Veterans, PTSD, and Meditation

Veterans, PTSD, and Meditation
The Benefits of Meditation
Instructions for Zen Meditation
Zen Silent Illumination Meditation
About the Author and Zen Lineage
Sources

Veterans, PTSD, and Meditation

First and foremost it is important to establish the reason for offering Zen meditation for veterans. The Pew Research Center shows that in the U.S. alone there are 18 million veterans today, which is 6% of the nation’s adult population.

Various studies show that from at least 13 to about 30 percent of troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan may be screened positive for Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Rough estimates conclude that over half a million U.S. troops have been diagnosed with PTSD. About four out of five will not receive adequate care. Half will receive no care at all.

Untreated PTSD has been shown to put veterans at risk for alcoholism and drug abuse, severe depression, anxiety, and emotional numbness, family and employment problems, and suicide. We lose about 6,500 vets to suicide every year.

The Mayo Clinic describes Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a mental health condition caused by witnessing or being part of an extremely stressful or fear-inducing event. Symptoms may begin soon after the event or years afterward, and they can occur throughout one’s life. Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts.

Other common symptoms of PTSD are anxiety, fear, feelings of being unsafe, and the experience of a constant state of fight-or-flight. Fight-or-flight is the body’s response to trauma originally caused by stressful, frightening, or dangerous events. When the body perceives itself to be unsafe, it releases hormones to make the body ready to stay and fight or run away and escape from the danger.

Anger is another common symptom of PTSD, which may lead to hypervigilance, irritability, negative memories and thoughts, insomnia, and compounded anxiety and depression. Anger can be directed inward at the self or outward toward others, manifesting as hostility or avoidance. The attempt to suppress it or hide it from others can lead to self-destructive behavior.

Anger is not always bad, and is classified into two types: constructive anger and destructive anger. Constructive anger can be healing and help with recovery. Negative emotions can be channeled into positive actions. This type of anger is manageable. Destructive anger, on the other hand, is impulsive and unmanageable, creating more problems in life and increasing stress.

Anger management courses and support groups for PTSD can help veterans understand they are not alone and learn how to cope with painful and negative emotions. Psychotherapy such as cognitive behavior therapy is recommended for processing trauma and managing the symptoms of PTSD.

Zen meditation (also known as Zazen, shikantaza, Silent Illumination, or mindfulness) is one practice normally suggested when aiming to ease psychological pain and stress.

For some, Zen meditation may be a means to relax, to find moments of tranquility and help to settle or clear the mind. However, this is not necessarily everyone’s experience, because meditation can bring up challenging memories, emotions and ideas. For people suffering from PTSD, it might be helpful to have some professional or spiritual guidance through some of the experiences brought up during sitting meditation.

The usefulness of Zen meditation, such as helping to manage impulses, fear, anger and thoughts, has its roots in Buddhist service to all beings. The health benefits of Silent Illumination are not really the essential reason for stilling the mind in silence and being mindful in the here and now. The practical uses of focused awareness or expanded consciousness are not the main purposes of meditation, either. While these benefits are normally most welcome, they do not necessarily come quickly or easily.

Zazen is traditionally a way to unify the mind, to cultivate wisdom and compassion, and to strengthen awareness with enlightenment experiences. Yet, these are all goals, and Zen masters like to remind students not to become attached to any such desired results.

The state of being in Silent Illumination is an end in itself. The only way to understand this is to experience it firsthand. Find a teacher and take twenty minutes, or whatever is best for you, to sit in meditation every day. A Zen teacher will discourage everyone from practicing meditation attached to any expectations of its possible rewards. However, the many scientific studies on meditation do recommend it for its health benefits and therapeutic effects.

