Susoku-kan Jap., lit. “contemplation of counting the breath”; a meditative practice generally practiced by beginners in zazen. Four types of susoku-kan are distinguished: (1) shutsunyusoku-kan (counting the exhalations and in halations; (2) shussoku-kan (counting the exhalations); (3) nissoku-kan (counting the inhalations); (4) zuisoku-kan (following the breath).
The practice of susoku-kan helps to achieve the collectedness that is necessary for zazen. The modern Japanese Zen master Hakuun Ryōku Y asutani said about susoku-kan in his Introductory Lectures on Zen Training, “The easiest practice for beginners is counting incoming and outgoing breaths. The value of this particular exercise lies in the fact that all reasoning is excluded and the discriminative mind put at rest. Thus the waves of thought are stilled and a gradual one-pointedness of mind achieved” (Kapleau 1980).
In this method one collects one’s attention on the inbreath on one, on the outbreath on two, on the inbreath on three, and so on up to ten, then begins again with one. One can modify this practice to count only on the outbreath or the inbreath. One continues to count up to ten and begin again with one. In the last of the four techniques, zuisoku-kan, with collected mind one follows the movement of the breath without counting. For a person without experience in zazen, to concentrate on counting the breath without drifting off into thoughts or losing the thread of the count is not easy. Persistent practice of one of the types of susoku-kan has proved itself an excellent basis for more advanced practice on the way of Zen and can even lead to the breakthrough of an enlightenment experience.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
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