Zazen: The Basic Fact Of Sitting

Describes the Zen practice of shikantaza, as "choiceless awareness" of "just sitting no matter what"
through simple pointers and a series of questions in terms of what Seiso describes as "the basic fact of sitting."

Transcript

The basic fact of sitting.

I'd like to begin with this quote about practice from the contemporary Zen teacher,

Shoaku Okamura.

He writes,

This is really simple practice.

We do nothing but sit in the zazen posture,

Breathing easily,

Keeping the eyes open,

Staying awake,

And letting go.

That's all we do in zazen.

We do nothing else.

End quote.

Well,

Is it really that simple?

Yes.

But what reason is there to make it so complicated?

I'd like to answer this question in two different ways.

First,

Ego would like to take credit for figuring out something complicated and difficult,

Not something so simple.

Also,

Ego would like to take credit for creating some complex procedure.

It likes to reinvent the wheel.

Secondly,

And perhaps more importantly,

Ego is also a devious and very clever trickster,

And can attempt to hold on to its ever-expanding need for territory with all sorts of inventions and complications.

Investigating further and more deeply,

We find the threat of a fundamental or basic anxiety that we may discover that we don't exist in the solid and permanent way that we might imagine ourselves to exist.

And this can create complications,

And those complications can serve as very powerful resistances to authentic practice.

And the lived realization of the true reality of all beings,

Or framed as what Buddhists describe as the three marks of existence.

Emptiness,

No permanent and separate self beyond causes and conditions,

And impermanence.

So,

Let's keep it simple.

We can do that by keeping it practical and basic.

So,

Please check your posture.

Sit firmly upright and erect,

But not stiff.

Relax your shoulders.

Rest your left hand gently in the right palm,

Thumb tips lightly touching,

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

Rock gently back and forth,

And from side to side,

Just a little bit to find your own balance point.

If you're sitting in a chair,

Avoid leaning against the back of the chair.

Sitting on the front part of your seat can be helpful.

Now just sit still and feel the breath coming and going,

As if from the abdomen.

Let go of any control.

Dogen Zenji,

The founder of the Soto Zen tradition in Japan,

Says,

When there is a short breath,

Just notice that the breath is short.

When there is a long breath,

Just notice that the breath is long.

That's all.

Nothing more,

Nothing less.

No need for counting,

Visualizing,

Following or controlling the breath.

This practice of just noticing is a choiceless awareness.

Nothing is excluded and nothing is prioritized.

So,

As with the breath,

It's the same with thoughts,

With memories,

Future expectations,

Concerns,

Fantasies,

Sounds,

Aromas,

Body sensations.

Just notice.

Very simple.

That's all you need to do.

I often say,

Just keep sitting no matter what.

Or,

When you get lost in thought trains,

To just remind yourself.

Basic fact of sitting.

But remember,

Letting go of thoughts is not the same as trying to eliminate thinking altogether.

Basic fact of sitting is just a simple reminder to take a backward step and to simply continue to notice exactly what is happening.

But what is this simple basic fact of sitting?

To cite an old koan,

What is sitting with the face before your parents were born?

This face is the face before concepts,

Ideas or feelings,

Memories,

Wishes or desires form or become activated.

This is the true Dharma Ari.

The seeing before and beyond concepts.

The seeing the transparency of concepts.

What is this basic fact of sitting,

This zazen,

Before the concepts form?

What is this zazen,

This basic fact of sitting,

When the concepts form?

After the concepts form?

What is this zazen in the moment,

Before the bell sounds?

Inside the sound of the bell,

Outside the sound of the bell,

After the sound of the bell,

What is this basic fact of sitting,

When the bird flies away in the endless sky and you are simply being here,

Just sitting still,

Just noticing?

What is the basic fact of sitting upright?

What is the basic fact of sitting,

The zazen of the left hand,

Nestled gently in the right palm,

Thumb tips lightly touching?

What is the mind of zazen in silence?

What is the mind of zazen in the truck sound,

After the truck sound,

In the wind sound,

After the wind sound?

