View source for Kenshō

{{Short description|Seeing one's "true nature" as inherently empty of a personal self}}
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'''Kenshō''' ([[Romanization of Japanese|Rōmaji]]; [[Japanese language|Japanese]] and [[classical Chinese]]: 見性, [[Pinyin]]: ''jianxing'', [[Sanskrit]]: dṛṣṭi-[[Svabhava|svabhāva]]) is an [[East Asian Buddhism|East Asian Buddhist]] term from the [[Zen|Chan / Zen tradition]] which means "seeing" or "perceiving" ([[wikt:見|見]]) "nature" or "essence" ([[wikt:性|性]]),{{sfn|Kapleau|1989}}{{sfn|Hori|2000|p=287}}{{refn|group=note|{{CJKV|j=見性|t=見性|l=see [one's] [[Buddha-nature|nature]]{{sfn|Baroni|2002|p=188}}{{sfn|Hori|2000|p=287}}{{sfn|Fowler|2005|p=115}}}}}} or 'true face'.<ref group=web name="Goodson"/><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Huineng |title=The Sutra of Hui-neng, grand master of Zen: with Hui-neng's commentary on the Diamond Sutra |last2=Cleary |first2=Thomas F. |date=1998 |publisher=Shambhala; Distributed in the U.S. by Random House |isbn=978-1-57062-348-6 |edition=1st |series=Shambhala dragon editions |location=Boston : [New York]}}</ref>{{page?|date=June 2024}} It is usually translated as "seeing one's [true] nature," with "nature" referring to [[buddha-nature]], [[Two truths doctrine|ultimate reality]], the [[Dharmadhatu]]. The term appears in one of the classic slogans which define Chan Buddhism: to see oneʼs own nature and accomplish [[Buddhahood]] (見性成佛).

Kenshō is an ''initial'' insight or [[sudden awakening]], not full Buddhahood.{{sfn|Sekida|1985|p=226}} It is to be followed by further training which deepens this insight, allows one to learn to express it in daily life and gradually removes the remaining [[Kleshas (Buddhism)|defilements]].{{sfn|Sekida|1996}}{{sfn|Yen|1996|p=54}}{{sfn|Kraft|1997|p=91}}

The Japanese term kenshō is often used interchangeably with [[satori]], which is derived from the verb [[satoru]],{{sfn|Suzuki|1994a|p=88}} and means "comprehension; understanding".<ref group=web>[http://jisho.org/words?jap=&eng=satori&dict=edict Denshi Jisho – Online Japanese dictionary]</ref>{{refn|group=note|According to Fischer-Schreiber, ''kenshō'' and ''[[satori]]'' are nearly synonymous, with a customary distinction of using ''kenshō'' for an initial enlightenment experience that still requires deepening, and ''satori'' for the [[Buddhahood]] enlightenment of a Buddha or Zen patriarch.{{sfn|Fischer-Schreiber|Ehrhard|Diener|1991|p=115}} Hakuin uses the word "satori" for initial insight, synonymous with kensho.{{sfn|Hakuin|2010}}}}{{refn|group=note|The Japanese Zen-tradition has a rich vocabulaire of terms related to "enlightenment": awakenening (''kaku''), true awakening (''shōgaku''), perfect awakening (''engaku''), insight (''sei''), attaining the Way (''jōdō''), becoming Buddha (''jōbutsu''), opening the eye (''kaigen''), liberation (''gedatsu''), aythetication (''shō''), the great death (''daishi''), self-enlightenment without a teacher (''mushi dokugo''), great satori with full penetration (''taigo tettei''), and peerless perfect enlightenment (''anokutara sanmyaku sanbodai'').{{sfn|Kraft|1997|p=90}} The list is not exhausted with these terms.{{sfn|Kraft|1997|p=90}} Another term for deep awakening is [[Daigo (Zen)|daigo]].}}

==Terminology==
The Chinese Buddhist term ''jianxing'' ({{zh|s=见性|t=見性|p=jiànxìng |w=chien-hsing}}) [[compound (linguistics)|compounds]]:
* ''jian'' [[wikt:見|見]] "see, observe, meet with, perceive";
* ''xing'' [[wikt:性|性]] "(inborn) nature, character, personality, disposition, property, quality, gender"; also 'true face'.<ref group=web name="Goodson">Martin Goodson (April 14, 2021), [https://www.thezengateway.com/culture/a-sermon-on-the-original-face A Sermon on the Original Face]</ref>{{refn|group=note|Compare [[:Original face]], and [[:Douglas Harding]].}}

===History===
Buddhist monks who produced [[Chinese Buddhism#Early translation methods|Sanskrit-Chinese translations]] of sutras faced many linguistic difficulties:
* They chose Chinese ''jian'' 見 to translate [[Sanskrit]] ''dṛś'' [[wikt:दृश्|दृश्]] "see, look", and the central Buddhist idea of ''[[View (Buddhism)|dṛṣṭi]]'' [[wikt:दृष्टि|दृष्टि]] "view, seeing (also with the mind's eye), wisdom, false view".
* Translators used ''xing'' 性 or ''zixing'' 自性 "self-nature" for Sanskrit ''[[svabhava|svabhāva]]'' [[wikt:स्वभाव|स्वभाव]] "intrinsic nature, essential nature".
Thus, ''jianxing'' was the translation for ''dṛṣṭi-svabhāva'', to "view one's essential nature".

The term is found in the Chinese ''[[Platform Sutra]]'' (c. 8th century; 2, [[Wisdom in Buddhism|Prajñā]] "wisdom, understanding").<ref>[[Hanyu Da Cidian]] 汉语大词典, vol. 10, p. 314.</ref>

===Pronunciations===
The [[Standard Chinese]] pronunciation ''jianxing'' historically derives from (c. 7th century CE) [[Middle Chinese]] ''kien<sup>C</sup>sjäŋ<sup>C</sup>''.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} [[Sino-Xenic pronunciations]] of this term exist:
* ''kenshō'' 見性 or ケンショウ (''[[Kanji#On'yomi (Chinese reading)|on'yomi]]'') in [[Sino-Japanese vocabulary]]
* {{Korean|hangul=견성|rr=gyeonseong}} in [[Sino-Korean vocabulary]]
* ''kiến tính'' in [[Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary]].{{sfn|Muller|n.d.}}

==Meanings==
{{See also|Bodhi|Wisdom in Buddhism{{!}}Prajna|Buddha-nature|Sunyata|Suchness|Dharmakaya|Alayavijnana|Svasaṃvedana|Mahamudra|Nondualism}}

Translating ''kenshō'' into English is semantically complex.

