Dokusan

 

student bell

Dokusan, or private instruction, provides an opportunity for Zen students to work directly with a teacher in a confidential, face-to-face setting. In the early days of Buddhism in Asia, interactions between Buddhist masters and their students usually occurred in public gatherings of the monastic community, or on spontaneous interchanges during work and other temple activities.

Over the centuries, particularly in Japanese Zen, such interactions became increasingly private and formalized. In time, these private meetings, known by the Japanese term "dokusan," became an integral part of Zen training. Today in the West, dokusan has become an essential element of practice for many western Zen students, and is especially emphasized in the Rinzai tradition. In Zen retreats, or sesshins, dokusan is usually offered two or three times per day.

The student bell is pictured above. When the teacher is ready to start meeting with students, he or she rings a small hand bell and the sesshin monitor responds by sounding the student bell a number of times. Most everyone jumps up from their mat and runs to the dokusan room but only the first student to get there enters the room and closes the door.

Having closed the door, the student performs a prostration and then is seated on a mat placed in front of the teacher. If the student and teacher are not well known to each other, the student announces his or her name and what his or her practice is. The student may ask questions concerning practice or may just sit for a few minutes with the teacher, saying nothing. The teacher may test the student or inquire about the student's practice by asking questions as well.

When the teacher deems the meeting over, a small bell is rung. The student stands, takes a step back from the mat, and performs a standing bow which the teacher reciprocates. The student then returns to the zendo, leaving the door open for the next student.

The students who were the second and third students behind the first student will have taken their respective places in a dokusan line which is outside the zendo. When the teacher's small bell is rung, indicating the end of the first dokusan meeting, the next student strikes the student bell twice so that the teacher will know the next student is coming. The second student enters the dokusan room through the open door, closes it, and follows the same routine as the first.

When those who are still in the zendo hear the two rings of the student bell, one of them can proceed to join the dokusan line because the third student will have moved up to the first place in line, next to the student bell. This procedure is continued until dokusan ends. The monitor indicates the end of the dokusan period by ringing the student bell three times in response to the teacher's small hand bell.

Beginners enjoy dokusan because it provides a break from long hours of sitting; it feels good to get up during a sitting to join the dokusan line and thereafter to enter the dokusan room. Many students also visit a rest room after a dokusan as well, thereby further lengthening the break before returning to the zendo.

As practice matures, however, the attitude towards dokusan undergoes a seismic shift. The student arises from the mat without letting go of practice, with no thought of taking a break. The student maintains his or her practice and carries it into the dokusan room for the teacher to see.

One of the most amazing sections of The Three Pillars of Zen concerns dokusans. Roshi Kapleau served as the chief court reporter during the Nurenburg war crime trials and as such was proficient in taking shorthand. He also lived in Japan long enough to become fluent in Japanese. Although dokusan is traditionally private, he served as an interpreter for English speakers sitting in dokusan with Roshi Yasutani. With both the permission of the students and the Roshi, he would transcribe, in shorthand, the dokusan conversation as soon as it was over. Those dokusan conversations were, with permission of course, published in The Three Pillars and are the only known records of Roshi/student dokusans that have ever been published.