The Berlin ZEN monk Jan Shingen Gaensslen has known Leonard Cohen since 1993, when he attended the first sesshin in Scheibbs, Austria, in which he was also a participant. A year later, his path led him to the Californian Zen monastery of Leonard Cohen’s Zen master Roshi, to Mt. Baldy. Jan Shingen Gaensslen completed his monk training there in 2003. When Leonard Cohen then moved (more or less) completely to Mt. Baldy (approx. 1994 – 1999), they sometimes practiced together knee to knee in the zendo. One summer he shared the Jiki cabin with Cohen. In two weeks, Jan Shingen Gaensslen will give seminars in Munich and Stuttgart entitled „Leonard Cohen and Zen“. In it, he presents the Zen themes in Leonard’s songs and poems (with musical examples) while offering an introduction to Zen meditation.
