head... There was an extreme burning in my body... And although
tireless persistence was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my
body was aroused & uncalm because of the painful exertion... But with this racking
practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any
distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another
path to Awakening?

The word hatha can also be seen as a combination of two separate "Bīja mantras" or
single syllables – "ha" representing the masculine or solar energy and "tha" as the
feminine or lunar energy. Thus Hatha Yoga is the practice of bringing balance to
the two opposing forces.[4] The first occurrence of the term 'hatha yoga' is in
fact found in the Buddhist Guhyasamāja tantra dating from the 8th century.[5]

Yantra yoga (or Trul khor) is the Tibetan Buddhist parallel to the Hindu or Vedic
Hatha yoga tradition. The discipline includes similar body postures (asanas) and
pranayama practices, and includes mantra practice and visualisations. Originating
with the mahasiddhas of India, it was brought to Tibet in the eighth century by the
great master Padmasambhava and transmitted to the Tibetan Dzogchen master
Vairochana. Its practice is nowadays found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Evolution into China and Japan

With the revival of Hinduism around the turn of the first millennium C.E. and the
Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent in the 12th century C.E., Buddhism began
to decline. However, yoga and Buddhism had already spread into neighbouring
countries, including Tibet and China to the north. At around 500 C.E., an Indian
monk called Bodhidharma arrived in southern China and taught practices centered on
physical health and wellbeing, meditation and the direct mind-to-mind transmission
teachings of the Lankavatara Sutra. According to Chinese legend, the physical
practices he taught monks to prepare them for meditation included a series of
external exercises called the Eighteen Arhat Hands (Shi-ba Lohan Shou)[6] and an
internal (energetic) practice called the Sinew Metamorphosis Classic.[7] The Yijin
Jing ("Muscle/Tendon Change Classic") is also attributed to Bodhidharma. As these
practices developed, they led to the creation of Shaolinquan school of Kung Fu.

As the Buddhism of Bodhidharma fused with the prevailing Chinese philosophies and
practices of Confucianism and Taoism, it became Ch’an (from Sanskrit dhyāna,
meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"). Over the centuries, Ch'an spread to
Japan where it become known as Zen, taking with it the rich combination of physical
and energetic practices known variously as yoga, Qigong, and Tao Yin.

Dating back to around the fourth century C.E., Yogācāra (literally "yoga practice")
is one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies Zen, and includes the
Lankavatara Sutra mentioned above. It contains a sophisticated psychology of
awakening and emphasises the practice of mindfulness. This mindfulness leads not to
an experience but to a total shift in the way we relate to all experiences. This
shift is referred to in the Yogācāra tradition as parāvṛtti, "turning around”.

Modern Zen yoga in Japan

Calligraphy brushed by Zen master Shinzan Miyamae Roshi, with the characters do-zen
There are three terms in contemporary Japan used to describe yoga-style movement
work: do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin), Zen taiso (literally Zen exercise), and Zen
yoga (first coined by Zen master Masahiro Oki). See below for more information.

In modern times, Zen masters Hogen Daido Roshi[8] and Harada Tangen Roshi,[9] in
particular, have advocated and taught yoga practices to complement their Zen
training. One student of Hogen Daido Roshi recalls that he constantly imparted the
importance of mixing moving Zen (do-zen) into Zen practice: "...there are four
kinds of Zen: sitting, standing, lying, and moving. We should practise them all.
Whatever we do, we must do it fully, mindfully, wholeheartedly, one thing at a time
without being attached to or involved in it. When we practise moving Zen, the
quality of our daily lives becomes very different.”[10]

In Zen, the inseparability of the "body-mind" is often stressed, together with the
need to retain our flexibility for life. Hogen Roshi taught that "By doing yoga and
zazen, we can begin to appreciate the real state of our body and mind, both of
which are stiff and unpeaceful. We should not hate them. Please, let them be as
they are. Taste their special bitter taste".[11]

Principles
Zen practice in general, and Zen Yoga in particular, emphasize three intertwined
areas – physical alignment, the flow of energy in the body and awareness or
mindfulness (Japanese “nen” 念).[12]

Alignment
Physical alignment is highly emphasised in Zen. The founder of the Soto Zen school,
Master Dōgen (d. 1253) wrote in his zazen (meditation) instructions:

First of all, we must sit with the spine erect, not leaning left nor right, forward
nor backward. The nose must be in a vertical line with the belly button and our
ears are to be in level with our shoulders.

By practising Zen yoga we therefore prepare the body for prolonged upright sitting.
Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki teaches that we must then carry this alignment out into
all activities of our daily life:

So try always to keep the right posture, not only when you practice zazen, but in
all your activities. Take the right posture when you are driving your car, and when
you are reading. If you read in a slumped position, you cannot stay awake long.
Try. You will discover how important it is to keep the right posture... The state
of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is itself enlightenment.[13]

Energy
One of the reasons why correct posture is so emphasised is because it powerfully
influences both our mind-state and our energy. Underlying Zen is a conception of
the human system as an energetic phenomenon. This energy or ki is seen as something
that can be enhanced or depleted. Moreover, the courses of energy flow are not
random but follow particular directions and routes called “myaku” (Jp.; or
meridians). This energy has two basic dimensions – one that influences our health,
wellbeing and emotional state, and one that takes us beyond any particular state to
a condition of non-dual awareness.[12]

We can characterise these two energetic dimensions as:

Problem-solving – boosting our health & wellbeing, making life better, and feeling
more alive.
The condition in which we realise that there was never a problem in the first
place.
Energy and consciousness are inextricably linked – when we change our energy, we
change our consciousness and vice versa.

One of the traditional Japanese names for yoga is do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin),
which translates as “guiding and stretching”. Through the yoga practice we stretch
the body and energy routes, and guide the energy in beneficial directions.
Intention is ultimately the means through which this guiding happens. The
manifestation of intention may be through the breath, through imagery or simply
through focused attention.

Much modern yoga practice aims to open and energise our wellbeing energy circuits
(energy channels that operate in the world of opposites – left, right, back, front,
etc.) without touching on the non-dual areas. Although it is a worthwhile and noble
aspiration to attain optimal health and wellbeing, the practitioner nevertheless
remains in the world of duality – the world of this and that, of me and the
universe. Zen is emphatic that within this worldview there is no happy ending to
the story of life, no liberation from our fundamental suffering. However healthy
and emotionally balanced we are, we remain in a condition of separation, where the
Universe is seen as huge, threatening and ultimately indifferent.

This is just a worldview. It is possible to live in a place which is beyond this

duality, which is the main aim of Zen practice.

Awareness/mindfulness
The third aspect of Zen yoga is the application of awareness or mindfulness
(Japanese, "nen" 念). As mentioned above, the Buddha is recorded as saying, "There
is one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future;
and what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body."

How do we find this happiness and liberation? Strangely enough it is through coming
face-to-face with our unhappiness and reactivity – in this case as they manifest in
the body. Makko-ho,[14] a traditional Japanese sequence of stretches, literally
means "the practice of facing things". These are a set of curative exercises
originally developed from temple prostration practice in the 1930s by the
pioneering Japanese yoga teacher, Nagai Wataru, then taken up and extended by
Shizuto Masunaga, populariser of shiatsu massage.[15]

The most important Zen master in the last 500 years, Hakuin Zenji had a saying that
"Buddhas are like water and ordinary people are like ice". In Zen yoga practice,
postures and movements are used to bring the body into focus so that we can notice
any tightnesses or restrictions. The student is then directed to bring their non-
judgemental attention to these blocked or closed areas, and it's this simple
awareness that causes the ice to begin to melt. All we need is an attitude of
curiosity and non-judgemental kindness.

Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi, teacher of Zen yoga, says that "rather than
causing our ice to melt into an inert puddle, this liberated water becomes more
like a fountain; it has shape, dynamism and energy but nevertheless there’s an
ungraspable quality."[12]

The Yogacara philosophy (one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies
Zen) emphasises that, as the individual begins to open and become more free,
flowing and dynamic, they come to inhabit a different world which takes on a
similar quality.

Practices/schools
Zen Taiso
As mentioned above, some Zen temples include a taiso (exercise) period somewhere
within their daily (or if not, retreat) schedule. Taiso practice routines differ
from popular modern yoga classes. Rather than focussing on “sun salutations”,
“warrior poses” and muscular flexibility, the quality of mindfulness and honing in
on releasing energy in the body’s meridian lines is deliberately emphasised.

According to the experience of one Zen monk who studied in a variety of

contemporary Japanese and Korean Zen monasteries, both monks and laity practice a
variety of yoga-like practices ranging from individual stretching (lunges, hip
releases, and chest openers) to temple-wide taiso routines held every morning.[16]
He recalls "These routines focussed on consciously and mindfully relaxing areas of
the body through stretching (in particular areas that needed extra care owing to
long hours of sitting). The practice also worked directly with the body as one’s
object of focus, and the corresponding awareness incorporated in the process, was
viewed as extremely powerful.” Ultimately, the time spend doing temple yoga, both
individually and as a group, was taught to be the ideal opportunity for attaining
awakening (kensho) through mindfulness of the body.

In Japan, if the temple holds formal taiso sessions, they would often be held at
the beginning of the day, say 4am each morning for 20-25 mins. See here for an
example. At Bukkoku-ji (where Tangen Harada was the Roshi – see above), they took
the form of a mixture of quick repetitive exercise (everyone counting together)
with poses held for longer times. These poses were incorporated to isolate openings
in for example, the stomach and spleen meridians for a back bend, the liver and
gall bladder meridians for a wide-legged side bend, and so on. They were integrated
with a specific purpose in mind and were to be done with awareness alongside
breathing in the hara (belly).[16]

Temple taiso routines, however, vary according to the temple and teacher. At the
Weoljeong-sa temple in South Korea, for example, the monks spend an hour or more
each morning doing taiso under the direction of the lead monk while on their 3-
month winter retreat.

Oki-do yoga
Oki-do yoga is a system originating with the Japanese teacher-healer-philosopher
Masahiro Oki. It is a unique blend of traditional Indian hatha yoga with Zen
meditation, dancing, physical games, martial arts, and chanting. The training
method emphasizes balance between opposites: tension and relaxation, heat and cold,
stillness and movement.[17]

Masahiro Oki is credited as the first person to use the term "zen yoga".

Zenways school

Daizan Roshi teaching a Zen yoga class at the ZenYoga studio in London
Zenways is an organisation set up by Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi in 2007
to promote and encourage activities and practices that enhance human wellbeing and
awakening (satori or kensho). Zenways offers a 200hr Zen yoga teacher training
course, together with meditation and mindfulness teacher training courses,
workshops, retreats, meditation classes, and opportunities for zen study.

Over the years of his Zen training, Daizan Roshi studied yoga-style physical
movement in Zen temples in Europe, USA and Japan. He synthesises his knowledge of
these disciplines into a Zen yoga practice that combines physical challenge with
mental and spiritual development. He teaches regularly at “Yugagyo Dojo” (ZenYoga),
a Zen training place he established with his students in London. With more than
5000 hours of yoga teaching experience, Daizan Roshi offers a yoga teacher training
programme to help teachers to find an expression that is authentically their own
and will bring them success when they teach.

Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes

Yoga teacher Aaron Hoopes founded a style of yoga he called Zen Yoga as a variation
of traditional yoga that combines the different philosophies of various Eastern
health and fitness traditions. He created this form to increase accessibility to
people who are less athletic.[18] The philosophies of shanti yoga, qigong, and tai-
chi are combined to help increase flexibility, improve the flow of breathing, and
open joints. The philosophy of Zen is incorporated through being mindfully aware of
the present moment.[18] The basic principle of Zen Yoga is that simple breathing,
movement and stretching exercises are available to anyone regardless of age,
fitness, or health.[18]

Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar

Zen Yoga teacher and shiatsu therapist Tatjana Mesar created a contemporary fusion
of holistic asana flow, mindfulness meditation and applied anatomy and physiology
of postures, movement and breathing for the modern body. The central perspective of
her Dynamic Mindfulness Yoga School emerges from Buddhist philosophy, ethics and
methodology, specifically the Chan school of Buddhism.

Shosan Victoria Austin

Shosan Victoria Austin is a Soto Zen priest transmitted in the lineage of Shunryu
Suzuki Roshi. She began practicing Zen and yoga in 1971, and trained as a yoga
teacher in the 1980s to bring yoga to the Buddhist community in America. A senior
Iyengar yoga teacher, she emphasizes the faithful transmission of each discipline
using its own language and methods. In cross-disciplinary teaching, she emphasizes
teachings common to both traditions, such as bare attention; alignment of posture,
breathing and intention; universal and provisional truth; dedicating the daily
practice; and transformation of the causal body through applying universal moral
precepts and individual practices in daily life. Yoga and Zen

Zenyoga association
Non-profit organization dedicated to practice, study
headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia. The group goes back
founded by Zarko Andricevic,[19] Chan master and one
heirs of the late Chan master Shifu Sheng-yen, as an
Centre[20] in Zagreb.
and teaching of Zenyoga with
to the mid-seventies and was
of the five Western Dharma-
affiliate to Buddhist

Zenyoga, as taught by Zarko and other longtime teachers and mentors - Mira Punik,
Mirjana Halsey, Ela Vukelja and Karmen Mihalinec - is an extension of threefold
training within the Chan tradition of Buddhism - that is, it aims to bring the
body, breath and mind in order or harmony. It rests on the notion that "meditation
in movement" is a valuable companion to "meditation in stillness" of a more formal
Chan practice, especially practice of Silent Illumination[21] or mochao in Chinese
tradition.

Since 2003 Association runs a two-year teachers' training school consisting of over
650 contact hours, including a seven-day Chan meditation retreat. The school is
registered on 500 level with Yoga Alliance since 2005.[22]

Zenyoga is currently taught in a number of locations in Zagreb, in Pula, Rovinj,

Samobor, Krk Island, Rijeka and Split. International affiliates include groups in
Celje (Slovenia), Berlin (Germany) and Cape Cod (USA).[23]

References
Jones, Richard Gensho (May 2014). "Yoga Helped Me to Find the Buddha Way". The
Middle Way. 89 (1): 23.
Berzin, Alexander. "Indian Society and Thought before and at the Time of Buddha".
Retrieved 20 June 2016.
"Hatha Yoga". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
"Yoga Questions Answered". Yoga Journal. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
Berzin, Alexander. "What Is Guhyasamaja Practice?". Study Buddhism. Retrieved 20
June 2016.
Garfinkel, Perry (2006). Buddha or bust: in search of truth, meaning, happiness
and the man who found them all (1st ed.). New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 978-1-4000-
8217-9.
Kit, Wong Kiew (2002). The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for
Self-defense, Health and Enlightenment (1st ed.). Boston, Mass.: Tuttle. ISBN 0-
8048-3439-3.
http://www.openway.org.au/teachers.html#Hogen
http://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/TangenHarada.html
Daido Hogen Yamahata (2002). Shingan Francis Chauvet (ed.). Folhas caem, um novo
rebento [Falling Leaves, a Shooting Sprout]. Lisbon: Assirio & Alvim. p. 28.
Daido Hogen Yamahata (1986). K. Carne (ed.). The Other Shore. Oxford: Parchment
Press. p. 40.
Skinner, Julian Daizan (May 2014). "A View on Zen and Yoga". The Middle Way. 89
(1): 31.
Suzuki, Shunryu (2011). Zen mind, beginner's mind: [informal talks on Zen
meditation and practice] (New ed.). Boston: Shambhala. p. 10. ISBN 1590308492.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140904185349/http://www.zencenterofdenver.org/stretch
es_for_zazen.aspx
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/shiatsu.htm
Kane, Matt Shinkai (May 2014). "Expressions of Body-based Buddhist Practice in
East Asia". The Middle Way. 89 (1): 3.
http://www.okidoyoga.org.uk/
Hardach, Sophie (2008-02-25). "Zen Yoga founder adds Japanese twist to ancient
practice". Reuters News Agency. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Shikantaza and Silent Illumination". chancenter.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"School Profile | Yoga Alliance". www.yogaalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Zenyoga". zenyoga.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
External links
The Zenways school
The ZenYoga studio in London
Zen Yoga Studio in Berlin, Germany
The Okido Yoga UK webpage
Zen Yoga Training Videos
Eight-Form Moving Meditation Video
Categories: ZenModern Denominational Yoga
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This page was last edited on 7 October 2019, at 18:21 (UTC).
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
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Zen yoga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Zen Yoga
Practice emphases
alignment, energy or qi/ki, mindfulness, meditation (Zen or Dhyāna), awakening or
kensho.
Related schools
Hatha Yoga, Qigong, Dao Yin, Oki-do yoga

Matt Shinkai Kane teaching Zen Taiso at Gyokuryuji temple, Japan

禪 Zen
Part of a series on
Zen Buddhism
Ensō
Main articles[show]
Persons[show]
Doctrines[show]
Traditions[show]
Awakening[show]
Teachings[show]
Practice[show]
Schools[show]
Related schools[show]
vte
Zen yoga refers to a variety of physical and energetic practices that can be found
within the Zen Buddhist tradition, and increasingly taught in the West. Some Zen
temples include a taiso (exercise) period, often early in the morning, including
yoga-like postures, quick repetitive exercises, and/or more flowing exercises
reminiscent of Tai Chi.[1] These exercises are designed to open and unblock the
body in preparation for sitting meditation, develop a deeper awareness of the body,
and as an opportunity to practice "becoming one” with what’s happening in the
moment (expressed in Japanese through the terms narikiru – become one – or ima-koko
– now-here).

Contents
1 History and origins
1.1 Origins with the Buddha
1.2 Hatha and Yantra Yoga
1.3 Evolution into China and Japan
1.4 Modern Zen yoga in Japan
2 Principles
2.1 Alignment
2.2 Energy
2.3 Awareness/mindfulness
3 Practices/schools
3.1 Zen Taiso
3.2 Oki-do yoga
3.3 Zenways school
3.4 Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes
3.5 Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar
3.6 Shosan Victoria Austin
3.7 Zenyoga association
4 References
5 External links
History and origins
Origins with the Buddha
The Buddha grew up around 500 B.C.E. in a time of great political and spiritual
upheaval. The brahmanas, the spiritual orthodoxy, followed the teachings of the
Vedas (written in the ninth century B.C.E.) and the Upanishads (compiled from
around the seventh century B.C.E.). Ritual and offering were central to their
beliefs, and these could only be performed by the spiritual caste, the Brahmins.
The ritual act of making offerings was even, at times, venerated even more than the
gods themselves, and as a consequence the Brahmins became very powerful and
secretive.[2]

A number of ‘radical’ spiritual schools and teachers emerged (the shramana schools)
in reaction to this brahmana orthodoxy (sometimes called the “movement of the
forest sages”), of which the Buddha was one. What the Buddha offered was a
straightforward method to alleviate suffering and lead towards liberation,
accessible to people of all castes. As opposed to some of the more extreme
positions that appeared (emphasising severe austerities or sensual indulgence) he
taught what he called the 'middle way', emphasising moderation, calmness and non-
forcing.