The Benefits of Meditation

Meditation, alone, is not enough to address muscle injuries, fatigue, burn-out, or any number of medical issues. Proper treatment must be sought with the advice of a licenced physician or therapist. Meditation is not a replacement for therapy or medical treatment. It is not a panacea and not a cure for PTSD. However, meditation offers some important benefits, described in the Science Abbey article Scientific Mindfulness Meditation:

“Scientific studies over the last sixty years have revealed many benefits of meditation, including pain reduction, increased immunity, improved memory, creativity and focus. Meditation decreases inflammation, depression, anxiety and stress. Meditation can boost confidence, aid emotional regulation and promote social connection.

“Meditation causes certain short-term changes to the brain, including enhanced physical discipline, tolerance for discomfort, relaxation, concentration, and emotional intelligence. Diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI, has shown that meditation also causes long-term changes in the brain, with effects throughout the whole brain. Meditation strengthens connections between the regions of the brain and slows brain atrophy caused by natural aging.

“Modern science has shown that meditation can induce feelings of comfort and bliss, and make one more aware of oneself and the environment, as well as benefit emotional well-being and mental health in general.

“Scientific studies show that a vision of the universe as a oneness is not just good for the observer; it is objectively valuable to society. Furthermore, scientific evidence supports this enlightened view of the universe as fact. Highly respected scientists have developed cosmological theories based on the evidence.”

Another positive outcome of meditation is combating pharmaceutical dependency. Many veterans rely heavily on prescription medication, which often leads to damaging long term health consequences. While Europe is experiencing a large preventable health burden, its drug problem pales in comparison to America’s opioid epidemic.

Addiction and overdose pose real threats, so investment in research for alternative treatments has finally become a top priority for the U.S. government. In 2016 the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) came into law, allocating federal resources into a number of evidence-based recovery programs for veterans with chronic pain and PTSD. The Whole Health approach includes therapies like yoga, tai chi and meditation.

These modalities cultivate mindfulness, which can be practiced anywhere at any time. Mindfulness penetrates and transcends the emotions and thoughts of the daily grind, evoking a larger perspective on life. Relieving stress, anxiety and depression, mindfulness can promote self awareness, improve sleep, and boost mental and physical health.

Mindfulness operates on a much larger scale than the practicing individual and local meditation group. Meditation programs have been adopted by Olympic trainers, professional athletes, Fortune 100 corporations and successful CEOs, the U.S. Army and Marines, the British Parliament and other national governing bodies, and the United Nations.

The benefits of meditation and mindfulness, such as deep healing and the effective management of emotions for greater awareness, have helped improve government affairs and policy making. Mindfulness contributes to the well-being of those who practice it; and those significant material benefits do carry over to the world at large.

For those interested in a detailed written explanation of Zen Silent Illumination meditation, one is offered below. However, it is quick and easy to learn the meditation just by following the short video shared here. Information about the author and Zen lineage is provided at the end of this article.

Preparing for Zen Meditation

The first thing to understand when thinking about Zen, writing about Zen, teaching Zen, or discussing Zen, is that Zen cannot be understood through such conceptual endeavors. You cannot learn Zen by reading this article or listening to a podcast. Zen must be experienced directly, first-hand. Zazen, Zen sitting meditation, is the central practice of the Soto Zen lineage and is unique among the various forms of meditation as it is traditionally practiced as an end in itself.

Kodo Sawaki Roshi, one of the most respected Zen masters and a veteran of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), famously stated that “Zazen is good for absolutely nothing.” This expression means that Zazen is not a tool for achieving some kind of external result or reward. Zazen is simply a way of being. The thirteenth century founder of Japanese Soto Zen, Dogen Zenji, taught that Zazen serves no purpose outside of itself; it is both practice and experience, complete in and of itself.

Sawaki’s student Gudo Wafu Nishijima Roshi, an early Zen advocate of skepticism, critical thinking and science, held that Zazen is not undertaken to achieve any goal or special state of mind. He also felt that Zazen was a kind of medicine and he recognized its many benefits. Nishijima Roshi quipped in A Heart to Heart Chat on Buddhism with Master Gudo (Jundo Cohen trans. 2015) that another way to explain Zazen like Sawaki Roshi is to say, “Everything can come of Zazen!”

