Zen Stories & Koans Meet IFS Parts Work
Zen stories and koans don’t explain. They crack. Disrupt. Dismantle the story you think is “you.” Internal Family Systems (IFS) offers something just as radical: an invitation to sit beside your parts without solving them. To witness the protector.
To bow to the one who’s afraid. Here, we pair ancient Zen parables with modern parts work. Not to interpret them but to let them land in you. To feel the koan from the inside out.
You’ll notice we don’t “explain” the stories. We ask questions. We help you notice how your system responds. That’s all.
That’s the blend. Zen says: "Don’t understand, become it." IFS says: "Don’t fix the part be with it." Together, they become a sacred practice of presence.
Our Zen & Koans IFS journey will begin Jan 1, 2026! Come join us!
Top 30 Zen Stories for Our Series
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No Water, No Moon
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A Cup of Tea
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Muddy Road
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The Sound of One Hand
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The Gates of Paradise
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Learning to Be Silent
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Is That So?
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Working Very Hard
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The Moon Cannot Be Stolen
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The Dead Man’s Answer
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The Thief Who Became a Disciple
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The Stingy Artist
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The Taste of Banzo’s Sword
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Ryokan’s Gift
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Nothing Exists
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The Voice of Happiness
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The True Path
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The Last Poem of Hoshin
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The Subtle Teaching
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A Buddha
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Killing
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Black-Nosed Buddha
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What Are You Doing! What Are You Saying!
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In Dreamland
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Zen in a Beggar’s Life
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The Big Mistake
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The Philosopher and the Boatman
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The Tea-Master’s Duel
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Shoichi’s Enlightenment
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Gudo and the Emperor
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Joshu’s MU
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Wash Your Bowl
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Hyakujo’s Fox
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Nansen Cuts the Cat
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Obaku’s “Not Mind, Not Buddha”
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Three Pounds of Flax
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The Flag in the Wind
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Bodhidharma and the Emperor
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Basho’s “What Is Zen?”
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A Buddha Before Buddha
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The Wooden Buddha
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Nan-in and the Scholar
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The Stone Mind
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