===Encyclopedic and dictionary definitions===
Some encyclopedia and dictionary definitions are:
* Soothill (1934): "To behold the Buddha-nature within oneself, a common saying of the Chan (Zen) or Intuitive School."{{sfn|Soothill|Hodous|1934|p=244}}
* Fischer-Schreiber (1991): Lit. "seeing nature"; Zen expression for the experience of awakening (enlightenment). Since the meaning is "seeing one's own true nature," ''kenshō'' is usually translated "self-realization." Like all words that try to reduce the conceptually ungraspable experience of enlightenment to a concept, this one is also not entirely accurate and is even misleading, since the experience contains no duality of "seer" and "seen" because there is no "nature of self' as an object that is seen by a subject separate from it.{{sfn|Fischer-Schreiber|Ehrhard|Diener|1991|p=115}}
* Baroni (2002): "Seeing one's nature," that is, realizing one's own original Buddha Nature. In the Rinzai school, it most often refers more specifically to one's initial enlightenment attained through [[kōan]] practice.{{sfn|Baroni|2002|p=188}}
* Muller (year unknown): To see one's own originally enlightened mind. To behold the Buddha-nature within oneself, a common saying of the Chan school, as seen for example, in the phrase 'seeing one's nature, becoming Buddha' 見性成佛.{{sfn|Muller|n.d.}}

===Definitions by Buddhist scholars===
Buddhist scholars have defined ''kenshō'' as:
* D.T. Suzuki: "Looking into one's nature or the opening of satori";{{sfn|Suzuki|1994b|p=259}} "This acquiring of a new point of view in our dealings with life and the world is popularly called by Japanese Zen students 'satori' (''wu'' in Chinese). It is really another name for Enlightenment (''[[Enlightenment in Buddhism#Buddha's awakening|Annuttara-samyak-sambodhi]]'')".{{sfn|Suzuki|1994b|p=229}}{{refn|group=note|D.T. Suzuki has been criticized for his highly idealized and inaccurate picture of Japanese Zen.{{sfn|McRae|2003}} [[Enlightenment in Buddhism#Buddha's awakening|Annuttara-samyak-sambodhi]] is the highest state of realization and awakening. Satori, or kensho, is a first glimpse into "nature", to be followed by further training.}}
* Dumoulin (1988/2005): "Enlightenment is described here as an insight into the identity of one's own nature with all of reality in an eternal now, as a vision that removes all distinctions. This enlightenment is the center and the goal of the Zen way. Hakuin prefers the term "seeing into one's nature", which for him means ultimate reality. The Buddha nature and the [[Dharmakaya|cosmic Buddha body]], wisdom (''prajna''), and emptiness (''sunyata''), [[Original face|the original countenance one had before one was born]], and other expressions from the rich palette of Mahayana terms were all familiar to him from his continued study of the sutras and [[Zen#Literature|Zen literature]]."{{sfn|Dumoulin|2005b|p=380}}
* Peter Harvey (1990): "It is a blissful realization where a person's inner nature, the [[Eight Consciousnesses#Ālayavijñāna|originally pure mind]], is directly known as an illuminating [[Sunyata|emptiness]], a [[Tathatā/Dharmatā|thusness]] which is dynamic and [[Five Ranks|immanent in the world]]."{{sfn|Harvey|1990|p=275-276}}
* G. Victor Sogen Hori (2000): "The term consists of two characters: ''ken'', which means "see" or "seeing", and ''sho'', which means "nature", "character", "quality." To "see one's nature" is the usual translation for ''kensho''".{{sfn|Hori|2000|p=287}}

===Definitions by Buddhist teachers and practitioners===
Buddhist teachers and practitioners have defined ''kenshō'' as:
* [[Jiyu-Kennett]]: "To see into one's own nature. The experience of enlightenment, satori."{{sfn|Jiyu-Kennett|2005b|p=263}}
* Myodo Ni Satomi, a student of [[Hakuun Yasutani]] (1993): "Seeing the-self, that is, the true self or Buddha nature."{{sfn|Satomi|King|1993|p=203}}

===Further notions===
According to Hori, the term ''kenshō'' refers to the realization of non-duality of subject and object in general,{{sfn|Hori|1994|p=30}} but the term ''kenshō'' may also be applied in other contexts:{{sfn|Hori|2000|p=290}} "How do you ''kenshō'' this?"{{sfn|Hori|1994|p=30}}

''Kenshō'' is not a single experience, but refers to a whole series of realizations from a beginner's shallow glimpse of the nature of mind, up to a vision of emptiness equivalent to the [[Bhūmi (Buddhism)#The first bhūmi, the Very Joyous|'Path of Seeing']] or to Buddhahood itself. In all of these, the same 'thing' is known, but in different degrees of clarity and profundity.{{sfn|Harvey|1990|p=275-276}}{{sfn|Hori|1994|p=31}}

"Kenshō" is commonly translated as [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|enlightenment]], a word that is also used to translate [[bodhi]], [[Wisdom in Buddhism|prajna]], [[satori]] and [[buddhahood]]. Western discourse tends to use these terms interchangeably, but there is a distinction between a first insight and the further development toward Buddhahood.