Zen meditation, or mindfulness, is done sitting, standing, walking, and going through one’s daily activities. One remains calm, passively mindful, fully aware in the present moment, and the whole mind becomes unified in that awareness. With insight, the mind loses the illusion of the sense of self, and realizes that all mental forms are empty, all things impermanent.

For a good foundation one should establish a proper sleep schedule, cultivate a healthy diet, stay hydrated, maintain regular hygiene and vaccinations, get enough exercise and take walks in nature. It is helpful to live ethically and never stop learning.

Shoken Winecoff Roshi, founder and abbott of Ryumonji monastery in Iowa, teaches that “the whole world is the monastery.” Silent Illumination is central to the mindful life, but living well involves much more than just meditation, it encompasses everything we do day to day.

A quiet, still, peaceful environment is conducive to a quiet, still, peaceful mind. If possible, use a quiet room, one that contains only natural colors, one that is uncluttered, and preferably remains at a comfortable temperature. Although such arrangements are technically unnecessary, they are advantageous and advisable.

Zen practitioners make themselves more comfortable, but not lavishly so, with a mat and a small, round pillow called a zafu. A chair may also be used. Meditation traditions generally recommend wearing loose-fitting clothes and adjusting them to accommodate for long periods of sitting. Beginners may sit for ten or fifteen minutes once, one to three times every day, eventually increasing the time to half an hour or more.

Beginning Meditation

The practice of Japanese Soto Zen requires deportment and dignified manners, especially for lay practitioners in the Zendo (meditation hall), and for monks at all times. Holding the open palms of the hands together so the fingertips are at the level of the nose is called gassho, a symbol of prayer also used in greetings, farewells, apologies, or in gratitude.

Soto Zen practitioners begin meditation by standing facing the wall and bowing at the waist in gassho, then turn clockwise and bow facing away from the wall. This is a formal way of bowing to those who sit with you, as a symbol of respect, and it is also done ritualistically in solo practice.

Sit on a zafu, a small round pillow, which rests on a cushion called a zabuton, and turn clockwise to meditate facing the wall. It is also permissible to use a chair for health reasons or comfort. The beginning of the meditation period is marked by hitting a bell three times. Gassho and begin. If you need to adjust or change position due to excessive pain, gassho before and after moving.

The twelfth century founder of Soto Zen in Japan, Dogen Zengi, warned that meditation cannot truly be learned from a book, but that Buddhist instruction must be passed directly from Zen master to student, face to face. However, he did leave behind written instructions.

Dogen’s Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen (Fukan zazengi) instructs the meditator to find a place to sit, put down a thick mat and place a cushion over it. Tidy these with your hands. Sit in the half-lotus or full-lotus position with your left foot on top of your right thigh. Wear loose clothing, preferably robes, and arrange your attire neatly.

Kodo Sawaki, 1920, Antai-ji (Hyogo, Japan) archives
War veteran, professor, and monk

Sitting Posture

There are four traditional ways to sit for meditation that are comfortable for most people. Sitting on a cushion really helps. During meditation, if you get too uncomfortable, you can change from one position to another. As you practice you will be able to sit still much longer. Every individual has different needs. Medical considerations should be taken seriously.

Yogic and Buddhist postures are usually safe, but one must use moderation and be careful to avoid over-strenuous positions. An advanced yogic posture is the full lotus, where both heels rest on the opposite leg. The half lotus position is like the full lotus, but the right leg rests completely on top of the left. Knees should both touch the ground for stability. The Burmese position is similar, but the legs are not crossed, and the feet rest on the floor.

A simple position, known in Japan as “seiza,” is to fold your legs at the knees and sit on your heels, but put a cushion over your heels. Hands in this posture are usually placed palm down with fingers together on the thighs, or they are placed in the lap. Maybe the most natural posture today is to sit up straight in a chair, resting one’s hands on the knees or in the lap.

