Zen Master Bodhidharma's Wall: Sitting Still, Still Running

Based on the legend of Bodhidharma, the first ancestor of Zen in China who sat in meditation facing a wall for nine years, this track supports shikantaza "just sitting" by addressing resistance to steady depth practice. The talk is supplemented with a brief period of silent practice that the practitioner is encouraged to expand on independently.

Transcript

Thank you for being here.

This talk,

Bodhidharma's Wall,

Sitting Still,

Still Running,

Is loosely based on the legend of Bodhidharma,

The first ancestor of Zen in China,

Who was purported to sit in Zazen,

Facing the wall,

For 9 years.

I'll begin with this quote from Dainen Katagiri,

The Japanese teacher who founded my lineage in America.

And I quote,

Before your mind starts to work and you want to run away,

Accept every moment as an opportunity presented to you to practice facing reality as it really is.

There are many ways to rationalize running away.

We can skip practice,

We can quit practice,

Or we can chase after powerful experiences one after another.

Many take vows with serious heartfelt intent and then find themselves walking away,

Eventually forgetting about the vows and the related commitments connected to the vows,

And we get caught in the same old habit formations.

We can reject the teachings that don't match our unquestioned preconceptions,

Or we can look for another religion or spiritual system that we think might better match our views,

And that can function as an unconscious resistance to facing and feeling uncomfortable truths about ourselves.

After all,

We have been told to trust our own experiences,

To put the teachings to the test of our experiences.

Our deeply embedded unconscious resistances will provide well-rationalized fuel for such moves away from practice.

They might serve our resistances temporarily.

For example,

Some folks meet me for the first time and they say,

I'm looking to see if we will have a good connection,

If we will see eye to eye.

I might say,

Maybe the best connection is a bad connection,

Then you will be quickly faced with your own stumbling blocks,

Your personal wall.

After all,

In blindness there is no seeing eye to eye,

And in the absolute there is no seer and no seen.

Who are you right now?

Not yesterday,

Not tomorrow,

Now.

What is your Dharma position?

What is your life context?

Maybe the legends concerning the first ancestor of Zen in China,

Bodhidharma,

Are not actually and exclusively about facing a literal wall.

Maybe the nine years that legend has him facing the wall,

Whether true or not,

Had to do with his internal walls.

Maybe,

To take it a step further,

This story serves as an allegory pointing to how deeply embedded our habit formations function as psychic walls.

The foundations were set very deeply,

Very long ago,

Influenced by the causes and conditions of our lives.

In this way,

The story points to how difficult it is to work with our habit formations as they rise and fall,

And turn us over and over again in the same repetitive directions.

This legend also demonstrates how,

In the simple act of shikantaza,

Or just sitting,

Or only sitting,

By not reacting to old,

Familiar,

And habitual ways,

We can cut through ego-centered habit formations and respond to situations with our innate wisdom and compassion.

Maybe that's why,

When asked by Emperor Wu,

Who are you,

Bodhidharma answered cogently,

Convincingly,

And clearly,

Without a moment's hesitation,

I don't know.

Bodhidharma was not confused about his true identity.

He was not being facetious.

This was not simply an admission of ignorance.

Rather,

Bodhidharma was honestly and simply expressing his original face,

That is,

Of the formless,

Ungraspable self,

Of the self that has,

As Dogen notes in Genjo Kōan,

Reality here and now.

To study the self is to study Zen,

Is to study the self.

To study the self is to forget the self.

And,

By maintaining no fixed point,

We can be open to the myriad things of the world.

Sooner or later,

Running and experience-collecting will draw the runner into complacency,

Arrogance,

Oblivion,

Or other garden-variety misconceptions ruled by these unconscious habit formations,

Leaving the runner with their back once again against the wall,

Poised to run again.

We could face the wall,

Following Bodhidharma's example,

And work with our delusions,

Our confusions,

And ignorance,

Our aggression,

Our fear,

Or hate.

This is truly the heart of practice.

That was the Buddha's solution as he sat under the Bodhi tree and was confronted with his demons.

He sat firmly and resolutely and said,

Welcome,

And they dissolved.

That was the key for Buddha.

That was the key for Bodhidharma.

That is the key for us.

Heihei Dogen,

Who founded the Zen tradition in Japan,

Tells us that if this practice was good enough for the Buddha,

For Bodhidharma,

And for all of the ancestors,

Then it must be good enough for us.

Shikantaza,

Just sitting,

Creates the opportunity to work with exactly what needs to be worked with.

That is,

Whatever is present in the moment,

We simply allow the rise,

The coming into form,

The dissolving,

And the disappearing of all experience,

Both internally and externally.

No matter what's happening,

A sound,

A thought,

A physical sensation,

We just continue sitting without grasping,

Clinging,

Avoiding,

Pushing away,

And without judgment.

The psychic wall slowly crumbles.

It becomes transparent and we experience reality as it is.

We have a choice.

Are you going to run again and endlessly repeat the same old karmic formation,

Or will you trust in the three gems,

The Buddha,

The Dharma,

And the Sangha?

Have faith in the practice and work with the resistance and urge to run?

We might also run while sitting still,

By playing mind games,

Or using so-called techniques.

Kadagiri describes these techniques as decorations,

Or as adding flowers to brocade.

They do serve a purpose,

But in the long run,

Techniques can become another form of experience collecting and distract the practitioner from the matter at hand,

A clearly realized sense of the presently manifesting reality.

The point here is to just sit as Dogen teaches us,

Or as Shokuhaku Okumura Roshi puts it,

And I quote him,

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.

With these points in mind,

Let's practice for a few minutes.

We'll begin with three rings of the bell and we'll end with one ring.

So first,

Check your posture.

Sit erectly,

But not stiffly.

Be firm,

But not rigid.

After the next exhalation,

Take in a slow,

Deep breath without straining,

And as you exhale,

Allow a sense of awareness of the whole body just sitting and breathing naturally.

Thank you for your presence and for your practice.

And keep in mind that it's extremely important to keep practicing no matter what,

Not only for our own benefit,

But for the benefit of all beings.

And as you make this practice your own,

You can cultivate it and extend the amount of time little by little.

Take care.

Reviews

Thank you Seiso. I am so grateful for your teachings which give me such important insiĝts into practice. 🙏

Beautiful teaching and reminder to just sit, to just practice. Our meditation group here in Raleigh is called JUST SIT Raleigh. I also loved your suggestion abut not trying to “get” certain experiences or shopping for the right “fit”. So many helpful reminders. Bows

Thank you for this dhamma talk. It changed the way I sit in zazen for the better. Your wisdom was clear, concise, and encouraging. I would love to be your virtual student. May you be well, and with deep gratitude, I extend my sincere thanks to you for this talk. I will be following you on here.

Your talks are always so illuminating and helpful. I have so often wondered about my practice; whether I'm doing it correctly, long enough, paying close enough attention, being mindful enough etc. I'm finding the simplicity of shikantaza as you describe it most useful. Thank you.

Perfect instruction as usual. Appreciate your teaching and reminders. 🙏

Thank you for a wonderful refresher. Always a joy to hear your recordings. 🙏

Thank you Seiso Roshi. Yes, just practice!!! Keep sitting!!

This is absolutely uncompromising isn’t it? No place to hide. Thank you

Thank you so much. Your dharma talks are like wake up calls 🪷🙏🪷