Book Excerpt: The Zen Time Traveler. A Pilgrim’s Journey Through the Koans by Stephen Billias

“A single haiku is a portal to the past. But finding enlightenment might cost him his future.”

For Zen student Stephen Maine, a simple poem is not just poetry—it is a gateway. In a breath, the walls of his modern life dissolve, hurling him across the centuries into the heart of thirteenth-century China. Here, the legendary Chan masters are not myths, and the ancient koans are not riddles—they are lived reality. But Stephen is not alone in this timeline. He shares his physical form and mind with Wùkōng, a wandering Japanese monk destined to shape the history of Zen.

When both men fall for Yabaku, a beautiful and fiercely independent maker of mystical swords, the fabric of time begins to fray. Torn between his fractured present-day marriage and a growing, profound connection in the past, Stephen must navigate a maze of spiritual awakening and earthly desires. If he finds enlightenment, he may never find his way home…

Praise for The Zen Time Traveler

“A sweeping saga… at once a journey, a spiritual exploration, and a meditation on the ways time, perception, and devotion intersect. With immersive prose that paints vivid scenes of Song Dynasty monasteries, Billias delivers a seamless exploration of presence, awareness, and human longing.” —Publishers Weekly (Editor’s Pick)

More Reviews after the excerpt.

Excerpt with permission of author Stephen Billias, please enjoy:

CHAPTER 1

I was in a Zen meditation one evening at the zendo when it all started. I was sitting cross-legged with a sangha of a dozen or so other Zen students, idly daydreaming and watching the incessant flood of thoughts that passed through my head. I wondered what I would have for dinner after, ruing the errors I had made during the day, and in my life. There were so many bad moments, an as-yet unwritten 800-page memoir entitled My Mistakes, full of the things I’ve said and done to my wife Joanna.

I’m Stephen Maine, a middle-aged project manager for a small software company. Medium height, brown hair, brown eyes, half-Greek. Everyman-ish. I’m still a Zen beginner. I started to occasionally meet with a particular group a few years ago.

We sit in zazen, trying to be still and empty our minds of thought. Or so I thought.

There I was on the cushion, mentally fidgeting about the endless meaningless trivialities of my life, when suddenly the following verse popped into my mind:

still point. endless time

intersects limitless space

right where you are now

And then, without me desiring to do so, and without anyone asking me if I wanted this ride, I blinked and found myself no longer in the zendo, but in another place! What was happening to me? I had no context. I was clueless. Frightened. Wildly disassociated. I was in a hallway. One wall was decorated with a bas-relief of a golden dragon. On the opposite wall were portraits of the seven Chan patriarchs.

I glanced down at my body. It was not my middle-aged, slightly paunchy shape, but a thin, wiry frame, and my skin had a dusky yellow color. I was dressed in a loose-fitting monk’s robe. I was walking with another monk. As we strode down this hallway, this monk glanced up at a picture of the bearded Bodhidharma, and casually asked me, “Why doesn’t the barbarian have a beard?”

I opened my mouth to reply but no words came out. To say he didn’t have a beard was the height of absurdity. The monk didn’t expect an answer from me. He didn’t think I could reason it out. Because I was acting strangely, he gave me a little tip, a hint, and a prompt. He stroked his non-existent beard. Where was I? When was I? Clearly, I was having a psychotic episode. I had no frame of reference. When I went with the flow and didn’t think about it, I was somewhere else, some time else, as surely as I am timescaping with you right now. As soon as I started to differentiate, I was immediately hurled and hurtled back into my present Stephen Maine form, seated on a cushion in an American zendo in the twenty-first century. What had happened? Why me? I hadn’t asked for this. I didn’t know. But I couldn’t mull over those paradoxes any longer because in Northampton, Massachusetts in 2024, the meditation leader was ringing the bell for kinhin meditative walking, and we were all rising, me a little disoriented but happy to “be here now.”

CHAPTER 2

During the second sit after kinhin I tried to will myself into the time-travel state again. It didn’t work like that. Just the opposite. It was only when I was completely without will, effort, or intention that I could fly. When I reached the zero-point place of the verse, I was transported again. This time I was on a narrow path hugging a cliff face high above a muddy red river. I was alone. But not for long.