This is key – you must keep a very straight spine. Imagine you are balancing a teacup on the crown of your head. The shoulders are relaxed and the chin is slightly tucked in. Imagine a line running vertically through the center of the earth, your spine, the crown of your head and up into the sky. This may not feel natural at first, but eventually you will grow into it.

Hands, Gaze, and Breath

Religions of Indian origin have developed many hand gestures over the course of time to use during meditation. A hand gesture is called a mudra. In yogic meditation one may keep the hands open with the palms facing up, resting on the knees, or touch the tip of the index finger with the tip of the thumb of each hand.

Chinese Chan practitioners have traditionally rested their thumbs upon their fingers and sat in meditation facing away from the wall. Japanese Zen practitioners arch their thumbs above the fingers, cradling the left fingers in the right fingers, forming a circle with the digits, and sit facing a wall.

Rest your right hand on your left foot or leg and place your left hand in your right hand, touching the tips of the thumbs, in the Cosmic Mudra. Sit up straight, ears aligned with shoulders, nose aligned with navel, and avoid leaning in any direction. Keep your lips shut and teeth together, resting the tip of your tongue on the front of the roof of your mouth.

The eyes remain about one-third of the way open and gaze slightly downward at about a forty-five degree angle. Although some forms of meditation practices may begin with attention focused on a visual aid, as a locus for concentration, just as some methods focus on the breath or visualization, in Silent Illumination meditation the eyes do not settle on any object.

Keep your eyes open (about ⅓ of the way) looking past the tip of your nose and breathe softly through your nostrils. Breathe from the diaphragm (especially the hara, the center of gravity below the naval). One may begin with three breaths through the mouth.

Breathing should be soft, quiet, natural and through the nostrils. When the mind wanders in meditation, practice breathing from your center of gravity, about two to three inches below the navel, known as the hara or the one-point. There is no need to keep the mind on the breath.

Deep breathing will assist your posture, making you conscious of the tilt of your pelvis and lumbar region, and it will become natural with repetition. Notice the breath as it passes through your nostrils. A single deep breath, exhaling through the mouth, is a good way to calm the nerves and stimulate the mind.

If one needs stimulation during meditation it is suggested that one put one’s mind in the palm of the left hand. The mind may also be concentrated between the eyes or on the crown of the head. One may also rock the body, widen the eyes, and take a couple of hard breaths through the mouth.

If the mind is disturbed, focus on the hara, the palm, the third-eye, or the tip of the nose. One may count or observe the breaths, or concentrate on a koan, a short enigmatic anecdote from ancient records, usually involving Chinese Zen monks. These techniques are only used to settle and focus the mind and are not essential to Soto zazen.

Origins of Silent Illumination

Meditation is defined as a focusing of awareness, confining the attention to a single thing, bringing the mind to a state of tranquility and clarity. There are many kinds of meditation developed all over the world for various purposes.

The first form of meditation in this world arose in India. From the Science Abbey article, “The First Meditators: Indian Yoga”:

The earliest form of meditation in recorded history was Indian yogic meditation, which is depicted in Indus Valley Civilization art as early as 2,500 BCE. The Pashupati seal found at the Mohenjo-daro archeological site shows a horned god or yogi meditating surrounded by animals.

The earliest references to meditation originated with the Hindu Vedas of India, as in the oldest Indo-European literary and philosophical landmark in the world, the Rig Veda, which gives us the well-known Gayatri mantra (3.62.10): “Let us meditate on the excellent glory of the divine sun/light; may he enlighten our understanding.”

Formal meditation systems developed with the writers of the Hindu Upanishads, by the Jains and Buddhists in India, and the Chinese Daoists and Confucians in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. The type of meditation I practice came originally from a great Chinese monastic lineage called the Caodong School of Chan Buddhism.

The founder of Chan, the Chinese origin of Japanese Zen, was the legendary sixth-century Bodhidharma. He was an Indian Buddhist monk who by tradition settled in China at the Shaolin Temple. He is said to have introduced green tea to China, invented the martial art of kung fu, and founded Zen Buddhism.