He taught that there are no absolute "things", there are only processes in a
constant state of change (annica); that there is no fixed or permanent essence or
soul (annata); and that suffering is inherent to life (dukkha) (the Three Marks of
Existence). In the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha described four foundations (or
bases) of mindfulness – mindfulness of the body, of sensations, of the mind, and of
dharmas (i.e. phenomena, thoughts, arisings), and is recorded as saying, "There is
one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future; and
what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body." (Anguttara Nikaya, sutta I,
21.) Thus mindfulness of the body is the direct way to liberation and the end of
suffering. Zen yoga practice is primarily concerned with the body and sensations,
and observing life as a process in a constant state of change, so is in direct line
with the Buddha's method of awakening.

Again in the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha says

Furthermore, when going forward & returning, he makes himself fully alert; when
looking toward & looking away... when bending & extending his limbs... when
carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe & his bowl... when eating, drinking,
chewing, & savouring... when urinating & defecating... when walking, standing,
sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, & remaining silent, he makes himself
fully alert.

In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or focused
externally... unsustained by anything in the world. This is how a monk remains
focused on the body in & of itself.

Hatha and Yantra Yoga

Hatha Yoga was followed by Natha Yogis and is traced to Shrimad Bhagwata Geeta, and
was practiced much before Buddha, tracing its origins to the Yoga-sutras written by
the sage Patañjali (from the 2nd century B.C.E.) and the Goraksha Samhita (written
in the 11th century by yogi Gorakshanath). The word 'hatha' in Sanskrit literally
means 'force', so Hatha Yoga is the “Discipline of Force”. It stresses mastery of
the body as a way of attaining a state of spiritual perfection in which the mind is
withdrawn from external objects.[3] The Buddha once related his experiences with a
Hatha Yoga-type breath-retention practice and found it had a great effect, but not
conducive to awakening:

...I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths in my nose & mouth. As I did so, there
was a loud roaring of winds coming out my earholes, just like the loud roar of
winds coming out of a smith's bellows... So I stopped the in-breaths & out-breaths
in my nose & mouth & ears. As I did so, extreme forces sliced through my head, just
as if a strong man were slicing my head open with a sharp sword... Extreme pains
arose in my head... There was an extreme burning in my body... And although
tireless persistence was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my
body was aroused & uncalm because of the painful exertion... But with this racking
practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any
distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another
path to Awakening?

The word hatha can also be seen as a combination of two separate "Bīja mantras" or
single syllables – "ha" representing the masculine or solar energy and "tha" as the
feminine or lunar energy. Thus Hatha Yoga is the practice of bringing balance to
the two opposing forces.[4] The first occurrence of the term 'hatha yoga' is in
fact found in the Buddhist Guhyasamāja tantra dating from the 8th century.[5]

Yantra yoga (or Trul khor) is the Tibetan Buddhist parallel to the Hindu or Vedic
Hatha yoga tradition. The discipline includes similar body postures (asanas) and
pranayama practices, and includes mantra practice and visualisations. Originating
with the mahasiddhas of India, it was brought to Tibet in the eighth century by the
great master Padmasambhava and transmitted to the Tibetan Dzogchen master
Vairochana. Its practice is nowadays found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Evolution into China and Japan

With the revival of Hinduism around the turn of the first millennium C.E. and the
Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent in the 12th century C.E., Buddhism began
to decline. However, yoga and Buddhism had already spread into neighbouring
countries, including Tibet and China to the north. At around 500 C.E., an Indian
monk called Bodhidharma arrived in southern China and taught practices centered on
physical health and wellbeing, meditation and the direct mind-to-mind transmission
teachings of the Lankavatara Sutra. According to Chinese legend, the physical
practices he taught monks to prepare them for meditation included a series of
external exercises called the Eighteen Arhat Hands (Shi-ba Lohan Shou)[6] and an
internal (energetic) practice called the Sinew Metamorphosis Classic.[7] The Yijin
Jing ("Muscle/Tendon Change Classic") is also attributed to Bodhidharma. As these
practices developed, they led to the creation of Shaolinquan school of Kung Fu.

As the Buddhism of Bodhidharma fused with the prevailing Chinese philosophies and
practices of Confucianism and Taoism, it became Ch’an (from Sanskrit dhyāna,
meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"). Over the centuries, Ch'an spread to
Japan where it become known as Zen, taking with it the rich combination of physical
and energetic practices known variously as yoga, Qigong, and Tao Yin.

Dating back to around the fourth century C.E., Yogācāra (literally "yoga practice")
is one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies Zen, and includes the
Lankavatara Sutra mentioned above. It contains a sophisticated psychology of
awakening and emphasises the practice of mindfulness. This mindfulness leads not to
an experience but to a total shift in the way we relate to all experiences. This
shift is referred to in the Yogācāra tradition as parāvṛtti, "turning around”.

