警けい覚かく策さく励れい

noun

Zen stick; keisaku; kyosaku

A flat wooden stick used in Zen meditation to strike drowsy or inattentive practitioners on the shoulders, helping them stay alert. Also known as 警策 (けいさく/きょうさく).

See also: 座禅

• 座ざ禅ぜん中ちゅうに眠ねむ気けを感かんじたので、警けい覚かく策さく励れいで肩かたを打うってもらった。

  During zazen I felt drowsy, so I received a strike on the shoulder with the keisaku.