==Insight versus experience==
{{See also|Buddhist modernism|Transcendentalism|Perennial philosophy}}

Kensho is insight, an understanding of our essential nature{{sfn|Samy|1998|p=82}}{{sfn|Harvey|1990|p=275-276}}{{sfn|Dumoulin|2005b|p=380}}{{sfn|Hori|1994|p=30}} as [[Buddha-nature]], or the [[Svasaṃvedana|nature of mind]], the perceiving subject itself, which was equated with [[Buddha-nature]] by the East Mountain school.{{sfn|Sharf|2014|p=939}}

Contemporary understanding also describes kensho as an ''experience'', as in "enlightenment experience"; the term "enlightenment experience" is itself a [[tautology (rhetoric)|tautology]]: "Kensho (enlightenment) is an enlightenment (kensho)-experience". The notion of "experience" fits in a popular set of dichotomies: pure (unmediated) versus mediated, noncognitive versus cognitive, experiential versus intellectual, intuitive versus intellectual, nonrational versus rational, nondiscursive versus discursive, nonpropositional versus propositional.{{sfn|Mohr|2000|p=282}}

The notion of ''pure experience'' (''junsui kuiken'') to interpret and understand kensho was introduced by [[Nishida Kitaro]] in his [[An Inquiry into the Good]] (1911), under influence of "his somewhat idiosyncratic reading of western philosophy",{{sfn|Sharf|1995b|p=248}} especially [[William James]], who wrote [[The Varieties of Religious Experience]].{{refn|group=note|Victor Sogen Hori notes that Nishida Kitaro, although using a western terminology, tried to express basic Mahayana Teachings: "He borrowed, for example, the term, junsui keiken, "pure experience", from William James, but then went on to say that, while for James the individual preceded pure experience, for him, pure experience preceded the individual. That reversal makes Nishida's notion of pure experience resemble less the psychology of William James and more the Mahayana notion of sunyata.{{sfn|Hori|1999|p=47}}}} [[Wayne Proudfoot]] traces the roots of the notion of "religious experience" to the German theologian [[Friedrich Schleiermacher]] (1768–1834), who argued that religion is based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion of "religious experience" was used by Schleiermacher to defend religion against the growing scientific and secular critique. It was adopted by many scholars of religion, of which William James was the most influential.{{sfn|Sharf|2000|p=271}}{{refn|group=note|James also gives descriptions of conversion experiences. The Christian model of dramatic conversions, based on the role-model of Paul's conversion, may also have served as a model for western interpretations and expectations regarding kensho, similar to Protestant influences on Theravada Buddhism, as described by Carrithers: "It rests upon the notion of the primacy of religious experiences, preferably spectacular ones, as the origin and legitimization of religious action. But this presupposition has a natural home, not in Buddhism, but in Christian and especially Protestant Christian movements which prescribe a radical conversion."{{sfn|Carrithers|1983|p=18}} See Sekida for an example of this influence of William James and Christian conversion stories, mentioning Luther{{sfn|Sekida|1985|p=196-197}} and St. Paul.{{sfn|Sekida|1985|p=251}} See also McMahan for the influence of Christian thought on Buddhism.{{sfn|McMahan|2008}}}} [[D.T. Suzuki]], who introduced Nishida Kitaro to western philosophy, took over this notion of ''pure experience'', describing it as the essence of all religions,{{sfn|Sharf|1995b|p=248}} but best represented in what he considered the [[Nihonjinron|"superior Japanese culture and religion"]].{{sfn|Sharf|1993}}{{sfn|Sharf|1995a}}

The influence of western psychology and philosophy on Japanese Buddhism was due to the persecution of Buddhism at the beginning of the [[Meiji Restoration]], and the subsequent efforts to construct a [[Buddhist modernism|New Buddhism]] (''shin bukkyo''), adapted to the modern times.{{sfn|Sharf|1995b|p=246-248}}{{sfn|Victoria|2006}}{{sfn|McMahan|2008}} It was this New Buddhism which has shaped [[Zen#Narratives|the understanding of Zen in the west]],{{sfn|Sharf|1995b}} especially through the writings of D.T. Suzuki{{sfn|Sharf|1995b|p=247-248}}{{sfn|Borup|n.d.}}{{sfn|McMahan|2008}} and the [[Sanbo Kyodan]], an exponent of the Meiji-era opening of Zen-training for lay-followers.{{sfn|Sharf|1995c}}

The notion of "experience" has been criticised.{{sfn|Sharf|1995b}}{{sfn|Mohr|2000|p=282-286}}{{sfn|Low|2006|p=12}}{{sfn|Samy|2014|p=180-181}} Robert Sharf points out that "experience" is a typical western term, which has found its way into Asian religiosity via western influences.{{sfn|Sharf|1995b}}{{refn|group=note|Robert Sharf: "[T]he role of experience in the history of Buddhism has been greatly exaggerated in contemporary scholarship. Both historical and ethnographic evidence suggests that the privileging of experience may well be traced to certain twentieth-century reform movements, notably those that urge a return to ''[[zazen]]'' or ''[[vipassana]]'' meditation, and these reforms were profoundly influenced by religious developments in the west [...] While some adepts may indeed experience "altered states" in the course of their training, critical analysis shows that such states do not constitute the reference pont for the elaborate Buddhist discourse pertaining to the "path".{{sfn|Sharf|1995c|p=1}}}} The notion of "experience" introduces a false notion of duality between "experiencer" and "experienced", where-as the essence of kensho is the realisation of the "non-duality" of observer and observed.{{sfn|Hori|1994|p=30}}{{sfn|Samy|1998|p=82}} "Pure experience" does not exist; all experience is mediated by intellectual and cognitive activity.{{sfn|Mohr|2000|p=282}}{{sfn|Samy|1998|p=80-82}} The specific teachings and practices of a specific tradition may even determine what "experience" someone has, which means that this "experience" is not the ''proof'' of the teaching, but a ''result'' of the teaching.{{sfn|Samy|1998|p=80}} A pure consciousness without concepts, reached by "cleaning the doors of perception"{{refn|group=note|[[William Blake]]: "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thru' narrow chinks of his cavern."<ref>[http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/2653 Quote DB]</ref>}}, would be an overwhelming chaos of sensory input without coherence.{{sfn|Mohr|2000|p=284}}
 
[[Ama Samy]] describes the notion of kensho-experience or awakening-experience as inherently dualistic and misguided:
{{Blockquote|How is this [awakening] offered to us? Does it come to us as a sudden blinding flash of light, as a great feeling of bliss, as a sudden ecstasy, in short, as some sort of experience? Is it an ‘experience’ that we come to in zazen? [...] People tend to hanker after experiences in meditation, the more psychedelic the better. ‘Having an experience’ is no big deal; a hard thump on the head, a dose of drugs, asphyxiation or deprivation of oxygen, autosuggestion or hypnosis can give you great ‘experiences’. Sometimes, people talk glibly of having had ‘an experience of Emptiness’. But the point we concern ourselves with is: who was there to have it? 
{{sfn|Samy|2015|p=157-158}}}}

