There is hard practice, gentle practice, each ultimately non-practice and powerful in their way. At Eiheiji, the Soto monastery, one monk’s diary recounts this story from just a few years ago:

At Eiheiji, the half lotus position is not allowed, and as the instructors walked around and observed us, they were on the alert to make sure our legs were folded properly. Suddenly an accusing cry rang out: “Hey! Why aren’t you sitting in the full lotus position?” Doryu answered in a low, shaky tone: “Um, I broke my leg once, and I can’t cross my legs the right way” “You what? Can’t cross your legs? Where do you think you are? This is Eiheiji! You’ve got to be able to sit properly. All right, starting tomorrow, you will tie your legs in place. Is that clear?” I couldn’t believe my ears. The man had broken his leg! Was it necessary to go so far? That was when it finally sank in. This was indeed Eiheiji- the premier Zen training center in Japan, famed down the centuries for the rigor of its discipline. Nothing here, including meditation, bore the least resemblance to the fanciful pictures my mind had painted before coming. I was forcibly reminded that once a man sets foot in this holy place, he must devote himself to the discipline truly as if his life depends on it. At the thought my blood buzzed, and sweat trickled down my back.

It may be a good and powerful path for some, sometimes. Other times, it may run to excess (frankly, I feel so in the story above). Like a marine boot camp or college hazing, it can work to soften a young man’s ego and selfishness. Some folks need their desires and egoism blown up with dynamite.

But is that the only way to taste the fruits of Zen in their fullness?

No, ABSOLUTELY not (pun intended)! There is the gentle way that is just as powerful, and can be more effective in vital ways. In fact, it is a better way for many, while just as liberating and rewarding as any hard path. What is that?

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If you do not see the Way,
You do not see it even as you walk upon it.
Walking forward in the way
You draw no nearer, progress no farther.
One who fails to see this truth
Is mountains and rivers away.

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Yes, one can sit Shikantaza crossed legged, but also in a chair, or sometimes reclining (if needing for reasons of health or physical ability), finding a posture as comfortable and balanced as one’s own body and needs will allow. So long as one recognizes this sitting as sacred, whatever the form, it is the same as sitting on a Golden Buddha throne! One is without struggle, but neither is one dull and listless, in the fine place between in which one sits sincerely and with firm dedication – but with a heart at ease. One rests in radical equanimity, accepting conditions just as they are, untangled from thought, allowing life without wallowing in emotions.

One does not push, neither does one run away, for one sits on this chair or cushion knowing that there is no other place in the world to be, there is nothing lacking from this moment, that one’s sitting in this place is all the Buddhas and Ancestors sitting in this place. One is not sitting like a bump on a log, but rather like one at the summit of a mountain in which vistas are clear and open in all directions, no higher places to be, no above or below. One is not a prisoner of excess desire, anger, jealousy and other harmful things, but neither does one have need to strive and fix. There is no goal, nothing to aim for, for nothing lacking. As the breath finds its natural pace, in and out, the hard borders of inside and outside start to soften, and sometimes fully drop away. The little self with its selfish demands drops away … our True Face revealed.

Such a gentle way is excellent practice for many, and a most fruitful and insightful path in which all the treasures of the Way, wisdom and compassion, are fully revealed. It is the peace and wholeness of the Middle Way that the Buddha knew under the Bodhi Tree, the very shining of the Morning Star shining just to shine.

Whether hard path or gentle path, this path is ultimately a non-path of non-practice. There is ultimately nothing to attain that has not been here and all things all along, every one a single facet of a priceless jewel. There is nothing lacking, and never could be, in this sitting which is the fullness of a Buddha sitting. This is here there and everywhere, beyond inside and out. All is complete and at peace, even in this world of apparent incompleteness and broken pieces. Pushing hard, one arrives at such truth. Sitting the gentle way with nothing to attain, nothing lacking, all things as they are, is the very embodiment of realization.

Rising from the cushion, getting into daily life, we find that this “gentleness” is, in fact, strength, resilience, flexibility and flowing with conditions.

Hard or gentle, gentle or hard … punching strong or letting go … running fast or walking slow … what is not here all along?