Most of the work with a koan takes place alone while sitting zazan, because in reality there's nothing anyone can give us. There's nothing that we lack. Each one of us is perfect and complete, lacking nothing. That's why it is said that there are no Zen teachers and nothing to teach. But this truth must be realised by each one of us. Great faith, great doubt, and great determination are three essentials for that realisation. It is a boundless faith in oneself and in the ability to realise oneself and make oneself free, and a deep and penetrating doubt that asks: Who am I? What is life ? What is truth ? This great faith and great doubt are in dynamic tension with each other, and work to provide the real cutting edge of koan practice. When great faith and great doubt are also accompanied by great determination (the determination of " Seven times knocked down, eight times get up " ), we have at our disposal the power necessary to break through our delusive way of thinking and realise the full potential of our lives.
John Daido Loori