[[Dayi Daoxin|Daoxin]] remarks on the experience of "seeing [[śūnyatā|emptiness]]":
{{Blockquote|The practice of bodhisattvas has emptiness as its realization: when beginning students see emptiness, this is seeing emptiness, it is not real emptiness. Those who cultivate the Way and attain real emptiness do not see emptiness or nonemptiness; they have no views.{{sfn|Cleary|1986|p=19}}}}

The notion of "experience" also over-emphasises kensho, as if it were the single goal of Zen-training, where-as the Zen-tradition clearly states that "the stink of Zen"{{sfn|Hori|2006|p=143}} has to be removed and the "experience" of kensho has to be integrated into daily life.{{sfn|Sekida|1996}}{{sfn|Kapleau|1989}}{{sfn|Kraft|1997|p=91}} In the Rinzai-school this [[Post-satori practice|post-satori training]] includes the study and mastering of great amounts of classical Chinese poetry, which is far from "universal" and culture-transcending. On the contrary, it demands an education in culture-specific language and behaviour, which is measured by specific and strict cultural norms.{{sfn|Hori|1999|p=50-53}} Emphasising "experience" "reduces the sophisticated dialectic of Ch'an/Zen doctrine and praxis to a mere "means" or set of techniques intended to inculcate such experiences".{{sfn|Sharf|1995b|p=266}}

==Kenshō accounts==

===Classical accounts===
Classical Zen texts, such as the ''Kao-seng-chuan'' (Biographies of Eminent Monks) and the transmission lists, called "Transmission of the Lamp"{{refn|group=note|A literary device to establish a lineage. Both [[Tiantai|T'ien Tai]] and Chán took over this literary device, to lend authority to those developing traditions, and guarantee its authenticity.{{sfn|Chappell|1993|p=181}}{{sfn|McRae|2003|p=2–9}} Notable examples are the ''Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall'' (952) and the ''[[Transmission of the Lamp|Jingde Records of the Transmission of the Lamp]]'' (published 1004). McRae considers Dumoulin's ''A History of Zen'' to be a modern example of this genre, disguished as scientific history;{{sfn|McRae|2005}}}} the ''yü-lü'' genre{{sfn|Chappell|1993|p=192}} (the recorded sayings of the masters, such as the [[Linji Yixuan#Línjì yǔlù|Línjì yǔlù]]); and the various koan-collections,{{refn|group=note|The two best known koan-collections (in the west) are the "Gateless Gate" and the "Blue Cliff Record". ''[[The Gateless Gate]]'' (Chinese: 無門關 Wumenguan; Japanese: Mumonkan) is a collection of 48 kōans and commentaries published in 1228 by Chinese monk [[Wumen]] (無門) (1183–1260). The title may be more accurately rendered as ''Gateless Barrier'' or ''Gateless Checkpoint''. The ''[[Blue Cliff Record]]'' (Chinese: 碧巖錄 Bìyán Lù; Japanese: Hekiganroku) is a collection of 100 kōans compiled in 1125 by [[Yuanwu Keqin]] (圜悟克勤 1063–1135).}} contain accounts of "enlightenment experiences". These accounts are not verbatim recordings of such "experiences", but well-edited texts, written down decades after the supposed sayings and meetings.{{sfn|Welter|n.d.}}

''The [[Denkōroku]]'', "The Record of the Transmission of the Light", written by [[Keizan Jōkin]] 瑩山紹瑾 (1268–1325), is an example of the "Transmission of the Lamp" genre. It contains literary accounts of the patriarchs of the Soto-lineage, from [[Shakyamuni Buddha]] to [[Koun Ejō]], in which kensho plays a central role. They are not to be taken as literal accounts of awakening, but as stories underpinning the legitimacy of the [[Sōtō|Dogen-shu]], which in its early history had seen a fierce internal conflict over the correct lineage during the [[Sandai sōron]].{{sfn|Cook|2003|p=xi–xii}}{{sfn|Faure|2001}}{{refn|group=note|Cook: "It is probably safe to say that few if any reputable modern scholars, and probably not many even within the Soto priesthood itself, believe that many of the central events and characters in the ''Denkoroku'' are based on historical fact [...] The origins and early developments of Chinese Zen are just now becoming clearer, and the gradually emerging picture is very different from the traditional Zen history found in such works as Keizan's record".{{sfn|Cook|2003|p=15}}}}

[[Dōgen Zenji]]'s awakening is recalled in the Denkoroku:
{{blockquote|Once, during late-night zazen, [[Rujing]] told the monks, "Studying Zen is the dropping off of body and mind." Hearing this, the master was suddenly greatly awakened. He went at once to the Abbott's room and burned incense. Rujing asked him, "Why are you burning incense?" The master answered, "Body and mind have dropped off." Rujing said, "Body and mind have dropped off, the dropped-off body and mind." The master said, "This is a temporarily ability; you must not approve me without reason." Rujing replied, "I am not approving you without reason." The master asked, "Why are you not approving me without reason?" Rujing said, "You dropped off body and mind." The master bowed. Rujing said, "You have dropped off dropping off."{{sfn|Cook|2003|p=255}}}}

[[Hakuin]] gives this description of his first kensho, when he was 21:{{sfn|Waddell|2010|p=xxii}}
{{blockquote|At around midnight on the seventh and final night of my practice, the boom of a bell from a distant temple reached my ears: suddenly, my body and mind dropped completely away. I rose clear of even the finest dust. Overwhelmed with joy, I hollered out at the top of my lungs, "Old Yen-t'ou is alive and well! [...] After that, however, I became extremely proud and arrogant".{{sfn|Hakuin|2010|p=23}}}}

Hakuin's ''kensho'' was not approved by Shoju Rojin, who subjected Hakuin to more koan-training. This resulted in a second kensho, where-after Hakuin left Shoju Rojin. It was only when he was 41 that he attained "his final great enlightenment":{{sfn|Waddell|2010|p=xxii}}
{{blockquote|[W]hen Shoju had asked his reason for becoming a monk, his reply – that he had done it because he was afraid of falling into hell – had brought the scornful retort: "You're a self-centered rascal, aren't you!" Not until eighteen years later, upon attainment of his final great enlightenment at the age of forty-one, would Hakuin fully grasp the significance of Shoju's reproach and with it the true meaning of "post-satori" practice. Years later, when Hakuin asked his student [[Tōrei Enji|Tōrei]] the same question, Tōrei's answer – "To work for the salvation of my fellow beings" – brought a laugh from Hakuin. "A much better reason than mine", he said.{{sfn|Waddell|2010|p=xxii}}}}

