Key To Zazen 2 Clouds & Mind

A talk that describes how to relate to thoughts and feelings in shikantaza (just sitting) and Soto Zen meditation practice that has no goal except to maintain presence and no object of concentration. Promotes a non-judgmental attitude toward thoughts through a process of acceptance without attachment or aversion.

Transcript

Ki Tzazen Part 2 Clouds and Mind Seiso Sensei here.

Thank you for joining me today.

Let's begin with a check on the posture.

The spine is erect,

But it's not stiff.

If you're sitting in a chair,

Make sure that you're not leaning into the back of the chair and that the shoulders are relaxed.

The left hand palm facing up rests in the right palm,

Thumb tips touching very lightly,

As if you were holding a very thin piece of paper with the tips of your thumbs.

Now I'll ring the bell three times to begin the meditation,

And after a brief period of silence,

I'll begin to talk about how we relate to the mind and the thoughts in Chikantaza,

Which is the form of Tzazen or Zen meditation that we're practicing here.

Absorb the bell with your whole being,

Not just with your ears.

Hear it,

Feel it,

Sense it.

Okay.

Bell Bell Bell Bell Bell Bell Bell Bell Hehei Dogen,

The 13th century founder of the Soto Zen tradition in Japan,

Gives us a very clear and detailed instructions regarding the preliminaries of the environment,

Clothing,

Seating,

And the physical mechanics of sitting practice in his 1227 document,

Fukanza-zenji,

Which means the universal principles of Zen meditation.

However,

He says very little,

Almost nothing,

About how to relate to the mind and to our thoughts when we practice this form of meditation.

He simply offers us a brief koan.

Think of not thinking.

How do you think of not thinking?

By non-thinking.

That's it.

That's all he says.

What does this terse and enigmatic instruction mean?

The most straightforward answer is to just let the thoughts be.

Leave them alone.

Now,

I'm using thoughts here as a shorthand for anything that arises internally,

Including thoughts,

Feelings,

Fantasies,

Dreams,

Wishes,

Emotions,

Worries,

Evaluations,

Or judgments.

In short,

Anything that may come to your mind as you sit in meditation.

So,

We simply sit without attachment or aversion.

That is,

Without grasping the thoughts and without pushing them away.

You might recall how I described the relationship to breathing in the previous talk,

Ki to Zazen,

Preliminaries.

In this practice,

We don't count or control the breath,

And we don't particularly concentrate on the breath.

We simply notice it when we notice it,

And we don't notice it when we don't.

Here is how ancient teachers describe this relationship to breathing during meditation,

And I quote,

When there is a short breath,

Notice that there is a short breath.

And when there is a long breath,

Notice that the breath is long.

In other words,

Just keep sitting.

That's all.

We relate to the thoughts in the very same way.

When a thought arises,

Notice the thought.

When the thought fades,

Notice that it has faded,

And perhaps another thought arises.

Or perhaps awareness has been drawn to another sense perception,

Such as a bird chirping,

Or a truck motor revving,

Or a cloud passing in the sky.

Then we notice the next thought.

Maybe an image of a bird will arise or a good feeling in response to the bird song.

Maybe a feeling of annoyance will emerge as the truck's engine revs and disrupts the silence.

In either case,

We simply continue to sit without attachment or aversion.

The influential Zen teacher,

Suzuki Hiroshi,

Describes our relation to thoughts like this,

And I quote,

Do not try to stop your mind,

But leave everything as it is.

Then things will not stay in your mind so long.

Things will come as they come and go as they go.

End of quote.

Mind is like the clear blue sky,

And thoughts,

Well,

They're like clouds,

Passing clouds.

Sometimes there are lots of clouds.

Sometimes there are few.

Sometimes there are none.

We can have many different reactions to clouds,

Depending on the context.

For example,

On a hot,

Sunny summer day,

We might welcome a cloud or two and the gentle breeze that it might evoke.

On a dreary,

Overcast winter day,

We might want to wish the clouds away,

Although we know that we can't.

