Zen: Preoccupation

This talk describes "preoccupation" and explains how to deal with them from the Soto Zen practice of "shikantaza" or "just sitting."
A brief silent period follows the talk in order for practitioners to put the teachings into practice and encouraging the listener to make the practice one's own by to extending the practice beyond the silent practice time offered in the talk

Transcript

Welcome.

I'll be talking about preoccupation.

This is a modified version of a talk that I gave here on Insight Timer during my live Friday morning Zazen sessions.

First of all,

What do I mean by a preoccupation in relation to Zen meditation?

We can describe preoccupation as an attachment to an object of the senses,

Like a visual object,

A sound,

A taste,

An aroma,

A physical sensation,

A thought,

Or a feeling.

We can become preoccupied with sense objects that we crave or like,

And we can also become preoccupied with something that we may not like.

For example,

You might like the sound of a bird singing at dawn,

But you may not like the sound of a truck with a bad muffler starting up in the morning.

But as much as you're disturbed by the truck sound,

You may remain stuck on it along with related feelings and thoughts about it long after the truck is gone.

In other words,

We can become preoccupied with likes and with dislikes.

We could say that preoccupations are forms of involuntary concentration.

But in this practice,

We don't concentrate on anything.

So,

The question becomes,

How do we relate to and deal with preoccupations when we identify them in practice?

When you notice that you're caught in a preoccupation with a thought,

A feeling,

A memory,

A fantasy,

A future concern,

Or a sound or a visual object,

Simply return to the breath and to the basic fact of sitting without judgment.

The whole body is just sitting here and now,

And we restore a balance that encompasses the body posture,

The breath,

The mind,

And all of the sense faculties.

We shift from a limited view dominated by the constriction caused by the preoccupation to a panoramic,

All-inclusive awareness of the totality of the moment.

Of fully feeling and experiencing the basic fact of sitting with all of your senses wide open.

Regardless of your experience,

There's an immediate shift in perception,

And you may notice that when you first notice that you're caught in a preoccupation.

You may notice that your body has shifted out of the correct posture that you started with.

And with continued practice,

I've noticed that the posture will automatically correct itself the moment that you notice your preoccupation.

Whatever the content,

It doesn't really matter.

It could be a thought,

A feeling,

A sound,

A visual object.

It really doesn't matter.

This automatic posture adjustment experientially demonstrates the oneness of the body-mind as the breath,

Body,

And mind become harmonized once again.

It might just be a momentary flash of awareness,

But the experience is unmistakable.

There is a depth,

A breath,

A sense of spaciousness that is as deep as the ocean and as vast as the sky.

This experience is in stark contrast to the claustrophobic folding in when we get caught in a preoccupation,

And it's unmistakable.

In Ryugen,

The Dragon Song,

Regarding this sense of spaciousness,

A.

H.

Dogen writes,

The present mountain trees,

Ocean trees,

Sky trees,

And the rest,

These are the dried-up tree.

And there are trees of mountains and valleys.

There are trees of paddies and villages.

The trees of mountains and valleys are known in the world as pines and cypress.

The trees of paddies and villages are known in the world as humans and devas,

Or gods.

In this context,

Dried-up trees and withered trees are Zen metaphors that refer to an immobile state of sitting,

Non-attached to preoccupations.

And by the way,

Tree in general serves as a metaphor for each one of us and to how we practice.

Just as there are many types of trees,

So are there many ways of approaching and relating to practice.

One way that we can understand this is that we can either contract and fold in on ourselves by focusing or concentrating on any object of perception,

Mantra,

Candle flame,

Breath,

Or koan,

Whether this happens intentionally or unintentionally.

On the other hand,

We can allow our awareness to open and expand embracing all experience free from the limits,

Impositions,

And restrictions of concentration.

Dogen here is describing various types of meditators.

Mountain trees are those of us who are sitting as still as a mountain.