===Contemporary accounts===
Although the Zen tradition is reluctant to speak openly about the 'experience' of kensho,{{sfn|Harris|2004|p=17}} personal accounts can be found in Zen texts.{{refn|group=note|Kapleau gives ten different accounts of contemporary practitioners, including his own kensho under the initials "KP".{{sfn|Kapleau|1989}} Sekida gives an elaborate account of his own kenshos,{{sfn|Sekida|1985|p=207-222}} and gives various accounts of others.{{sfn|Sekida|1985|pp=194–206}} Satomi gives an account of becoming one with the mu-koan, the classical aimed kensho of the Sanbo Kyodan.{{sfn|Satomi|King|1993|p=106}} [[Maura O'Halloran]] also gives an account of herself becoming mu.{{sfn|O'Halloran|2007|p=78}}}} Keido Fukushima, a 20th-century Rinzai abbott, gives the following description:
{{blockquote|At Nanzenji there is a small hill. I used to walk near there, look at it, and often smile at the high school students who walked by there as well. One day as I walked by, I looked at the hill and it was truly amazing. I was totally lost as if there was no 'me'. I stood gazing at the hill. Some students walked by and one of them said something like 'look at that crazy monk'. Finally I came out of it. Life was never the same for me. I was free.{{sfn|Harris|2004|p=17}}{{refn|group=note|Harris: "After this experience Gensho still had two more years of ''koan'' study".{{sfn|Harris|2004|p=17}}}}}}

===Spontaneous kenshō===
Kenshō may be attained without the aid of a teacher. For example, Richard Clarke (1933), who studied with [[Philip Kapleau]], states that he had a spontaneous kensho when he was 13.<ref group=web>[http://www.payer.de/neobuddhismus/neobud040421.htm Japanischer Buddhismus in Amerika. Chronik Ab 1970]</ref> [[Dennis Genpo Merzel]] states he had what he described as an "awakening experience" in 1971:<ref group=web name=Genpo>[http://www.kripalu.org/article/313/ Big Mind: An Interview with Genpo Roshi] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701071517/http://kripalu.org/article/313/ |date=July 1, 2014 }}</ref>
{{blockquote|It was in February of that year, and I was 26 years old. My second serious relationship was ending, and I was feeling very confined and conflicted. I needed to get some space, so I went out to the Mojave desert for a three-day camping weekend with two friends. On the Friday, I hiked up a mountain alone. I knew nothing about meditation or spiritual practice. I was just sitting there, thinking about my life and the things going on. I felt I had gotten pretty screwed up for such a young age.<br/>
I could see my VW camper, my home for the weekend, parked a few miles away. But at the same time, I was aware that my home was back in Long Beach, California. And a natural koan came to me: Where is home? All of a sudden, I had a kind of breakthrough. I felt myself fall away, and I became one with the cosmos, one with the universe, one with all things. I knew in that moment that wherever I am, that is home; home is everywhere. I also knew who I was, beyond description, but let's call it Big Mind.<br/>
That experience completely changed my life.<ref group=web name=Genpo />}}

More descriptions of "spontaneous kensho" can be found throughout the Zen-literature,{{refn|group=note|Sekida gives the example of a woman, who's "strong internal pressure (''gidan'') never stopped knocking from within at the door of her mind, demanding to be resolved [...] One day, when she was about to take a bath, a certain change occurred in her. Although this was later confirmed as kensho by a teacher, she had no idea what it was.{{sfn|Sekida|1985|p=138-139}} Philip Kapleau describes a man who had kensho, which was explained as a "conversion experience" by psychiatrists.{{sfn|Kapleau|1980|p=52}} Flora Courtois gives an extensive account of her spontaneous kensho,{{sfn|Maezumi|Glassman|2007|p=111-136}} on which Yasutani comments.{{sfn|Maezumi|Glassman|2007|p=137-140}}}}

===Alternate accounts===
[[Houn Jiyu-Kennett]], a 20th-century Soto Zen [[Zen ranks and hierarchy#Zuise (瑞世)|Oshō]],<ref name="Luebke">Seikai Luebke, [http://sweepingzen.com/why-are-roshi-jiyu-kennetts-disciples-so-reclusive/ ''Why Are Roshi Jiyu Kennett's Disciples So Reclusive?''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621093423/http://sweepingzen.com/why-are-roshi-jiyu-kennetts-disciples-so-reclusive/ |date=June 21, 2018 }}</ref> i.e. "priest" or "teacher," and the first Western female Zen priest, had a prolonged religious experience{{sfn|Kay|2007|p=145}} in the 1970s, including a series of visions and recalling past lives, when she was severely ill. She regarded these experiences as "a profound kensho (enlightenment) experience,"{{sfn|Osto|2016|p=65}}{{sfn|Ford|2006|p=143-144}} constituting a third kensho,{{sfn|Kay|2007|p=145}} and published an account of these visions, and an elaborate scheme of stages of awakening,{{sfn|Ford|2006|p=143-144}} in ''How to Grow a Lotus Blossom''.{{sfn|Kay|2007|p=145}}{{sfn|Jiyu-Kennett|1993}} Her interpretations, which parallel Christian mysticism,{{sfn|Kay|2007|p=155}} were controversial,{{sfn|Ford|2006|p=143-144}}{{sfn|Morgan|2004|p=2014}}{{sfn|Kay|2007|p=145}} and rejected by some as ''[[makyo]]'' ("illusion").{{sfn|Osto|2016|p=65}}{{sfn|Morgan|2004|p=2014}} According to Jiyu-Kennett, such experiences are not uncommon,{{refn|group=note|According to Kay, "Kennett's visionary experiences – and also her ambivalence about the status of their content – are not unprecedented within the Zen tradition."{{sfn|Kay|2007|p=149}} Soto literature includes numerous accounts,{{sfn|Kay|2007|p=149}} as noted especially by Faure (2001) ''Visions of powere''.{{sfn|Kay|2007|p=149}}{{sfn|Faure|2001}} described by the founders of Soto Zen, Dogen and Keizan.{{sfn|Faure|2001}} See also Williams (2005){{sfn|Williams|2005}} and Bodiford (1993).{{sfn|Bodiford|1993}} Yet, Dogen and Keizan "also both warned against seeing visions or unusual spiritual experiences as the goal of practice."{{sfn|Watson|n.d.|p=14}}}} but are rarely spoken of; she regarded publishing her own experiences as a way to acknowledge the existence and validity of such experiences, which, according to her, may contribute to further insight after initial awakening.{{sfn|Jiyu-Kennett|1993}}{{sfn|Greenwell|2002|p=52-53}} She acknowledged the risks and potential for controversy in publishing her account, but felt that the benefits of releasing such information outweighed the risks.{{sfn|Jiyu-Kennett|1993}}

