Introduction to Zen Training

Introduction to Zen Training is a translation of the Sanzen Nyumon, a foundational text for beginning meditation students by Omori Sogen—one of the foremost Zen teachers of the twentieth century.

This book addresses many of the questions which arise when someone first embarks on a journey of Zen meditation—ranging from how long to sit at one time to how to remain mindful when not sitting—and it concludes with commentaries on two other fundamental Zen texts, Zazen Wasen (The Song of Meditation) and the Ox-Herding Pictures.

Written to provide a solid grounding in the physical nature of Zen meditation training, this text delves into topics such as:
Breathing
Pain
Posture
Physiology
Drowsiness
How to find the right teacher
The differences between the two main Japanese schools of Zen: Soto and Rinzai Zen
As a master swordsman, Omori Sogen's approach to Zen is direct, physical, and informed by the rigorous tradition of Zen and the martial arts that flourished during Japan's samurai era. For him, the real aim of Zen is nothing short of Enlightenment—and Introduction to Zen Training is a roadmap in which he deals as adeptly with hundreds of years of Zen scholarship as he does with the mundane practicalities of meditation.

Sogen prescribes a level of rigor and intensity in spiritual training that goes far beyond wellness and relaxation, and that is rarely encountered. His is a kind of spiritual warriorship he felt was direly needed in the middle of the twentieth century and that is no less necessary today.

With a new foreword from Daihonzan Chozen-ji, the headquarters Zen temple established by Omori Sogen in Hawaii, this book is an essential text for every student of Zen meditation.