The practice was transmitted to Japan in the thirteenth century and came to America one hundred years ago through Japanese teachers. This meditation is called Zazen, or “sitting meditation,” which unites the mind, returning it to its original face, naturally whole and undivided. For one thousand years it has been known in my lineage as Silent Illumination.

The Mind of Silent Illumination

Silent Illumination is objectless meditation where the mind is like an empty field. This is different from visualization or one-pointed concentration, which create or focus on mental objects. In fact, these three forms of meditation may each be found in symbolic alchemy, Indian yoga, Chinese Daoism, Jewish mysticism, Christian prayer and other systems.

Of course, Silent Illumination meditation does not aim to rest the attention within the senses or the imagination, and is in fact described as a “sloughing off of body-mind.” Illumination is not a meditation practice with stages to enlightenment, but a ritual enactment embodying the awakened self. It is the central practice of a life of composure and comportment.

Mindfulness, just alert observation, is not philosophical contemplation or just part of a monastic religious ritual. Japanese Soto Zen founder Eihei Dogen taught that sitting or acting with mindfulness is both practice and enlightenment at once. Awakening experiences come and go. Just sit.

The bell is hit once to signal the end of the meditation. Bow facing the wall in recognition of ending the meditation period. Turn clockwise and stand facing away from the wall. Turn clockwise to face the wall and adjust your zafu to its regular shape. Stand, bow to the wall, and then turn clockwise again to bow to those in the room, or in solo practice, bow to the cosmos.

After meditation, one may stretch, rub the eyes or massage the body. Kinhin, or slow walking meditation, is recommended. Kinhin is a natural complement to sitting meditation. It is usually practiced for ten minutes after or between meditation periods. It is suggested that one moves slowly directly following meditation and maintains one’s settled state of mind as much as possible throughout the day.

Walking Meditation (Kinhin)

The hands are held at the height of the solar plexus, shoulders relaxed, forearms parallel to the ground. The left hand makes a fist with the thumb within the fingers. The right hand is open, palm covering the back of the left hand, with the thumb resting on top. When palms are facing the chest, this position is called shashu.

The eyes look down at a forty-five degree angle. Walk clockwise around the room. Each foot steps only until the heel reaches as far as the midfoot of the other foot. Each step takes one full cycle of breath. Walk clockwise in a circle. The attitude of Kinhin reflects the reality that in the midst of intentionally walking this path there is no goal, no finish line, and no result. It is just walking.

Non-Thinking

To Dogen, there was no difference between practice of shikantaza and enlightenment; when done properly, there is only a “oneness of practice-enlightenment.” Shikantaza is not a means to an end; it is “the body and mind both dropping off” to reveal a Buddha.

Keizan Zenji (1268-1325), an heir of Dogen’s lineage, is considered to be the second founder of the Soto Zen school. Keizan’s Instructions on How to Do Pure Meditation (Zazenyojinki) calls this enlightenment (illumination or awakening) “Buddha Nature,” “Original Nature,” and one’s “Original Face.”

One of Dogen’s most referenced stories involves the Tang dynasty Chan monk Yaoshan Weiyan (Japanese: Yakusan Igen). The story appears in the “Zazen Shin” chapter of his Shobogenzo:

The master was sitting and a monk asked him, “What are you thinking of, sitting there, still as a mountain?”

The master answered, “I am thinking of not thinking” (That is, he was not deliberately thinking about anything, although he may have had thoughts.)

The monk then asked, “How can you think of not thinking?” (In other words, how can one not deliberately think about anything?)

The master answered, “Non-thinking.”

The master’s point is that what the master is thinking about is not the point. This is not really thinking about non-thinking at all – it is not thinking – it is just gently controlled awareness. Non-thinking does not mean that it is without intent, concentration, or mindfulness.

