Inhalt (English text below)

Leonard Cohen, einer der beliebtesten Musiker und Dichter der Welt, berührte die Herzen unzähliger Menschen rund um den Globus. Ende der 60er Jahre lernte er seinen Zen-Meister Joshu Sasaki Roshi kennen, der später sein engster Freund und Weggefährte wurde. Nach 25 Jahren meditativer Praxis zog sich Cohen sechs Jahre lang in die Einsamkeit eines Zen-Klosters zurück und wurde zum Zen-Mönch (Mönchsname „Jikan“) ordiniert – eine entscheidende Zeit seines Lebens, in der die spirituelle Praxis seinen kreativen Prozess neu entfachte.

Auf diesem Seminar werden die beiden Freunde und Zen-Mönche Koshin Chris Cain und Shingen Jan Gaensslen* darüber reflektieren, wie Cohen seine Zen-Erfahrungen in seinen Songs persönlich-poetisch ausdrückte. Manche seiner Texte sind eindeutig auf den Zen-Weg und die Lehre seines Meisters Joshu Roshi bezogen, häufiger jedoch sind es einzelne Zeilen und Strophen, die wie kostbare Juwelen in Cohens Werk verwoben sind.

This one-day seminar sheds a poetic light on the Zen Buddhist tradition while introducing us to the human being and spiritual seeker Leonard Cohen. It includes an introduction to Zen meditation. No previous experience is necessary for this. If you don’t want to sit on a meditation cushion on the floor, you can sit on a chair.

Leonard Cohen, one of the world’s most popular musicians and poets, touched the hearts of countless people around the globe. At the end of the 1960s he met his Zen master Joshu Sasaki Roshi, who later became his closest friend and companion. After 25 years of meditative practice, Cohen retreated into the solitude of a Zen monastery for six years and was ordained as a Zen monk (monk’s name „Jikan“) – a pivotal time in his life in which spiritual practice re-ignited his creative process.

At this seminar, the two friends and Zen monks Koshin Chris Cain and Shingen Jan Gaensslen will reflect on how Cohen personally and poetically expressed his Zen experiences in his songs. Some of his texts are clearly related to the Zen path and the teachings of his master Joshu Roshi, but there are individual lines and verses that are woven into Cohen’s work like precious jewels.

Seminar leaders

Koshin and Shingen practiced side by side with Jikan Leonard Cohen at Mt. Baldy Zen Center in the 1990s.

Koshin Christopher Cain, born in London in 1965, grew up in England and later in North Carolina, USA. In 1990 he moved to the „Mt. Baldy Zen Center“ monastery in California, where he became a monk under Zen master Joshu Sasaki Roshi and was ordained an Osho (priest) in 1999. Koshin is now the presiding abbot and teacher of the Puget Sound Zen Center in the USA and the Rinzai Zen Senters Oslo in Norway.

Shingen Jan Gaensslen, born in Munich in 1970, has been practicing Zen Buddhism since 1991. In 1994 he moved to the „Mt. Baldy Zen Center“ monastery, where he trained as a monk under Zen master Joshu Sasaki Roshi. In 2003, Roshi told him to move back to Germany, where he now leads a Zen group and teaches piano in Berlin. He has an 18-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter.

„I admit that I sometimes made up a reason to knock on Leonard’s door. He always invited me over, often read me the latest verse of whatever he was working on…“ Koshin

„Leonard once confided to me that Roshi had asked him to write poems about the relationship between incomplete and complete love. His record „10 New Songs“, which he released after his time in the monastery, is full of reflections on this topic.“ Shingen

10:00 Uhr
* Begrüßung, Vorstellung, kurze Meditation
* Leonard Cohen – der buddhistische Jude, der Lieder über Jesus schrieb
* Einführung in die Zen-Meditation
* Love Itself – Wahre Liebe bei Cohen und im Zen13:15 Uhr Mittagspause14:15 Uhr
* The absent Mare – Leiden und die Suche nach dem wahren Selbst
* Zazen – das Herz der Zen-Meditation
* There is a crack in everything – von der Zerbrochenheit zum Licht
* Abschluss-Ritual

10:00 am
* Welcome, introduction, short meditation
* Leonard Cohen – the Buddhist Jew who wrote songs about Jesus
* Introduction to Zen meditation
* Love Itself – True love in Cohen and Zen1:15 pm lunch break2:15 pm
* The absent Mare – suffering and the search for the true self
* Zazen – the heart of Zen meditation
* There is a crack in everything – from brokenness to light
* Closing meditation/ritual
* Discussion
5:30 pm end

Während des Seminars werden Auszüge aus Songs und Texte zu hören sein wie:  Suzann, Anthem, If it be your will, Hallelujah, Heart with no companion, Love Itelf, Boogie Street, Coming Home, Come Healing, The Absent Mare, Gedichte aus dem „Book of Longing“ uvm. Folgendes Gedicht schrieb Leonard während seines Mönchstrainings auf Mt. Baldy: