Hongzhi is a 12th century Chinese Zen Master who is mostly unknown to us today, but was an immense influence on Dogen. He was the first to articulate silent illumination, commonly known as “just sitting.” Although this meditation does not ultimately involve concentration on an object or stages of advancement, it is not without technique. In his Practice Instructions Hongzhi urges practitioners to “take the backward step and directly reach the middle of the circle from where light issues forth,” and elsewhere to “turn within and drop off everything completely, and realization will occur.”