Welcome.
Thank you for being here.
The question that I'll address in this talk is,
What is Zazen?
Let's begin with this quote from Zen Master Taisen Dashimaru.
The experience of Zazen undermines all definitions.
It wears them out,
Empties and explodes them.
Nothing remains but the absolute reality of lived experience alone and complete.
I see techniques such as counting or following the breath,
For example,
As methods that distract from the bare reality that Dashimaru Roshi refers to in this quote.
Dainen Katagiri Roshi,
The founder of my lineage in America,
Describes these techniques as decorations.
There is an old Zen expression,
We don't add flowers to brocade.
It reflects this orientation.
You see,
The brocade is already complete as it is.
We are already complete.
We don't need to add on decorations.
That is,
We sit without them because they function as resistances to seeing the true dharma or the truth of our existence.
In Shikantaza or just sitting meditation,
We face reality directly,
Head-on and fully.
Why do I describe these various techniques as resistances?
Well,
On this point,
Katagiri Roshi notes,
In Zen,
You find many things about yourself that you never noticed before,
Things that you did not want to see,
So you hide them under many layers and decorations.
We can easily rationalize the layers that Katagiri speaks of by misusing techniques such as Suso Kukan,
Breath counting,
Or Zuiso Kukan,
Breath following,
Or Kana Zen,
Or koan concentration,
As practiced in some Zen lineages,
And to that we could add visualizations to this list.
We use them in a well-intentioned and sincere manner,
And they do serve a purpose,
But they can easily unconsciously operate as resistances that block what will sooner or later emerge into awareness from the alaya or the storehouse consciousness if we simply practice Shikantaza without decorations.
This is the key to our own truth.
I should say a few words about the alaya consciousness before continuing.
Yogacara is an ancient Buddhist psychology that has had a strong influence on Zen.
Without going into a detailed study and elaboration of this system of thought,
Their construction of mind will be instructive as it relates to the meditative process.
Mind,
From the Yogacara perspective,
Is divided into eight layers.
The first six layers include the six senses,
The activity of the six senses,
And the relationship between the six sense consciousnesses,
The sense organs,
And objects of the senses.
They include seeing,
Hearing,
Tasting,
Smelling,
Touching,
And thinking.
The influence of the input of the six senses influences,
In turn,
The seventh layer of consciousness,
Which generates a sense of ego or selfhood.
The eighth layer,
The alaya vijnana or the storehouse consciousness that I mentioned a moment ago,
Is made up of every experience of life.
These include all experiences.
Nothing is excluded.
Actions,
Thoughts,
Memories,
Feelings,
Wishes,
Dreams,
Fantasies,
They're all stored in the alaya consciousness.
They can be positive,
Negative,
Or neutral,
And their valence can shift over time.
They unconsciously contribute to samskaras or habit formations and define our uniqueness as individual human beings in the world because each of our personal life experiences are different and unique.
The samskaras function like blueprints that drive how we view and interact in the world.
This process finds expression as the second nidana or link of dependent arising on the bhava chakra,
The wheel of life and death.
It's represented by the potter who sits at a wheel producing the same flawed pots in endless repetition.
This repetition of behaviors in thought,
Word,
Or action are the operation of the samskaras.
During zazen,
When unobstructed by goals,
Agendas,
Fantasies,
Contrivances,
Techniques,
Or decorations,
What happens is the material from the alaya bubbles up to the surface of consciousness spontaneously.
However,
In zazen,
We don't react.
We simply continue sitting,
Applying the intention to remain still without judgment,
Attachment,
Or aversion,
No clinging,
Grasping,
Or pushing away.
Over time,
The impact of what arises softens and gradually breaks down old unconscious habit formations and new ways of interacting with the world and with ourselves begins to emerge.
In other words,
Our relationship to what arises changes.
We become responsive rather than reactive.
Life becomes more easeful,
Not only for us,
But also for everyone with whom we come into contact with.
This is the key to the deeper sense of ease and joy that A.
H.
Dogen refers to in Fukanza Zenji,
Universal Principles of Zen Meditation.
By the way,
I have a series of seven talks on Fukanza Zenji here on Insight Timer if you're interested in delving in deeper.
However,
To get back to the point,
Let's not confuse just sitting with no gaining mind as a lackadaisical sitting around doing nothing.
Of course,
We need to relax,
But without being lax.
Dogen advises to sit as if your head were on fire and elsewhere to sit until you break the cushion.
With these points in mind,
Let's have a brief period of practice.
So please check your posture.
I'll ring the bell three times to begin and ring one bell to signal the end.
I'll offer some guided instructions leading into a period of silence.
I'll check your posture gently,
Sitting erect but not stiff,
And beginning with a deep breath,
Inhale fully and completely,
And then slowly start to exhale,
Slowly and quietly,
Completely exhausting all of the breath until the tummy contracts,
Squeezing out that last bit of air,
And let the next inhalation come by itself as if the breath is breathing you,
And then let the breath return to normal.
And as it does,
Start to become aware of the whole body just sitting.
If you get caught on a particular body part,
Just take notice and return to the breath the posture and the whole body just sitting.
Now take this same attitude toward the thoughts,
And notice that just like the breath,
Thoughts arise and fall on their own,
And we just notice.
In this way,
We harmonize body,
Breath,
And mind,
And begin to feel the underlying silence.
Understandably,
This was a rather brief practice period simply to put the points on the discussion into practice,
But I certainly welcome you to join us on Friday mornings,
7 a.
M.
Eastern Daylight Savings Time,
For an extended live practice period,
Brief instructions both guided and entering sublime silence together here on Insight Timer.
And please,
For the benefit of all suffering beings,
Keep practicing.
It's to your benefit and to the benefit of everyone in this especially tumultuous time.
Thank you for being here,
And take care.
