Practice on your own
Begin with ten minutes in a stable chair or cushion posture. Keep the eyes softly open, let breath remain natural, and do not turn distraction into failure.
Study the zazen coursePractice in the Temple
Sitting is welcome. The Unborn is not produced by sitting.
Bankei did not prohibit zazen, but he did not encourage it as the necessary path to realization. Sit if sitting serves clarity. Stand, walk, work, and listen on the same ground.
One orientation
Practice recognition, not attainment.
The Temple holds both formal practice and Bankei’s warning against making a method absolute. The steps below are scaffolding, not a ladder that manufactures Buddha-mind.
01
Days 1–7
Hear what arrives
Three times a day, stop for one minute. Do not concentrate. Notice that sound is already arriving, already distinguished, before you intervene.
02
Days 8–14
Catch the trade
Notice the instant a passing thought becomes a position you must defend. Name the movement quietly: “trading.” Do not punish it or solve it.
03
Days 15–21
Leave spent thoughts spent
When a conversation or mistake begins replaying, ask whether the event is happening now. Let memory be memory rather than a room you have to re-enter.
04
Days 22–30
Carry no special state
Drop the idea that quiet is more spiritual than noise. Practice while emailing, washing a cup, disagreeing, walking, and waiting. Nothing is outside the Unborn.
A twenty-second experiment00:20
Let the world arrive.
Press start, then notice what is already being heard before you decide to listen.
Optional formal practice
Zazen without making zazen the gate.
Sit upright in a stable posture on a cushion, bench, or chair. Let the hands rest. Keep the eyes softly open. Do not force the breath and do not try to eliminate thought.
Ten or twenty minutes is enough to begin. When sounds arrive, notice they are heard without effort. When thoughts arise, do not chase or suppress them. When the period ends, stand up without imagining that practice has ended.
This is offered as a form for stillness, not as a requirement, achievement system, or claim that seated meditation has privileged access to the Unborn.
Temple teacher
Sam serves as the Dharma Teacher.
The teacher serves the Temple and the Dharma, not the other way around. Sam’s role is to offer instruction, conversation, and context without positioning himself as the source or owner of the Unborn.
Practice can include discussion of Bankei, zazen, the wider Zen teachings, and the conditions of ordinary life. No prior Zen experience is required.
- Approach
- Direct, conversational, grounded in the teachings
- Setting
- Individual conversation and small-group inquiry, generally available Saturdays by arrangement
- Ground
- The Unborn within the wider Zen tradition
Contact the Temple
Ask about teaching or practice.
Messages are received by Sam in his role as Dharma Teacher. While the Temple sender domain is being verified, write directly by email. Mention Saturday if you would like to arrange a conversation or optional sitting.
Direct email
templeofallmankind@gmail.com
A short note is enough; no spiritual vocabulary is required.