The Zen center I sat at for a while when I lived in Dallas, didn’t do any proselytizing that I noticed. As I understand is the general practice, if you tell the Roshi what purpose you’re meditating for, he’ll assign you an appropriate practice. If you’re seeking “bompu Zen”—i.e., purely material benefits like concentration and willpower enhancement, you’ll generally be assigned a practice like counting your breaths. Enlightenment seekers are more likely to be assigned following the breath, a koan, or shikan-taza.
The Zen center I sat at for a while when I lived in Dallas, didn’t do any proselytizing that I noticed. As I understand is the general practice, if you tell the Roshi what purpose you’re meditating for, he’ll assign you an appropriate practice. If you’re seeking “bompu Zen”—i.e., purely material benefits like concentration and willpower enhancement, you’ll generally be assigned a practice like counting your breaths. Enlightenment seekers are more likely to be assigned following the breath, a koan, or shikan-taza.
Interesting,