Modern Zen yoga in Japan

Calligraphy brushed by Zen master Shinzan Miyamae Roshi, with the characters do-zen
There are three terms in contemporary Japan used to describe yoga-style movement
work: do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin), Zen taiso (literally Zen exercise), and Zen
yoga (first coined by Zen master Masahiro Oki). See below for more information.

In modern times, Zen masters Hogen Daido Roshi[8] and Harada Tangen Roshi,[9] in
particular, have advocated and taught yoga practices to complement their Zen
training. One student of Hogen Daido Roshi recalls that he constantly imparted the
importance of mixing moving Zen (do-zen) into Zen practice: "...there are four
kinds of Zen: sitting, standing, lying, and moving. We should practise them all.
Whatever we do, we must do it fully, mindfully, wholeheartedly, one thing at a time
without being attached to or involved in it. When we practise moving Zen, the
quality of our daily lives becomes very different.”[10]

In Zen, the inseparability of the "body-mind" is often stressed, together with the
need to retain our flexibility for life. Hogen Roshi taught that "By doing yoga and
zazen, we can begin to appreciate the real state of our body and mind, both of
which are stiff and unpeaceful. We should not hate them. Please, let them be as
they are. Taste their special bitter taste".[11]

Principles
Zen practice in general, and Zen Yoga in particular, emphasize three intertwined
areas – physical alignment, the flow of energy in the body and awareness or
mindfulness (Japanese “nen” 念).[12]

Alignment
Physical alignment is highly emphasised in Zen. The founder of the Soto Zen school,
Master Dōgen (d. 1253) wrote in his zazen (meditation) instructions:

First of all, we must sit with the spine erect, not leaning left nor right, forward
nor backward. The nose must be in a vertical line with the belly button and our
ears are to be in level with our shoulders.

By practising Zen yoga we therefore prepare the body for prolonged upright sitting.
Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki teaches that we must then carry this alignment out into
all activities of our daily life:

So try always to keep the right posture, not only when you practice zazen, but in
all your activities. Take the right posture when you are driving your car, and when
you are reading. If you read in a slumped position, you cannot stay awake long.
Try. You will discover how important it is to keep the right posture... The state
of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is itself enlightenment.[13]

Energy
One of the reasons why correct posture is so emphasised is because it powerfully
influences both our mind-state and our energy. Underlying Zen is a conception of
the human system as an energetic phenomenon. This energy or ki is seen as something
that can be enhanced or depleted. Moreover, the courses of energy flow are not
random but follow particular directions and routes called “myaku” (Jp.; or
meridians). This energy has two basic dimensions – one that influences our health,
wellbeing and emotional state, and one that takes us beyond any particular state to
a condition of non-dual awareness.[12]

We can characterise these two energetic dimensions as:

Problem-solving – boosting our health & wellbeing, making life better, and feeling
more alive.
The condition in which we realise that there was never a problem in the first
place.
Energy and consciousness are inextricably linked – when we change our energy, we
change our consciousness and vice versa.

One of the traditional Japanese names for yoga is do-in (from the Chinese Tao Yin),
which translates as “guiding and stretching”. Through the yoga practice we stretch
the body and energy routes, and guide the energy in beneficial directions.
Intention is ultimately the means through which this guiding happens. The
manifestation of intention may be through the breath, through imagery or simply
through focused attention.

Much modern yoga practice aims to open and energise our wellbeing energy circuits
(energy channels that operate in the world of opposites – left, right, back, front,
etc.) without touching on the non-dual areas. Although it is a worthwhile and noble
aspiration to attain optimal health and wellbeing, the practitioner nevertheless
remains in the world of duality – the world of this and that, of me and the
universe. Zen is emphatic that within this worldview there is no happy ending to
the story of life, no liberation from our fundamental suffering. However healthy
and emotionally balanced we are, we remain in a condition of separation, where the
Universe is seen as huge, threatening and ultimately indifferent.

This is just a worldview. It is possible to live in a place which is beyond this

duality, which is the main aim of Zen practice.

Awareness/mindfulness
The third aspect of Zen yoga is the application of awareness or mindfulness
(Japanese, "nen" 念). As mentioned above, the Buddha is recorded as saying, "There
is one thing that leads to happiness in the present and liberation in the future;
and what is this one thing? It is mindfulness of the body."