==Training towards kenshō==
{{See also|Zen#Zen practice|l1=Zen practice}}

According to Harris, working towards kensho is usually a lengthy process stretched out over years or even decades.{{sfn|Harris|2004}} Contrary to this, Victor Hori notes that with koan-study kensho may appear within six months.
{{sfn|Hori|1994|p=29}}{{refn|group=note|Houn Jiyu-Kennett, a western [[Zen ranks and hierarchy|sei-kyoshi]]{{sfn|Bluck|2006|p=66}} or soto-priest, also is reported to have attained kensho after six months of training in a Soto-monastery.{{sfn|Bluck|2006|p=65}}}}

[[Sōtō]] tends towards a gradual approach, preferring to let the experiences happen on their own. [[Rinzai school|Rinzai]] tends toward the use of [[Koan]]s as a technique to unroot the habitual workings of the mind.{{sfn|Kasulis|2003}}

During intensive zazen various [[hallucination]]s and psychological disturbances may arise. These are referred to as [[makyo]]. Distinguishing these delusions from actual kensho is the primary function of the teacher, as the student may be erroneously convinced they have realized kensho.

===Rinzai===
In the [[Rinzai school]], kensho is seen as indispensable:
{{blockquote|At some point in time we pass from imprisonment in ignorance and delusion to a true vision of Zen realization: "Our enlightenment is timeless, yet our realization of it occurs in time." According to this belief experiencing a moment of awakening in this life is of central importance.{{sfn|Lachs|2012|p=4}}}}

In the Rinzai-training, the student is expected to pour oneself totally into both koan-study and daily activities 'to become one' with it.{{sfn|Hori|2000|p=290}} Kenshō is used to describe the first breakthrough in [[kōan]] study.{{sfn|Baroni|2002|p=188}}{{refn|group=note|See {{sfn|Satomi|King|1993|p=106}} for a description of 'becoming one with'.}}

===Sōtō===
Contemporary Japanese Sōtō downplays the importance of ''kenshō'', due to the sectarian rivalry with Rinzai, which emphasizes ''kenshō''. Nevertheless, ''kenshō'' also has its role in Sōtō. The "[[Genjōkōan|genjo-koan]]", or the "koan of everyday life" which "appears naturally in daily life",{{sfn|Dogen|n.d.}} is emphasized. Students are not encouraged to actively seek out kenshō experiences. In Sōtō practice kenshōs "are allowed to occur naturally, as a by-product of practice. Meditative training is seen as the unfolding of one great ''kenshō'':{{sfn|Harvey|1990|p=275-276}}
{{blockquote|According to the tradition of Soto Zen, although working on a koan is one way of attaining kensho, the best way is zazen. Indeed, [[Dogen]], the founder of Soto Zen, expounded that zazen itself is enlightenment, and as long as the adept maintains a pure state of non-thinking in Zen, he is a Buddha.{{sfn|Kiew Kit|2002|p=145}}}}

According to [[Brad Warner]], in the [[Sōtō]] school there are two kinds of awakening.{{sfn|Warner|2009|p=28}} One is the practice of [[shikantaza]], which is the "actual enlightened activity of the Buddha".{{sfn|Warner|2009|p=28}} The other is the accumulation of little bits of understanding, which come together, giving way to a deeper intuitive knowledge.{{sfn|Warner|2009|p=28-29}}

===Sanbō Kyōdan===
Kenshō also plays a central in the [[Sanbō Kyōdan]], a Japanese Zen organisation which played a decisive role in the transmission of Zen to the [[Zen in the United States|United States]].{{sfn|Sharf|1995c}} Yasutani, the founder of the Sanbo Kyodan, was disappointed about the lack of interest in kensho in the Soto school. Yasutani's emphasis on koan training and the importance of kensho was transmitted to his American students:{{sfn|Sharf|1995c}}
{{blockquote|He was especially vocal concerning the point of kenshō, seeing one's true nature. He spoke more openly about it then anyone of his times, going so far as to have a public acknowledgement of those who had experienced kensho in a post-sesshin ceremony of bowing in gratitude to the three treasures.{{sfn|Jaffe|1979}}}}

It is also reflected in the inclusion of a relative great amount of kensho stories in "The Three Pillars of Zen", written by [[Philip Kapleau]], a student of Yasutani.{{sfn|Kapleau|1989}}

==Training after kenshō==
{{See also|Sahaja|l1=Sahaja|Neo-Advaita#Practice is necessary|l2=Post-awakening sadhana}}

After kensho, further practice is needed to attain a natural, effortless, down-to-earth state of being, the "ultimate liberation", "knowing without any kind of defilement".{{sfn|Low|2006|p=37-39}} Kensho may bring insight, but not change the mental dispositions, a shortcoming experienced by both [[Hakuin Ekaku#Incomplete accomplishment and renewed doubt|Hakuin]]{{sfnp|Torei|2009|p=175}} and modern teachers like [[Jack Kornfield]]<ref>Jack Kornfield, ''A Path With a Heart''</ref> and [[Barry Magid]].<ref>Magid, B (2013). Nothing is Hidden: The Psychology of Zen Koans. Wisdom</ref>

===Further practice===
{{See also|Ten Bulls}}

Zen Buddhist training does not end with kenshō. Practice is to be continued to deepen the insight and to express it in daily life.{{sfn|Sekida|1996}}{{sfn|Kapleau|1989}}{{sfn|Kraft|1997|p=91}}{{sfn|Maezumi|Glassman|2007|p=54, 140}} According to the contemporary Chan Master [[Sheng Yen]]:
{{blockquote|Ch'an expressions refer to enlightenment as "seeing your self-nature". But even this is not enough. After seeing your self-nature, you need to deepen your experience even further and bring it into maturation. You should have enlightenment experience again and again and support them with continuous practice. Even though Ch'an says that at the time of enlightenment, your outlook is the same as of the Buddha, you are not yet a [[Buddhahood|full Buddha]].{{sfn|Yen|1996|p=54}}}}

