Hexagrams, Take Two

During spring keishin in April, 41 full-time and part-time participants joined, and we experimented for the second time with using hexagrams as a tool for intensive Zen training. Basic guidance from Gordon Greene Roshi on composing hexagrams has been previously published here.

Like last time, we had several periods during our daily training schedule to go outside and write down six-word poems about our experiences, as felt and shared through our senses. This time, we also joined small working groups each evening to help each other revise our hexagrams. Capturing photos of matching images was another new option for participants. On the final night, people took turns sharing their best hexagrams to the larger keishin group.

Responses to the hexagram exercise from spring keishin participants was overwhelmingly positive. Participants liked the hexagram groups, which became a form of warm social bonding over Zoom. The photos added a new dimension for participants to share and sense the different environments around each home dojo. A handful of people volunteered that they would continue the practice of writing daily hexagrams. 

I deeply appreciated the sincere effort of those who participated in keishin and the hexagram exercise. Below, I’m sharing some of the results to give you a flavor of our collective experience.

I’d like to end by noting that our use of hexagrams as a Zen training tool is a work in progress. Few of us, myself included, are close to hitting the mark of “Zen art,” in which hexagrams emerge from the unconscious and convey the ineffable void through concrete descriptions of a moment. How to best use hexagrams as a form of deep spiritual training also isn’t clear yet, but may resemble something like the interactions between a teacher and student done in the context of sanzen training. Please stay tuned and join us as we continue to refine this practice.

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