Practicing Embodied Awareness

Practicing embodied awareness. Fully concentrate all the energy on the gracefulness of the posture, instead of following the preoccupations of our mind. We are content with following the rhythm of the breathing. The posture needs to be strong. The back needs to be strong and straight. The front, is relaxed and flexible. The muscles in the face are relaxed. The eyes are under a slight angle downward with a soft gaze. Not watching anything in particular. The muscles in the front, in the cheeks, around the mouth, the shoulders, the chest, the belly, they all relax.

Transcript

During Zazen,

Don't do anything else but practicing.

Practicing what?

Practicing embodied awareness.

We concentrate all the energy on the gracefulness of the posture and instead of following the preoccupations of our mind,

We are content with following the rhythm of the breathing.

The posture needs to be strong,

The knees or the feet pushing well on the ground,

The body weight on the zafu or on the seat,

The top of the head pushing toward the sky,

The back needs to be strong and straight,

The front relaxed and flexible,

The muscles in the face are relaxed,

The eyes are under a slight angle with a soft gaze,

Not watching anything in particular,

The muscles in the front,

In the cheeks,

Around the mouth,

The shoulders,

The chest,

The belly,

They all relax.

In that very energetic posture,

We let go of our thoughts.

We abandon our thoughts in the breathing,

Especially the breathing out,

Which goes all the way until the end,

Until there's no air left in the lungs and the energy is concentrated low in the belly,

In the hara.

Fully breathing out is the most direct way to gain wisdom.

Often we think that we need some inspiration,

That wisdom is coming through new ideas,

But wisdom is not something that is accumulated by new ideas,

By gaining knowledge.

It's quite the opposite.

Prajna or prana,

The wisdom that allows us to go beyond,

Beyond the state of dissatisfaction,

Beyond our attachments,

Our delusions,

This wisdom is gained by breathing out.

It is by not doing,

By not acting,

By returning back to the normal condition of our being,

By coming back to the core of our essence,

Which is nothing fixed.

It is not something substantial,

Separate from the universe.

On contrary,

It is embracing that we fully exist in relation to everything else.

It is realizing that all of what we live and all of what we are is a gift,

A present.

We've been given our body through the DNA of our parents,

A body that allows us to feel,

To see,

To hear,

To experience life through the senses,

And none of this is substantial.

The body constantly changes,

The sensations constantly change,

Our perceptions,

Our mental processes,

Emotions,

And even our consciousness constantly changes,

Completely interrelated with everything else.

When we deeply realize that,

We automatically are relieved.

We become joyful,

Confident,

Compassionate,

Ready to open up to new opportunity,

To a new possibility presented by life.

Therefore,

While entirely focusing on the posture,

Breathe out completely before we take on a new inbreath.

What a miracle,

This life.