Ocean trees are those of us who are exploring the depths,

And sky trees are those who are exploring the unbounded,

By which he means the true nature of mind and reality,

Free from limitations,

Free from distinctions,

And free from the conceptual frameworks that we can get preoccupied with.

This often functions as an underlying influence that generates intolerance with sitting and the impatient wish for the end bell to ring.

In this case,

Time might feel like it's dragging along,

Moving ever so slowly.

He also speaks of long dharma bodies and short dharma bodies,

Which refers to our uniqueness as human beings.

But also,

This is a common ground for all of us,

And an affirmation of our innate Buddha nature.

He adds,

Whether long or short,

It is the dharma body of the Buddha.

When we return awareness to the basic fact of sitting,

We feel the whole body just sitting.

We experience all of the senses operating as a whole.

This experience of wholeness expands and includes the space around you,

The wider environment,

Within and without engendering a sense of spaciousness and ease.

As Dogen describes zazen and fukan zazenji,

Universal principles of zen meditation,

Simply as the dharmagate of ease and joy.

This is a process of opening into the wider experience of being.

The wider,

All-inclusive process that he describes as whole being is the Buddha nature.

That includes all of us.

So we just sit and allow this process to unfold.

And this is not quite right,

Actually,

Because the process is always unfolding,

Whether we're aware of it or not.

Can you allow yourself to be open to this unfolding,

Free of preoccupations?

In this way,

Shikantaza includes total experiencing.

Nothing is excluded.

Everything is happening all at the same time.

Attention is not limited to the breath or to sounds or to thoughts or to feelings.

It's reality here and now.

Being open to all experience is realization.

Nothing is excluded.

Concentration on a thought,

A mantra,

Or breath,

Or of the various thought trains that catch hold of us,

Closes us off from total experiencing,

From what Dogen describes as zenki or total functioning.

So we practice with the breath.

We practice with the body posture,

With seeing,

With hearing,

With thinking,

With feeling,

With hands and feet,

Totally exerted all together in this whole moment with the sound of the bird song,

With the sound of the truck,

The feeling,

The fantasy,

The concern,

The memory.

We practice with each moment as it is,

Always returning to the basic fact of sitting whenever we notice a preoccupation.

So forget thinking about sitting and just sit.

Let go of the notion of shikantaza because thinking about sitting or preoccupation with the notion of sitting is not really sitting,

Is it?

Rather,

It's your thoughts taking over and creating another preoccupation.

So again,

Notice the experience of everything.

Be the whole body-mind just sitting.

Feel the space around you.

Shikantaza is objectless and goalless,

So anything can emerge.

It's not a fixed or particular state of mind.

It's simply being as it is.

It is the ongoing activity of noticing and letting go.

And you are letting go of whatever you are noticing.

So no concentration,

No preoccupation,

Just sitting.

Let's try it.

We'll start with the sound of three bells and end with the sound of one bell.

Gently check your posture.

Spine is erect but not stiff and the shoulders are relaxed.

Thank you for your presence and for your practice.

This brief period of sitting was intended to give a taste of the teaching that preceded it.

I strongly encourage you to internalize the practice,

Make it your own,

And extend it.

It's so important to keep sitting no matter what,

Not only for yourselves but for everyone you come in contact with.

Thank you and take care.

Reviews

Thank you Seiso. That was a wonderful talk. It beautifully and clearly explained the readons for understanding the practice of
'just sitting' rather than the practice of concentration on a single mantra or point during practice. Having that expansive and all-encompassimg presence while 'just sitting' opens us up to so much peace and connection tot all that is in each and every moment. Thanks again.
Christine

Thank you Sensei for your practice and teaching. May all beings be safe and free in this heartbreaking time. 🙏🏻🙏🏻

This was a very timely and very apt reminder for me. Sometimes the road gets a bit bumpy and it’s easy to get deflected, but the essential simplicity remains. Many thanks