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Rinzai
The Japanese Zen school associated with kōan training and dynamic interview with a teacher.
Rinzai Zen traces to the Chinese Linji line and was established in Japan by figures such as Eisai and later revitalized by Hakuin Ekaku. Practice typically combines zazen with systematic kōan curricula and intense dokusan (private interview).
Rinzai monasteries historically trained samurai elites as well as monastics. In the West, teachers in the Hakuin line and related temples (including some Midwestern and West Coast monasteries) continue kōan practice for lay and ordained students.
Practices
Kōan introspection
Working through cases such as Mu under a teacher’s examination.
Dokusan
Private interview that tests and guides the student’s insight.
Zen arts
Calligraphy, archery, and other forms historically linked with Rinzai culture.
Texts
The Gateless Gate (Mumonkan)
Wumen Huikai
Wild Ivy
Hakuin Ekaku
Autobiographical teachings of the Rinzai reformer.