As soon as sitting still is mentioned in here, it seems like someone blows a gasket saying that is not what Zen is. All I see here is people “deciphering” what the Zen Masters mean in the public cases which seem like riddles. The Koans are not meant to be solved with the mind. They are using the mind to go beyond mind to the still point reaching satori (Rinzai). Confirmed by a Zen Master.This is done during Zazen and bleeds into everyday life.
Shikantaza is not koan study but just sitting, objectless meditation. With no goal just letting thoughts come and go, sometimes reaching completely still mind(Samadhi) True Nature.
Some also sit counting breaths and return to the breath when the mind wanders.
If you enter into any Zen Monastary worldwide regardless if it is Rinzai or Soto, these are the main practices. The Koans come into play to sit with during Zazen then discussed during Dokusan with a teacher who has received inka.
To say Zazen or Sitting is not crucial to Zen makes it sound like one has never even set foot in a Zen Monastary. Let alone met and spoken to a Zen Master. Going completely off some misguided autodidact solitary “knowledge” of Zen
It doesn’t matter if one has 10 PhD’s worth of Zen knowledge, read thousands of books and can quote any zen master in all history. If one has not had the direct experience of the true nature of mind one doesn’t understand anything. This goes beyond books,words, concepts, masters and any authority. These are all obstacles. It is ineffable.
People who are so against sitting in Zen and so passionately argue against it probably can not sit still for 5 min. Also have never been able to still the mind at all. Not that that is the point. It is all about just sitting. It all here it’s all now.
It’s a hard pill to swallow and will ruffle some feathers, but if one doesn’t have a sitting practice you can’t call yourself a zen practitioner. Doesn’t matter if one has studied for decades. Sit down and shut up for a change.
Submitted March 22, 2023 at 10:54PM by Aya-Bodhisattva https://ift.tt/IGSQvp8
No comments:
Post a Comment