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Do I have to be a Buddhist to practice zen?

Zen asks for your attention, not your membership card. Sit down, and the cushion never checks what you call yourself. Labels are thoughts, and a thought is exactly what you are learning to watch rise and pass. Christian, atheist, unsure: the breath moves the same way through all of them. If belonging to something matters later, it will become clear on its own. Tomorrow morning, sit for ten minutes before checking your phone. Count ten breaths. Start again whenever you lose count.

Hear it spoken (Instagram) →

This was one stranger’s question. In the app, you sit, say what is actually going on, and the teacher answers you, in a voice, privately. The first dokusan is free.