And the Soto Zen Master Jiyu-Kennett:
{{blockquote|One can easily get the impression that realization, kenshō, an experience of enlightenment, or however you wish to phrase it, is the end of Zen training. It is not. It is, rather, a new beginning, an entrance into a more mature phase of Buddhist training. To take it as an ending, and to "dine out" on such an experience without doing the training that will deepen and extend it, is one of the greatest tragedies of which I know. There must be continuous development, otherwise you will be as a wooden statue sitting upon a plinth to be dusted, and the life of Buddha will not increase.{{sfn|Jiyu-Kennett|2005b|p=225}}}}

To deepen the initial insight of kensho, shikantaza and kōan-study are necessary. This trajectory of initial insight followed by a gradual deepening and ripening is expressed by [[Linji Yixuan]] in his [[Linji Yixuan#Three Mysterious Gates|Three mysterious Gates]], [[Dongshan Liangjie]]'s (Japanese: Tōzan Ryōkan) [[Five Ranks]], the [[Hakuin#Four ways of knowing|Four Ways of Knowing]] of [[Hakuin]],{{sfn|Low|2006}}<ref name="terebess">[https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/harada.html Biographical essay by GHarada Sogaku]</ref> and the [[Ten Bulls|Ten Ox-Herding Pictures]]{{sfn|Mumon|2004}}<ref name="terebess"/> which detail the steps on the [[Buddhist Paths to liberation|Path]].

===Seitai choyo===
Post-awakening practice is called ''seitai choyo'', the "long nurturing of the sacred fetus".{{sfn|Hori|2006|p=145}}{{refn|group=note|According to Kraft, one of the earliest expressions of this term is found in a 5th-century Chinese translation of the ''Prajnaparamitra Sutra on Benevolent Kings Protecting Their Countries''.{{sfn|Kraft|1997|p=41}} In Chán-texts the term is first used by [[Mazu Daoyi|Mazu]] (709–788), and in Japan it was introduced by [[Dogen]] who learned it from his teacher T'ien t'ung Ju-ching (1163–1228).{{sfn|Kraft|1997|p=41}} See also Muso Soseki, ''Dialogues in a Dream translation'', translated by Thomas Yuho Kirchner, for its meaning and application.}} According to Spiegelberg,
{{blockquote|[I]t means a return to the purely secular life, a complete submersion in work and in the changing events of the world. Thus, for decades, many Zenists, after their awakening, went among the people, living among beggars and leading an existence of hard physical labor. Thus it was proved whether or not the truth received was of permanent value, or whether it would vanish among mundane affairs.{{sfn|Spiegelberg|1957}}}}

During the T'ang-era, the term became associated with the ideal of the recluse who leaves the world.{{sfn|Kraft|1997|p=41-42}} An ideal period of "twenty years" was taken for it, echoing a story from the ''Lotus Sutra'' about a prodigal son who wandered in poverty for twenty years before returning home.{{sfn|Kraft|1997|p=42}} References to these twenty years are found throughout the Chán-tradition, for example Linji, who is reported to have studied under Huang-po for twenty years,{{sfn|Kraft|1997|p=42}} and Daito, the founder of [[Daitoku-ji]], who famously spent twenty years living under a bridge with beggars.{{sfn|Kraft|1997|p=42}}

===Cultivating bodhicitta===
{{See also|Bodhicitta|Karuṇā}}

According to Hakuin, the main aim of [[Dharma transmission#Further practice|"post-satori practice"]]{{sfn|Waddell|2010|p=xxv–xxvii}}{{sfn|Hakuin|2010|p=33-34}}{{sfn|Hisamatsu|2002|p=22}} (''gogo no shugyo''{{sfn|Hori|2006|p=145}} or ''kojo'', "going beyond"{{sfn|Hori|2006|p=144}}) is to cultivate the [[Bodhicitta|"Mind of Enlightenment"]],{{sfn|Hakuin|2010|p=33}}{{sfn|Yoshizawa|2009|p=41}} "benefiting others by giving them the gift of the Dharma teaching".{{sfn|Hakuin|2010|p=34}}{{refn|group=note|Shinkichi Takahashi: "After satori, teach."{{sfn|Takahashi|2000|p=165}}}} According to [[Yamada Koun]], "if you cannot weep with a person who is crying, there is no kensho".{{sfn|MacInnes|2007|p=75}} According to Kay,
{{blockquote|The intuitive realisation of Buddhahood requires an attitude of selflessness and faith in one's inherent enlightenment. Meditative awakening, or wisdom, forms only part of this realisation that must also manifest itself through acts of compassion and love.{{sfn|Kay|2007|p=129}}}}

According to Barry, regarding Hakuin's practice after awakening,
{{blockquote|Post-satori practice for Hakuin meant finally ceasing to be preoccupied with his own personal condition and attainment and to devote himself and his practice to helping and teaching others. Finally, at long last, he realized that true enlightenment is a matter of endless practice and compassionate functioning, not something that occurs once and for all in one great moment on the cushion.<ref group=web>{{Cite web |url=http://buddhism.about.com/od/enlightenmentandnirvana/a/What-Is-Enlightenment.htm |title=Barbara O'Brien, ''What Is Enlightenment? And How Do You Know When You've "Got" It?'' |access-date=2014-06-17 |archive-date=2014-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826010939/http://buddhism.about.com/od/enlightenmentandnirvana/a/What-Is-Enlightenment.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{refn|group=note|See also Katsuhiro Yoshizawa, ''The Religious Art of Zen Master Hakuin'', pp.41–45, "Constant practice of the Four Universal Vows".{{sfn|Yoshizawa|2009|p=41-45}}}}}}

===Self-purification and intellectual understanding===
One also has to purify oneself by ongoing practice,{{sfn|Low|2006|p=33-34}}{{sfn|Maezumi|Glassman|2007|p=54}} since 
{{blockquote|Kensho does not eradicate our unhealthy habits [...] There is a sudden awakening to the fact of "no-self" and then this insight has to be integrated into one's life which means that it has to be embodied and not just be a memory.<ref group=web>[http://www.tricycle.com/online-retreats/great-heart-zen/entering-heart-zen Gerry Reply by Gerry Shishin Wick]</ref>}}