Sometimes the clouds feel light and airy,

As if they were just dancing in the sky.

At other times,

The clouds feel oppressive and heavy,

And the mood feels dark.

It's really the same with our thoughts.

Some thoughts make us happy or relaxed.

Other thoughts can be disturbing,

And they can put us in a bad mood.

Just like the clouds,

We don't push the thoughts away.

We may try,

But that simply doesn't work because the mind is supposed to think.

That's what it does.

Also,

The more energy that we put into pushing thought away,

The more energy that the thought will have.

So,

What can we do?

Well,

We simply watch their rise and fall,

Their coming and going,

Their transformation,

Without judgment,

Or even the self-judgment that we might be doing something wrong because we're having thoughts.

The idea that meditation is the elimination of thoughts is just wrong.

What's important is our relationship to thoughts and what that relationship involves.

We sit without attachment or aversion or any effort to induce so-called,

Quote,

Good thoughts,

Or to get rid of so-called,

Quote,

Bad thoughts.

The problem here is that if you try to suppress your thoughts,

You're really suppressing the natural flow and unfolding of the meditation practice.

You might end up pressuring yourself and creating more unnecessary tension.

So,

Simply relax and watch the rising and falling of all experience.

This is the key to freedom and to comfort.

This is the key to the deep awareness of your essential nature,

Your basic goodness.

This process is embodied in the notion of hishiryō.

Hishiryō is the Japanese term for non-thinking.

When we get it that it is our relationship to thoughts and not the thoughts themselves that are the problem,

You will find a relaxation of the pressure to stop thinking,

And here is where the deeper sense of peace can be experienced regardless of your thoughts.

So keep on practicing no matter what.

And,

Of course,

If you have any questions or comments or any insights that you would like to share,

Please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you.

Reviews

Thank you, Sensei 🙏 I’ve been trying the ‘eyes half open’ method the last few days, and I wonder what the guidance is on blinking? I notice that my eyes feel dry and burning, and I’m tempted to close them. Is the goal to not blink at all? Thank you 🙏

Good info - better categorized as a talk than a meditation

Clear and concise. Very helpful and practical advice.
Thank you!
Namaste.

Enjoyed the practice and learned a lot. Thank you 😊🙏

I always appreciate Seiso‘s talks. They are clear and helpful. Many thanks.

Very clear teaching. Thank you.

Simple, uncluttered and encouraging guidance. Honest and unadorned. Thank you, Paul.

A wonderful continuation, again very beneficial for those seeking to understand and practice meditation in the Zen tradition.

Thank you for this talk. It makes sense in so many ways. I am very much enjoying starting my day with one of your talks/teachings. And afterwards, I sit in shikintazu meditation.

I'm so very grateful to you! 🙏

Very helpful guidance on how to work with thoughts (i.e., thought, feeling, emotion, sensation etc.); neither grasping or avoiding them. Simply allowing all to be as it is, noticing all phenomena come and go, that's all.

Thank you 🙏🏼

I have been practicing Vipassana since years, so this is different for me.
How ever, I'd like to clarify some doubts:
1) in Vipassana one focuses their attention on a small part of the body part by part untill the entire body has been surveyed.
As far as I have understood your guidance, one doesn't survey we per my explanation above but simply just sits - on doing so, the sensations just appear from different parts of your body to notice. My doubt regarding it is that how does one develope the faculty to notice subtle sensations within shikantanza when we don't focus on the dormant parts of the body and just notice gross sensations that come to our attention.
2) don't we miss out on surveying dormant parts of the body?

I understand that craving and aversion are both supposed to be avoided.

Thanks Sensei, very interesting! Question, so had do you develop your relationship with thoughts in terms of the emotions they visit upon you?

Wonderful reminders and motivation to commit to simply sit. Thank you! 🙏🏼🌸

Be. Outstanding. Gratitude.

Perfect way to help us deal with our thoughts during meditation

Not thinking about thinking. I really liked the cloud analogy - in a sense accepting whatever the weather is (ie your thoughts)

Most helpful, thank you

excellent, thank you!