Thoughts and feelings naturally enter and pass out of the open field of observation; as Shohaku Okumura Roshi says in his zazen instruction, like clouds in the sky. Volition and concentration are united and held just enough to maintain consciousness and attention. Normal waking consciousness is between unconsciousness and higher consciousness. To fall asleep, we pretend to be asleep: to be awakened, we pretend to be awakened.

Dogen penned the Fukanzazengi, or Universally Recommended Instructions for Meditation. The Fukanzazengi says, “Concentrating single-mindedly is practicing the Way wholeheartedly. Thus your practice and realization are undefiled and manifested in your daily life.” We sit in Illumination meditation, not to achieve anything, but because it is the ultimate function of the awakened mind.

Dogen’s meditation, shikantaza, is sustained nonattachment. It may be described as simply sitting and being aware. Hold the attention steady like a sentry, not focusing on any particular object of the senses, just observing. When the mind wanders, bring it back to alertness with mindfulness of body and breath.

Ancient Chinese monks discussed how emotions and thoughts rise and vanish in the empty field of consciousness like clouds come and go within the empty sky.

Daowu: What is the essential meaning of the way of enlightenment?

Shitou: No gaining, no knowing.

Daowu: Can you say anything further?

Shitou: The expansive sky does not obstruct the floating white clouds.

– Eihei Dogen, Soto Zen School Founder, “Shinji,” Shobogenzo, 1253

While the monastery or any other Zen dojo is specifically designed to practice enlightenment, one can cultivate mindfulness during every activity in daily life. Zen is just taking care of practical affairs with mindfulness. It is a kind of uniting of heaven and earth; simply being one’s true self, going beyond dualities, realizing oneness, and possibly cultivating some inner peace and tranquility.

The whole world is our “monastery without walls,” or “temple not built with hands.”

As a final thought, it is important to reiterate that with all of the benefits of Zen meditation, whatever purposes it may seem to serve, the meditation itself is goalless. This natural and complete state of being cannot be understood by reading, thinking, or talking about it. Zazen is free, it needs no accessories, and it can be practiced every day just about anywhere. The key to it all is just to sit.

Author with Bodhidharma, founder of Zen, the Shaolin Temple, Henan Province, China, 2006

About the Author and Zen Lineage

Coming from a family with a military background, though not a veteran, I have been physically active my entire life. From regionally competitive sports as a child, to working as a personal trainer at Gold’s Gym in my early college days, utilizing neuro-muscular stretching and therapeutic massage, I have practiced specific yoga, tai chi, meditation and relaxation techniques for over thirty years.

Born and raised in Iowa, my whole life I’ve been influenced by family, friends and colleagues who were veterans. Like many Americans, a good number of folks on both sides of my family were combat veterans. My father and his father were both soldiers in the U.S. Army. My father was in special forces in Korea under U.N. auspices. My grandfather served on the front lines in WWII. A good number of great-uncles and even a great-aunt served, as well.

My grandfather and my uncle, a Naval radio operator in Vietnam, both suffered from alcoholism due to PTSD, which did lasting injury to their health and families. My father’s experiences at the border between North and South Korea left him with a sense of trauma that was left unresolved until cancer ended his life. Due to that he discouraged me, unfortunately, from joining the military. So I am personally familiar with some of the consequences of PTSD.

I was encouraged from a young age to do exercise and meditation. I have practiced hatha yoga, taijiquan (Tai Chi), Zen meditation, and Buddhist Qigong for several decades. I studied, practiced, and compared various types of meditation as a Freemason in Washington, D.C. and librarian and curator, or director of collections, at the Masonic Memorial to George Washington in Alexandria, Virginia.

My mother lodge, where I was an officer, the Lodge of the Nine Muses, No. 1776, was the smallest in the District. It is the lodge formed by a nucleus of Pastmasters from Brother George Washington’s lodge in Alexandria. My research for the lodge centered on the Western esoteric tradition, which has strong ties with Eastern spiritually. We practiced a short silent meditation following the Pledge of Allegiance before we started each meeting.