And "experience" has to be supplemented by intellectual understanding and study of the Buddhist teachings;{{sfn|Hori|2000|p=295-297}}{{sfn|Low|2006|p=35-37}}{{sfn|Kim|2007|p=115}} otherwise one remains a ''zen temma'', a "Zen devil".{{sfn|Hori|2000|p=297}}

==Sudden insight==
{{Main|Subitism}}

Kenshō is described as [[Enlightenment in Buddhism#Sudden and gradual|appearing suddenly]], upon an interaction with someone else, at hearing or reading some significant phrase, or at the perceiving of an unexpected sound or sight.{{sfn|Dumoulin|2005b}} The idea of "sudden insight" has been [[Chinese Chán#Shenhui and Huineng|hotly debated]] in the history of Zen. It became part of the [[Zen#Traditional Zen Narrative (TZN)|Traditional Zen Narrative]] in the 8th century.{{sfn|McRae|2003}}

[[Jinul|Chinul]], a 12th-century Korean Seon master, emphasized that insight into our true nature is sudden, but is to be followed by practice to ripen the insight and attain full Buddhahood. The contemporary Korean Seon master [[Seongcheol]] opposed this, emphasizing [[Seongcheol#Sudden enlightenment, sudden cultivation|"sudden enlightenment, sudden cultivation"]]. But Jiyu-Kennett, a contemporary western teacher, warns that attaining kenshō does not mean that a person is free from morality, the laws of karma, or the consequences of ones actions.{{sfn|Jiyu-Kennett|1979|p=51}} This warning is reflected in the [[Wild fox koan]].

==Mushi-dokugo and mushi-dokkaku==
{{Main|Mushi-dokugo}}

Kenshō may be attained without the aid of a teacher,{{sfn|Sekida|1985|p=138-139}} as in the case of [[mushi-dokugo]]{{sfn|Faure|2001|p=48}} or (mushi-)dokkaku, a self-awakened [[pratyeka-buddha]].<ref group=web>[http://www.sanbo-zen.org/kyosho_350_e.pdf Kyosho. The Awakening Gong. No.350, September/October 2011. Pages 14–15] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628090745/http://www.sanbo-zen.org/kyosho_350_e.pdf |date=June 28, 2013 }}</ref>

Though the literal meaning is ''self-awakened'' or ''awakened on one's own'', the emphasis in Zen, when using these terms, lies in the ultimate reliance on one's own insight, instead of the authority of a teacher:
{{blockquote|It is awakening that is one's true master. With Shakyamuni, the awakening was his master. In other words, the awakened self is one's master. Apart from getting awakened to that master, there is no awakening. Here practitioner and master are of one body, not two. Instead of having another verify or confirm one's awakening, one does so for oneself. Of course in this case the self that is verified and the master who does verification are undivided. In their being completely identical is the autonomous, independent, or ultimate nature of the authenticity.<ref group=web>[http://www.fas.x0.com/writings/hisamatsu/onmutuallygoingintothematterofself.htm Shin'ichi Hisamatsu, ''On Mutually Going Into The Matter Of Self'']</ref>}}

==Similarities with other traditions==
While the Japanese term "kenshō" is generally used by practitioners of Zen Buddhism, the insight it refers to is not limited to Japanese Zen Buddhism, or even to Buddhism in general.{{sfn|Lathouwers|2000}}{{sfn|Grimstone|1985|p=13}}

===Theravada===
{{Main|Theravada|Vipassana|Vipassana movement}}

The [[Theravada]] tradition, which is best known in the west through the modern [[Vipassana movement]], discerns [[four stages of enlightenment]], in which [[Nirvana]] is reached in four succeeding sudden steps of insight.

===Dzogchen===
{{Main|Dzogchen|Rigpa}}

An analogy given by Dzogchen masters is that one's nature is like a mirror which reflects with complete openness, but is not affected by the reflections. [[Rigpa]] is the knowledge that ensues from recognizing this mirror-like clarity,{{sfn|Namdak|2006|p=97}} which cannot be found by searching nor identified.{{sfn|Third Dzogchen Rinpoche|2008|p=152}} One ''knows'' that there is a primordial freedom from grasping his or her mind.{{sfn|Namdak|2006|p=144-145}}

===Advaita Vedanta===
{{Main|Advaita Vedanta|Neo-Advaita}}

In Advaita Vedanta [[moksha]] is attained by [[jnana]], insight-knowledge. In [[Shankaracharya|Shankara's]] philosophical synthesis insight [[samadhi]] is used as a subsidiary to this goal. [[Swami Vivekananda]] emphasized the ''experience'' of nirvikalpa samadhi as a means to validate religious, transcendental knowledge.{{sfn|Comans|1993}}

==See also==
* [[Enlightenment in Buddhism]]
* [[Satori]]
* [[Daigo (Zen)|Daigo]]
* [[Mushi dokugo]]
* [[Shoshin]]
* [[Epiphany (feeling)#In religion|Epiphany]]
* [[Samadhi]]
* [[Gnosis]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==

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{{refend}}

===Web sources===
{{reflist|group=web}}

==Further reading==
'''Soto'''
* {{Citation | last =Dogen | year =2000 | title =Enlightenment Unfolds. The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dogen | publisher =Shambhala Publications Inc}}
'''Critical'''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150603003930/http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/ComingDownfromtheZenClouds.htm Stuart Lachs, ''Coming Down from the Zen Clouds: A Critique of the Current State of American Zen''] An attempt at demythologizing Zen-practice, emphasizing the integration into daily life

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130125184740/http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Ama_Samy_Koan_Huatou_Kensho.pdf Ama Samy, ''Koan, Hua-t’ou, and Kensho'']
* [http://www.shastaabbey.org/pdf/bookRoar1.pdf Rev.Master Jiyu-Kennett (2000), ''The Roar of the Tigress Volume I, An Introduction to Zen: Religious Practice for Everyday Life] biography of Jiyu-Kennett, with a description of het kensho-experiences, and teishos by Jiyu-Kennett
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111004074225/http://afternonduality.com/category/the-awakened-life After Non Duality, a blog centering on the question "What happens ''after'' awakening?"]

{{Zen}}
{{Buddhism topics}}

[[Category:Zen Buddhist philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Nonduality]]