How do we find this happiness and liberation? Strangely enough it is through coming
face-to-face with our unhappiness and reactivity – in this case as they manifest in
the body. Makko-ho,[14] a traditional Japanese sequence of stretches, literally
means "the practice of facing things". These are a set of curative exercises
originally developed from temple prostration practice in the 1930s by the
pioneering Japanese yoga teacher, Nagai Wataru, then taken up and extended by
Shizuto Masunaga, populariser of shiatsu massage.[15]

The most important Zen master in the last 500 years, Hakuin Zenji had a saying that
"Buddhas are like water and ordinary people are like ice". In Zen yoga practice,
postures and movements are used to bring the body into focus so that we can notice
any tightnesses or restrictions. The student is then directed to bring their non-
judgemental attention to these blocked or closed areas, and it's this simple
awareness that causes the ice to begin to melt. All we need is an attitude of
curiosity and non-judgemental kindness.

Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi, teacher of Zen yoga, says that "rather than
causing our ice to melt into an inert puddle, this liberated water becomes more
like a fountain; it has shape, dynamism and energy but nevertheless there’s an
ungraspable quality."[12]

The Yogacara philosophy (one of the two main philosophical systems that underlies
Zen) emphasises that, as the individual begins to open and become more free,
flowing and dynamic, they come to inhabit a different world which takes on a
similar quality.
Practices/schools
Zen Taiso
As mentioned above, some Zen temples include a taiso (exercise) period somewhere
within their daily (or if not, retreat) schedule. Taiso practice routines differ
from popular modern yoga classes. Rather than focussing on “sun salutations”,
“warrior poses” and muscular flexibility, the quality of mindfulness and honing in
on releasing energy in the body’s meridian lines is deliberately emphasised.

According to the experience of one Zen monk who studied in a variety of

contemporary Japanese and Korean Zen monasteries, both monks and laity practice a
variety of yoga-like practices ranging from individual stretching (lunges, hip
releases, and chest openers) to temple-wide taiso routines held every morning.[16]
He recalls "These routines focussed on consciously and mindfully relaxing areas of
the body through stretching (in particular areas that needed extra care owing to
long hours of sitting). The practice also worked directly with the body as one’s
object of focus, and the corresponding awareness incorporated in the process, was
viewed as extremely powerful.” Ultimately, the time spend doing temple yoga, both
individually and as a group, was taught to be the ideal opportunity for attaining
awakening (kensho) through mindfulness of the body.

In Japan, if the temple holds formal taiso sessions, they would often be held at
the beginning of the day, say 4am each morning for 20-25 mins. See here for an
example. At Bukkoku-ji (where Tangen Harada was the Roshi – see above), they took
the form of a mixture of quick repetitive exercise (everyone counting together)
with poses held for longer times. These poses were incorporated to isolate openings
in for example, the stomach and spleen meridians for a back bend, the liver and
gall bladder meridians for a wide-legged side bend, and so on. They were integrated
with a specific purpose in mind and were to be done with awareness alongside
breathing in the hara (belly).[16]

Temple taiso routines, however, vary according to the temple and teacher. At the
Weoljeong-sa temple in South Korea, for example, the monks spend an hour or more
each morning doing taiso under the direction of the lead monk while on their 3-
month winter retreat.

Oki-do yoga
Oki-do yoga is a system originating with the Japanese teacher-healer-philosopher
Masahiro Oki. It is a unique blend of traditional Indian hatha yoga with Zen
meditation, dancing, physical games, martial arts, and chanting. The training
method emphasizes balance between opposites: tension and relaxation, heat and cold,
stillness and movement.[17]

Masahiro Oki is credited as the first person to use the term "zen yoga".

Zenways school

Daizan Roshi teaching a Zen yoga class at the ZenYoga studio in London
Zenways is an organisation set up by Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi in 2007
to promote and encourage activities and practices that enhance human wellbeing and
awakening (satori or kensho). Zenways offers a 200hr Zen yoga teacher training
course, together with meditation and mindfulness teacher training courses,
workshops, retreats, meditation classes, and opportunities for zen study.

Over the years of his Zen training, Daizan Roshi studied yoga-style physical
movement in Zen temples in Europe, USA and Japan. He synthesises his knowledge of
these disciplines into a Zen yoga practice that combines physical challenge with
mental and spiritual development. He teaches regularly at “Yugagyo Dojo” (ZenYoga),
a Zen training place he established with his students in London. With more than
5000 hours of yoga teaching experience, Daizan Roshi offers a yoga teacher training
programme to help teachers to find an expression that is authentically their own
and will bring them success when they teach.

Zen yoga with Aaron Hoopes

Yoga teacher Aaron Hoopes founded a style of yoga he called Zen Yoga as a variation
of traditional yoga that combines the different philosophies of various Eastern
health and fitness traditions. He created this form to increase accessibility to
people who are less athletic.[18] The philosophies of shanti yoga, qigong, and tai-
chi are combined to help increase flexibility, improve the flow of breathing, and
open joints. The philosophy of Zen is incorporated through being mindfully aware of
the present moment.[18] The basic principle of Zen Yoga is that simple breathing,
movement and stretching exercises are available to anyone regardless of age,
fitness, or health.[18]

Zen Yoga with Tatjana Mesar

Zen Yoga teacher and shiatsu therapist Tatjana Mesar created a contemporary fusion
of holistic asana flow, mindfulness meditation and applied anatomy and physiology
of postures, movement and breathing for the modern body. The central perspective of
her Dynamic Mindfulness Yoga School emerges from Buddhist philosophy, ethics and
methodology, specifically the Chan school of Buddhism.

