In this, my first post on this blog, I would like to introduce an article I published in 2012 the medical journal, Explore. I based the title of the article on an old Zen saying: “You cannot wash off blood with blood”, which is generally taken to mean that it is difficult to control one’s thoughts with other thoughts. I took the subtitle from another old Zen saying: “Enter the mind through the body”. This suggests that the way to control thoughts is with the body. I wrote the article, in part, because I believed then (and still believe now) that much of the literature in on meditation in medical and psychological fields was paying scant attention to the physical dimensions —specifically breathing and posture– as practiced in the tradition of Zen in which I train. The article, then, is a position paper on the importance of physicality in Zen and in it I articulated techniques and concepts—zazen, hara, samadhi, the three nens–on which I will be expanding in future posts how they relate to healing.
Ken Kushner
Kushner Setsuzan Kushner is a clinical psychologist and Zen priest in the Chozen-ji lineage. He has practiced and taught in family medicine residencies for almost 4 decades and is currently a Professor in the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Family of Medicine.
Kushner Roshi founded the the International ZenDojo/Chozen-ji Betsuin of Wisconsin in 1982 and is the Head Priest of the Madison Dojo. In addition to teaching Zen, he holds the rank of Kyoshi in the Chozen-ji School of Kyudo. He is the author of One Arrow, One Life: Zen, Archery and Enlightenment (Arkana) and is co-author of Zen Kyudo. Kushner Roshi oversees Kyudo training in both Madison and the Spring Green Dojo. He is particularly interested in introducing the concept of hara to people in the healing arts.