Mokurai: Zazen Timer
Simple Zen Meditation timer
Only for iPhone
Free · Designed for iPhone. Not verified for macOS.
iPhone
Set the bells to your own lineage — how many strikes, how long every pause. Kinhin can open or close the sitting. Or go silent, and let someone ring the real bell.
Mokurai — "silent thunder" — is a focused meditation timer designed in the Sanbo Zen tradition. It does one thing: helps you sit, with the bells that mark the rhythm of practice.
Plan a session in seconds. Choose the number of rounds, your zazen length, and kinhin (walking meditation) — between rounds as usual, or opening and closing the sitting. Pick from six authentic bell sounds — keisu, rin, inkin, meditation, temple, and Tibetan — and two wooden han clappers used to time kinhin.
Then make it match how your sangha actually practises. Set how many strikes open zazen, how many close it before kinhin, and how many end the sitting. Set every pause in between — standing after the closing gongs, walking back to your seat, settling before the next round — down to the second. Mokurai ships with the Sanbo Zen pattern and will return to it whenever you want.
Sitting where someone else rings the real bell? Switch the signal to vibration. The phone stays silent and the timekeeper feels each cue — three pulses for a bell, one for the han — so nothing but the real keisu is heard in the room.
A lights-out mode dims the screen for sitting in a dark zendo — a single tap, and the only thing left is the bell. The timer runs quietly in the background, so you can lock your phone or place it face-down and just sit. Your setup is remembered, so the next sit starts where the last one left off.
Your session history is recorded locally so you can see the consistency of your practice over weeks and months.
No accounts, no logins, no ads, no trackers, no analytics. Nothing leaves your device. Just a timer, bells, and your sit.
Features: • Rounds, zazen length, and kinhin — between rounds, or opening and closing the sitting • Set the bell counts to your lineage: opening zazen, closing before kinhin, ending the sitting • Every pause adjustable, down to the second — with the Sanbo Zen defaults one tap away • Six bell sounds and two han clappers rooted in real practice traditions • Vibration-only mode for retreats, when someone else rings the real bell • Lights-out mode for sitting in a dark zendo • Local session history — see your practice over time • Background audio so bells play even when the screen is locked • Your setup remembered between sits • Dark, distraction-free interface • No tracking, no accounts, no data collection
For sitters at any level — beginning, returning, or longstanding.
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Mokurai now bends to how your sangha actually practises.
• Kinhin can open or close a sitting, not only fall between rounds. A closing walk ends on the han, with no bell after it. • Set the bells yourself: how many strikes open zazen, how many close it before kinhin, and how many end the sitting. The opening run can be silenced entirely for a still start. • Set every pause, down to the second — standing after the closing gongs, walking back to your seat, settling before the next round. The Sanbo Zen defaults are always one tap away. • New vibration-only signal, for sitting where someone else rings the real bell. The phone stays silent and you feel each cue instead. • Your setup is remembered between sits. • The pause before kinhin is shorter, and the han that follows it now signals the bow and the start of walking together.
Sitting with this app and something is off, or missing? There's a feedback link in Settings — I read all of it.
The developer, Sooties LLC, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Sooties LLC
- Size
- 25.2 MB
- Category
- Health & Fitness
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.1 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 15.1 or later. - iPod touch
Requires iOS 15.1 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Sooties LLC
