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In the days of Obaku and Rinzai it was the practice to give 30 blow with a stick or just strike with a stick. Why have this way of teaching ended? Why did it work?

November 27, 2011, 4:45 pmThe saying about 30 blows is an appeal. It was custom if a monk had done something against the rules, to hit him 20 times on each shoulder as a punishment. Usually the keisaku is being used only 2 times in the summer and 4 times in the winter especially in China, where they were wearing cotton filled coats. Also the thickness of the keisaku was changed in the winter time to a thicker type. But it is a question whether the practise of hitting 30 times was actually used. It is more a wake up call, that 30 blows could be given - to catch the monk's attention and create some tension.