Meditation sits at the heart of Linji’s teaching: seated zazen held with upright posture and relaxed alertness, watching thoughts rise and fall without clinging. Yet the Record of Linji never lingers in gentle stillness alone. Surprise shouts (katsu) and even a light strike with the kyosaku stick serve as skillful means to snap the mind out of its daydreams—cutting through delusion like a hot knife through butter.

Key practices include:

• Zazen: cultivating open awareness, letting thoughts pass like clouds.
• Koan investigation: leaning into paradoxical questions until words collapse and direct insight dawns.
• Direct transmission: one-to-one encounters with a master, where a single shout or gesture can ignite awakening.
• Everyday mindfulness: treating each chore—washing dishes, sweeping floors—as the full expression of practice.
• Non-discrimination: recognizing every moment, mundane or sublime, as inseparable from Buddha-nature.

In a time of endless social-media scrolling and back-to-back video calls, Linji’s approach feels like a cold splash of water—refreshing, disarming, impossible to ignore. His emphasis on a “special transmission outside scriptures” resonates with today’s craving for authenticity over mere theory. Practicing Linji’s Zen becomes a radical unplugging from autopilot, a return to raw, embodied presence.

Teacher–student encounters remain vital; a well-timed shout in a Dharma hall can feel as shocking as a trending news alert, yet it points directly to the solidity of one’s own mind. While mindfulness apps and digital retreats proliferate, Linji’s unfiltered methods offer a powerful counterbalance: reminding that real awakening arises not from polished presentations, but from fearless, face-to-face engagement with life as it unfolds.