[Buddha-l] Hua-t'ou meditation

[Stuart Lachs]

Dear colleagues,


I have a new paper, “Hua-t’ou: A Method of Zen Meditation.” 

The paper discusses a form of meditation practice known in Chinese as hua-
t’ou. It was popularized by the Chinese Zen master Ta-Hui (1089 – 1163) a
member of the Lin-Chi sect of Zen.
 

In particular, the paper discusses what a hua-t’ou is, why Ta-Hui placed so
much importance on it, why this practice could be of interest to at least some
people today, give examples of well known hua-t’ou, offer one way to practice
this method, describe some states of mind that may arise when doing the
practice, offer some personal experience from my own long years of practicing
the hua-t’ou, and discuss what it means to have a Zen awakening. In conclusion,
I offer cautions related to having an awakening experience and the
importance of continuing practice thereafter.


The paper is available on the internet at,

http://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/forskning/nettverk/obsf/podcast/2012/docs/LachsZen_2012_03_16.pdf.


Stuart Lachs