As a Masonic librarian I was mentored at the House of the Temple in Washington; and I have fond memories of the Brothers at Freemasons Hall in London, where my Masonic and Kabbalah mentor Kirk MacNulty brought me to attend a number of lodge meetings. I became a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason in Alexandria and joined the Order of the Eastern Star in the District with my wife before our child was born.

I learned Zen meditation once for the first time from a visiting Japanese monk in Iowa City in the early 1990s. In 2024 I was ordained as a Zen Buddhist layperson by a South Korean Zen monk, Pohwa Sunim, along the shores of the Potomac in Alexandria.

Over the years I have practiced with Chinese Chan monks and laypeople in Singapore and Indonesia, visiting monasteries both in the city and in the mountains. As a traveling man, I have also had the fortune of visiting historic Buddhist temples in the countries of Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand.

After thirty years of practice and research, it seems evident that the absolute quintessential meditation is known as mindfulness, or in Zen parlance, Silent Illumination. This most basic and simple state of being is exemplified in shikantaza, or “just sitting,” the central practice of Japanese Zen Buddhism, especially the Soto School.

I spent several years training daily for the Soto Zen priesthood and may ordain sometime in the future. My teacher was a second generation American Zen monk named Reverend Dainei Appelbaum, who served as the guiding teacher of the Iowa City Zen Center (ICZC) before she passed in 2022. Currently living in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia on the island of Java, I am the author of the Science Abbey website.

Dainei Sensei’s teacher, Rev. Shoken Winecoff Roshi, with whom I’ve trained just a little, is a first generation American monk. He is the founder and abbot of Ryumonji, the Dragon Gate monastery, in northern Iowa. Ryumonji is part of the Dainin Katagiri Roshi (1928-1990) legacy and is considered to be the most authentic Japanese style Soto Zen training monastery outside of Japan.

Shoken Roshi’s Japanese teacher, Katagiri Roshi, worked closely with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi to help build the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the first Zen monastery in the United States. After working to establish the monastery, founded 1966, in San Francisco, Katagiri Roshi founded the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in 1972.

In 2022 Shoken Roshi traveled to California to join the celebration of the first hundred years of Zen in America, centered around Zenshuji, the Sōtō Zen Mission of Los Angeles established 1922. In 2024 I took a holiday in San Francisco and visited Shunryu Suzuki’s famous Zen Center. The building was under renovation, so I enjoyed sitting Zazen with the sangha, or congregation, in a church across the street.

The current guiding teacher of the Iowa City Zen Center, Rev. Daiken Nelson Roshi, is a Zen priest with his own Zen center in Harlem, New York. His lineage, the Yasutani-Maezumi-Glassman lineage, is Soto School, but incorporates elements of Rinzai, the sect associated with the ancient samurai warriors of Japan.

Rev. Daiken is founder of Mandala Café, a Harlem-based non-profit dedicated to providing fellowship, free meals, and job training to those in need. The Iowa City Zen Center is a friend of Agape Café, which serves a free weekly breakfast.

Check out my travel blog, Temples Along the Way, where I share my journeys to inspirational temples and meaningful sacred places around the world.

I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the Iowa City Zen Center Board of Directors for years of inspiration, fellowship and guidance. A special thanks is due to Geoffrey Lauer, President of the ICZC Board of Directors, who offered vital insights contributing to the focus and main ideas of this article. Thanks to my friend Dale E. Parrish for shedding light on PTSD and for getting this project started in the first place. Any errors or omissions in this article are my own.

Disclaimer: This article is not officially endorsed by any Zen teacher or center.

Although currently serving as a member of the Iowa City Zen Center Board of Directors, and having trained for priesthood remotely with Rev. Dainei Sensei for a number of years, the author has not been ordained as a priest. He has not received any formal authority to present himself as a qualified Zen teacher. The author is a lay person who practices the American Soto Zen style of Silent Illumination meditation and wishes to share it with others.

Downloadable and printable PDF version of Basic Instructions for Zen Meditation (2 pages)

Zen Meditation Basic Instructions Download

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