Why don’t Zen teachers talk about qi?

My guess is because Zen is an attempt to focus almost as exclusively as possible on the everpresent stillness and inherent emptiness of all form, no matter how subtle or gross that form may be. From this perspective qi flow is not fundamentally unlike any movement of form … blood flow, taking a walk, cooking breakfast, sleeping. It’s all still “the world of manifestation”.

Not to say that qi flow cannot be presented with perhaps equally skillfull means though. When qi is framed as movement itself, as thoughts, desires, perceptions, emotions, etc., all an endless flow of qi that will never be finished and simultaneously the question “what is Silently Aware of movement?” is held until the separation between the imagination of yourself and That Which Is Aware falls away, then we have a spiritual path and not just healthful qi exercises. Not that there is anything wrong with healthful qi exercises of course.

Recently I was surprised to hear a Zen teacher, Cheri Huber, speak about energy flow like this on WIE Unbound although I don’t remember her ever saying qi outright she did mention chakras.