Christianity, Zen, and First Japan Trip at 75 - Harold Koenig
It might surprise some that one of the most sincere Zen practitioners we’ve met is a devout Catholic.
Harold grew up in the United States, born shortly after World War II ended. At that time, there was still a strong anti-Japanese sentiment among much of the population, especially people who had served there.
However, Harold found himself enchanted with Japanese culture after reading Japanese poetry as a teenager and visiting a Japanese garden for the first time.
He realized there was a much different side to Japan than what many believed in the U.S.
When he was 30, Harold began practicing zazen. He wrote two letters to the well-known Zen master Maezumi Roshi in Los Angeles, asking permission to sit with him at his Zen center there, but the letters were ignored.
He then wrote a third letter, vowing that he would go there and bow his head in front of the Zendo until they let him in. To this, he received a reply, and was warmly welcomed to join a 5-day seishin. (A silent, intensive zazen retreat).
Later, after participating in another 8-day Rohatsu seishin, he asked Maezumi Roshi if it was possible to receive the Zen precepts as a Christian, and was told “why not?”. Thus, Harold received his honorary Zen precepts in the early 80s.
Similarities of Christianity and Zen
The interesting thing is that Harold was (and remains to this day) a devout Christian, as he feels there is no conflict between the core teachings of Christianity and Zen.
Harold described it in this way:
“Imagine you’re a monotheist, and you take away all the things. What do you have left? God. So God is “no thing”, and my devotion is to “no thing”.
He also referenced a koan often given to Christians in the west by Zen teachers:
“Meister Eckhart says: The same eye with which God sees me is the eye with which I see God. Show me that eye”
This is in reference to the teachings of Eckhart, who was a 14th century Catholic priest, mystic, and philosopher from Roman Germany.
Harold pointed out, too, the striking coincidence that roughly around the time of Jesus’s birth is when the Mahayana evolution took place in Buddhism, with compassion essentially replacing enlightenment as the primary Buddhist value.
There are also interesting similarities between some Christian prayers and Zen meditation.
Harold pointed out that the Christian “Prayer of the Heart” is essentially a type of mindfulness practice, involving focusing on the beating of the heart (or breath).
He also said that his own practice for many years was to pray the rosary, splitting the lines of the Latin “Hail Mary” prayer into in-breaths and out-breaths, as they correspond to a classic 4:6 breathing pattern often used in zazen.
Harold’s Zen practice
Harold’s practice today consists mostly of daily “shikantaza” (often translated as “just sitting”).
He said that zazen helps to reduce his ego, which in turn makes him more compassionate towards others. This is really perhaps the biggest link between Zen and Christianity, as both teach radical compassion towards our fellow human beings.
Having compassion is particularly important to Harold, as his career included many years as a hospital chaplain, where his job was to be with patients, without any “agenda” or desire to fix them.
Early on, he realized that it was essential to get rid of the “chatter” in his mind, which got in the way of being fully present to the patients he met with. This is what originally led him to seek out the teachings of Zen.
Advice to new meditators
For those just learning to meditate, Harold recommends breath-counting, and he himself will still occasionally start with breath counting if he is feeling particularly frazzled. He says that once you master breath-counting, it opens up a whole new way forward.
As far as motivation for meditation is concerned, Harold jokes “I’ve been sitting for 50 years and I’m still a jerk. I’ve gotten nowhere, and I don’t want to get anywhere. It’s here!”
Early on, Harold admits to being driven, at least to some extent, by the goal of enlightenment. But he realized that it was a foolish distraction and now warns against making an idol of enlightenment, or seeing it as something separate from yourself that you can reach, if only you put in enough effort. That’s not the point.
For Harold, Zen is a way to become a more compassionate person, which is why he continues to do it.
Visiting Japan at age 75
We were surprised that despite having a connection with Japan for his whole life, Harold only recently made his first trip here at age 75.
Since we often hear from Shi-Zen customers who say they dream of visiting Japan one day, we thought it would be inspiring to share Harold’s experience and tips about visiting Japan for the first time.
Motivation to visit
Spurred by a sudden stroke at age 73, Harold realized that if he didn't go to Japan soon, he might never make it there. It was a wake-up call.
The trip finally happened in 2023 at age 75. Harold was able to put aside 23 days for his first visit. He recounts tears coming to his eyes when he first walked out of the station and onto a Japanese street, looking at the tiled roofs in a backstreet and thinking, "I'm here."
Overcoming pre-trip worries
Harold's biggest worry before coming was, as he put it, "being a jerk unintentionally."
He wanted to make sure that he was respectful of Japanese culture and didn't cause any trouble or discomfort for the people he was sure to meet there.
Harold's first step in preparation was to study Japanese culture by reading books and joining groups on Facebook. He recommends the excellent free resources on Facebook to anyone planning a trip.
He was even able to connect with some Japanese people who he actually met in person during his trip.
Harold found that just learning some of the basic cultural norms made him feel much more comfortable and, he felt, made him stand out to some of the Japanese locals as being someone who is respectful.
He recounted a story of visiting Miyajima, one of the famous Shinto shrines in Hiroshima, and it being just him and an older Japanese gentleman who actually followed the procedure of washing their hands and mouth before bowing to go through the gate.
Meanwhile, throngs of tourists walked past without even stopping, oblivious to their faux pas.
Planning enough time for a good trip
Harold's first trip was 23 days, which he said was about how much time you'd want if you're planning to visit multiple cities. He feels you need more than just a few days in one of the major cities like Tokyo or Kyoto so you can leave space to allow plenty of time to really experience the city, not just hurry between sightseeing spots on a tight schedule.
Just relaxing in a park or wandering around without a timeline are the best opportunities to be present and observant in the moment, leaving space for memorable interactions to occur.
If a week or two is all you can spare for the trip, Harold recommends cutting back on the number of destinations to be able to get to know the place you're staying better.
Making it memorable
We asked Harold what was his most memorable experience during his trip.
He responded that all of his most memorable experiences were moments that couldn't be recreated if you tried to—a small conversation on a backstreet with a man walking his dog at dusk; asking a shop owner for directions and being escorted all the way to the destination 3 blocks away; joking with a father about the silly behavior of his son while exploring the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima—this type of small, spontaneous, non-repeatable interactions with people.
These sorts of experiences were a chance to create a very small connection with somebody using Japanese and sometimes English.
In order to have these sorts of moments, Harold said it's essential to leave time in your schedule where you don't have anything to do.
Apart from creating space in your schedule, Harold's other tip to open the door to connection with locals is to study a little Japanese.
Harold has been studying Japanese for several years now, and though he finds it difficult at his age and especially after having a stroke to be able to speak very well, he said it's made a huge difference in the interactions that he's had while on his trips.
It's provided an opportunity to show the locals that he's done some work to try to understand the culture and give something back.
On His Next Trip
Harold will be visiting Japan again this spring right during the busiest travel season of the year: Golden Week. He's planning more than four weeks in Tokyo, Aomori, Yokohama, Fukuoka, and Nagasaki.
Hopefully we'll get to see him too, if he stops by the Shonan area. :)