Shosan Victoria Austin

Shosan Victoria Austin is a Soto Zen priest transmitted in the lineage of Shunryu
Suzuki Roshi. She began practicing Zen and yoga in 1971, and trained as a yoga
teacher in the 1980s to bring yoga to the Buddhist community in America. A senior
Iyengar yoga teacher, she emphasizes the faithful transmission of each discipline
using its own language and methods. In cross-disciplinary teaching, she emphasizes
teachings common to both traditions, such as bare attention; alignment of posture,
breathing and intention; universal and provisional truth; dedicating the daily
practice; and transformation of the causal body through applying universal moral
precepts and individual practices in daily life. Yoga and Zen

Zenyoga association
Non-profit organization dedicated to practice, study
headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia. The group goes back
founded by Zarko Andricevic,[19] Chan master and one
heirs of the late Chan master Shifu Sheng-yen, as an
Centre[20] in Zagreb.
and teaching of Zenyoga with
to the mid-seventies and was
of the five Western Dharma-
affiliate to Buddhist

Zenyoga, as taught by Zarko and other longtime teachers and mentors - Mira Punik,
Mirjana Halsey, Ela Vukelja and Karmen Mihalinec - is an extension of threefold
training within the Chan tradition of Buddhism - that is, it aims to bring the
body, breath and mind in order or harmony. It rests on the notion that "meditation
in movement" is a valuable companion to "meditation in stillness" of a more formal
Chan practice, especially practice of Silent Illumination[21] or mochao in Chinese
tradition.

Since 2003 Association runs a two-year teachers' training school consisting of over
650 contact hours, including a seven-day Chan meditation retreat. The school is
registered on 500 level with Yoga Alliance since 2005.[22]

Zenyoga is currently taught in a number of locations in Zagreb, in Pula, Rovinj,

Samobor, Krk Island, Rijeka and Split. International affiliates include groups in
Celje (Slovenia), Berlin (Germany) and Cape Cod (USA).[23]

References
Jones, Richard Gensho (May 2014). "Yoga Helped Me to Find the Buddha Way". The
Middle Way. 89 (1): 23.
Berzin, Alexander. "Indian Society and Thought before and at the Time of Buddha".
Retrieved 20 June 2016.
"Hatha Yoga". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
"Yoga Questions Answered". Yoga Journal. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
Berzin, Alexander. "What Is Guhyasamaja Practice?". Study Buddhism. Retrieved 20
June 2016.
Garfinkel, Perry (2006). Buddha or bust: in search of truth, meaning, happiness
and the man who found them all (1st ed.). New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 978-1-4000-
8217-9.
Kit, Wong Kiew (2002). The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for
Self-defense, Health and Enlightenment (1st ed.). Boston, Mass.: Tuttle. ISBN 0-
8048-3439-3.
http://www.openway.org.au/teachers.html#Hogen
http://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/TangenHarada.html
Daido Hogen Yamahata (2002). Shingan Francis Chauvet (ed.). Folhas caem, um novo
rebento [Falling Leaves, a Shooting Sprout]. Lisbon: Assirio & Alvim. p. 28.
Daido Hogen Yamahata (1986). K. Carne (ed.). The Other Shore. Oxford: Parchment
Press. p. 40.
Skinner, Julian Daizan (May 2014). "A View on Zen and Yoga". The Middle Way. 89
(1): 31.
Suzuki, Shunryu (2011). Zen mind, beginner's mind: [informal talks on Zen
meditation and practice] (New ed.). Boston: Shambhala. p. 10. ISBN 1590308492.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140904185349/http://www.zencenterofdenver.org/stretch
es_for_zazen.aspx
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/shiatsu.htm
Kane, Matt Shinkai (May 2014). "Expressions of Body-based Buddhist Practice in
East Asia". The Middle Way. 89 (1): 3.
http://www.okidoyoga.org.uk/
Hardach, Sophie (2008-02-25). "Zen Yoga founder adds Japanese twist to ancient
practice". Reuters News Agency. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Budisticki centar Zagreb". www.budisticki-centar.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Shikantaza and Silent Illumination". chancenter.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"School Profile | Yoga Alliance". www.yogaalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
"Zenyoga". zenyoga.hr. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
External links
The Zenways school
The ZenYoga studio in London
Zen Yoga Studio in Berlin, Germany
The Okido Yoga UK webpage
Zen Yoga Training Videos
Eight-Form Moving Meditation Video
Categories: ZenModern Denominational Yoga
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