Around the bend in the path came a stumpy, thick man dressed like me in the robes of a monk. His stride had a slight swagger to it, like a samurai’s way of walking. As he approached, I stopped. The trail was barely wide enough for two to pass unimpeded. I put my back against the limestone wall as far as possible from the dizzying drop-off to the river below. I gestured for him to go by, but instead he stopped in front of me and asked me: “If you meet a person on the path who has accomplished the Way, do not greet the person with words or silence. Tell me, how will you greet that person?”

I was speechless. Out of my depth. Disoriented. The monk said: “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He continued walking and never turned around to look at me even though I followed him with my eyes down a long incline until he disappeared out of sight.

I wanted to run after him but didn’t know what might happen. Suddenly I was jettisoned back into the Northampton zendo in 2024, looking around foolishly. No one had any idea that anything out of the ordinary had happened, where I’d gone, how I’d returned. Neither did I.

Book Information

Title: The Zen Time Traveler: A Pilgrim’s Journey Through the Koans

Author: Stephen Billias

ISBN Numbers:

Availability:

Publisher: Discovery Publisher

Stephen Billias Bio

Stephen Billias is the published author of seven fantasy novels, one collection of short stories, and a literary novel, Pilgrim Maya, that he wrote with his wife Bela Breslau. He is a MacDowell Fellow.

Stephen has worked as a professional actor, street-performing juggler, dishwasher, New York City taxi driver, technical writer, and project manager. He is a longtime practitioner of the esoteric Japanese martial art Shintaido. He lives in Deerfield Massachusetts where he and Bela established and ran the Shintaido Farm, a spiritual retreat center for the practice of Shintaido, from 2006-2016.

For the last fifteen years, Stephen has studied Tai Chi with renowned teacher Wolfe Lowenthal. He sits with the Boundless Way Zen group in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he is often jiki (practice leader) or doan (bellringer). A former student of the legendary Roshi Bernie Glassman, Billias brings a rare combination of historical rigor and spiritual authenticity to his prose.

Stephen Billias

Information Links and How to Contact the Author

Website: http://www.billiasbreslauwriters.com

Blog: http://www.billiasbreslauwriters.com/blog

Social Media URLs:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StephenBelaWriters/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-billias/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/stephenbillias

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20745142-stephen-billias

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sbillias36/

Substack: @stephenbillias

More Reviews

“In The Zen Time Traveler, Stephen Billias offers up a wild joyride through the temples of ancient China. This read is a romp that honors the great Zen masters while exploring the age-old universal ache of clinging, in this case to two different worlds. Forget about quiet sitting; this is a whirlwind tour of the 13th century masters, filled with classical koans, spiritual comedy, and fun.” —Chōbun Nenzen, Abiding Teacher, Jikoji Zen Center

“In ‘The Zen Time Traveler,’ Stephen Billias offers a rare and imaginative doorway into the living heart of Zen. Through visionary journeys into the Song dynasty, he brings the great koans to life as direct, embodied experiences, creating a compelling bridge between timeless Zen wisdom and the day-to-day challenges of modern life.” —Roshi Fleet Maull, PhD, Author of Radical Responsibility

“Definitely worth reading and rereading! The Zen Time Traveler tells an engrossing story that explores multiple dimensions of time, space, and personal identity, while at the same time providing a unique opportunity for beginners, and experienced practitioners as well, to contemplate Zen koans and their implications.” —Barbara McHugh, Teacher of Buddhism and meditation & author of the award-winning novel Bride of the Buddha

“It’s an oft-repeated cliché that the journey is more important than the destination. But in Stephen Billias’s The Zen Time Traveler, the journey is the destination. For those familiar with Zen koans, it will be an uncommon and moving quest to find meaning in their purposeful ambiguity. For the rest of us, it’s an encouragement to continue seeking. Because even if we never get where we thought we were going, we’ll learn a lot about ourselves on the way.” —John Harrison, Writer, Director; Tales From The Darkside, Frank Herbert’s Dune, The Miniseries; Author of the novels Passing Through Veils and Residue