Meeting Sunday 6:45 - 7:30 pm as of October 11, 2026 in the Zendo & on Zoom.

Koan Group will read together one koan from The Gateless Barrier translated and with a commentary by Robert Aitken. We will stay with one koan for three weeks to allow the koan to speak into our lives and reveal its intimate meaning to each one of us. At Koan Group, we will read the koan, sit for a few minutes, and talk about it.

The Gateless Barrier by Robert Aitken, Wu-men’s Preface (p. 3):

The Buddha mind and words point the way; the Gateless Barrier is the Dharma entry. There is no gate from the beginning, so how do you pass through it? Haven’t you heard that things which come through the gate are not the family treasure? Things gained from causal circumstances have a beginning and an end–formation and destruction. Such talk raises waves where there is no wind and gouges wounds in healthy flesh. How much more foolish are those who depend upon words and seek understanding by their intellect! They try to hit the moon with a stick. They scratch their shoes when their feet itch….

As we live out our lives day by day, we are in a limited view. We are like snakes stuck in small dark cans, according to Suzuki Roshi. It is so dark we cannot see anything. We struggle inside the cans and suffer. Working with koans opens up our minds. We ask ourselves, what do I think is really going on here?

Our first ancestor in Japan, Eihei Dogen, studied koans. Our ancestor, Shunryu Suzuki, studied koans. I have been studying koans for nine years with my teacher Rev. Neti Mushin Parekh, and want to share this practice with others because it is liberating.

Everyone is welcome.

Recommended books for Koan Group are The Gateless Barrier translated by Robert Aitken, Two Zen Classics The Gateless Gate and The Blue Cliff Records by Katsuki Sekida, and Passing Through the Gateless Barrier Koan Practice for Real Life by Guo Gu

Rev. Sara Korei McLellan