I can't help but feel that we are throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
I wonder if sitting meditation(zazen) was criticized by Zen Masters only because it became the thing in itself(the Moon as opposed to the practice of seeing it.)
It's common sense that those who have incurred some type of trauma, both mild and severe,(thereby concentrating all of our attention on our thoughts/concepts) would benefit greatly from sitting and allowing the Mind to process these painful memories.
Is Zen then a form of psychotherapy? No, but freeing ourselves from the delusion of mind(small m) by seeing things as they are will most definitely allow one to come to terms with his past and meet every moment as it is, rather than through a conceptual filter.
So as it were, Zazen in my view shouldn't be looked at as inherently good or bad. If a whole sect has gone all in on this practice and turns it into some kind of dogmatic requirement to sit purely out of tradition/belief, then I am all for u/ewk-ing the shit out of that as I would any other unskillful promotion of any practice.
However, if a seeker is clearly troubled(than the average unenlightened) due to some sort of unaddressed trauma(look for symptoms such as hypervigilance, concentration problems, substance abuse, ruminations etc), it appears reasonable that not only would it be a miss to discourage zazen but it should be actively encouraged.
An absolute yes or no to anything including Zazen is picking and choosing. As Zen teachers, we must be willing to look past our preferences or what has worked for us(and most of our students) and provide the teaching(and practice) that is most suitable to that individual at that particular moment.
tldr: concerning Zazen; are we not throwing the baby out with the bath water?
Submitted February 11, 2020 at 09:58AM by AskingRddit https://ift.tt/38cMPng
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