Dogen Zenji says that we must thoroughly investigate all of these mind moments.

By thorough investigation he means to just keep sitting no matter what.

We investigate by sitting without pushing away or grasping or chasing after anything.

In other words,

Avoid picking and choosing.

Avoid avoiding.

In other words,

Exercise non-attachment to the rising and fading of all experience.

Simply abide in the Dharma position of your uniqueness,

Just as you are.

Abide in the common ground of whole being,

Inseparateness,

In deep connectedness.

What is this basic fact of sitting?

Abide in the zazen of this question.

Abide in the zazen of the present moment,

In the Dharma position of who you are right now,

Just sitting.

The past is gone.

It's no more than a memory puff.

The future has not yet arrived.

It's no more than a fantasy or a wish and a desire.

The present moment is gone as soon as it arises,

Again and again,

Moment after moment.

The only reality is just this present moment of the basic fact of sitting.

But please be careful.

Don't grasp at the present either.

Grasping is one of the three poisonous minds.

Ignorance,

Attachment and aversion.

We are human beings and have a tendency to pick and choose,

To grasp and to push away.

Because ignorance splits mind into a grasper and a grasped.

Ignorance creates desirer and desired.

Ignorance creates attachment and aversion and the emotional forms that they take,

Such as hatred,

Greed or fear.

That generate grasping,

And that is the only way to be aware of the present moment.

That generate grasping and pushing away.

But the mind that sees and the mind that is seen is one and the same mind.

The mind that hears and the mind that is heard is one and the same mind.

The mind that speaks and the mind that is spoken to is also one and the same mind.

Dogen writes,

One mind is all dharmas and all dharmas are one mind.

So please be careful not to turn the one mind into a something.

Realize that there is really nowhere to stand,

No solid ground.

Just the basic fact of sitting.

The basic fact of sitting in zazen is its own ground.

But please be careful.

Don't grasp at the nowhere either.

Grasping the nowhere is also one of the three poisonous minds.

Whatever we grasp at,

A memory,

A concern,

A creative flash,

Enlightenment,

Some sorrow,

Nirvana,

The present.

They can all function as anchors and resistances.

If we raise the anchor and just keep sitting,

What will happen?

What are we left with?

Nothing.

Just the basic fact of sitting.

Kodo Sawaki Roshi says,

Zazen is good for nothing.

Well,

I ask,

What is this nothing that zazen is good for?

Bodhidharma,

The first ancestor of Zen in China,

Said to Huike,

His successor,

Show me the mind that needs to be pacified and I will pacify it for you.

Huike looked and looked,

But came up empty-handed.

He returned to Bodhidharma and he said,

I have found nothing.

Bodhidharma responded,

Your mind is now pacified.

The present mind is manifesting right here,

Right now.

No need for grasping.

No need for searching.

Here,

There,

Or everywhere.

Just keep sitting no matter what.

Yes,

Just keep sitting no matter what.

And to just keep sitting is the matter.

That is what.

Thank you.

Reviews

This simplicity is a bit frightening but also incredibly comforting. Thank you

I am sitting much more peacefully and still now 🙏🏻

Excellent- beautiful reminders of the practice.

Thank you again. I will revisit this talk. Your talks/lessons always seem to be what I need for the day. 🙏

Very clear direction and explanations.

Thank you for illuminating this 'just sitting'.

Thank you, Sense. Very helpful.

Excellent fundamental teaching.

This helped me to reach a quiet point to start from before my working day.

"Abide in the dharma position of your own uniqueness." Rough translation of what I heard, thank you!! Love the story of looking for how to passify your mind.

Thank you for your clear and inspiring teaching. 🙏🙏

This talk goes directly to the essence.
Thank you so much Sensei. 🙏🏻

Very insightful and interesting form of practice. Thank you for guiding us

Beautifully articulated. I loved it! Thank you 🙏

That was wonderful and just perfect. Thank you 🙏🏻

Thank you. So clear.