zazen as "mental space" -- still zazen?
Hello,
I want to ask a question about sitting zazen (of any length) and the peace/mental space it gives when that is the only break/time away from all else going on in life.
Please forgive the large type, I am experiencing a medical problem with my eyes for now (lupus flare).
This has probably been posted about elsewhere, and I just can't think clearly for now to locate it. I recall that zazen is not supposed to have any goals or purpose. Nowhere to go, nothing to attain. So in some (maybe all?) cases, doing otherwise (for a goal or purpose), perhaps makes it *not* zazen.
So, if one sits to sit, just to sit and set aside everything else -- but one purpose of the sitting is to "set aside" the "everything else" -- is that still zazen? Because it then has a goal/purpose (of disengaging, however short, from the 'everything').
So if I am sitting zazen, sitting to sit, but also as brief "setting aside" of everything (but still just sitting!) -- am I still "sitting zazen"? Or does part of my intent negate the practice of zazen.
Forgive me if I am splitting hairs (or asking a question that has already been answered elsewhere). This is bothering me, on top of everything else, as if I needed to worry more. However, zazen/insta-zazen has been providing the only "mental space" I have available these last weeks -- but then I wondered, is it still zazen, then?
Sorry to run very long.
gassho, meian st (I think)
zazen as "mental space" -- still zazen?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Meian
Hello,
I want to ask a question about sitting zazen (of any length) and the peace/mental space it gives when that is the only break/time away from all else going on in life.
Please forgive the large type, I am experiencing a medical problem with my eyes for now (lupus flare).
This has probably been posted about elsewhere, and I just can't think clearly for now to locate it. I recall that zazen is not supposed to have any goals or purpose. Nowhere to go, nothing to attain. So in some (maybe all?) cases, doing otherwise (for a goal or purpose), perhaps makes it *not* zazen.
So, if one sits to sit, just to sit and set aside everything else -- but one purpose of the sitting is to "set aside" the "everything else" -- is that still zazen? Because it then has a goal/purpose (of disengaging, however short, from the 'everything').
So if I am sitting zazen, sitting to sit, but also as brief "setting aside" of everything (but still just sitting!) -- am I still "sitting zazen"? Or does part of my intent negate the practice of zazen.
Forgive me if I am splitting hairs (or asking a question that has already been answered elsewhere). This is bothering me, on top of everything else, as if I needed to worry more. However, zazen/insta-zazen has been providing the only "mental space" I have available these last weeks -- but then I wondered, is it still zazen, then?
Sorry to run very long.
gassho, meian st (I think)
My humble opinion is yes, you are sitting zazen. Your goal of letting go of everything for a while is perfectly justified, as it is part of what zazen is. We purposefully head towards the zafu, bench, bed, chair, to sit zazen and think nothing but the thought of zazen, dropping mental gymnastics, likes, dislikes, judgments, worries etc. That goal, however, is accomplished in a continuous process, during every moment we sit, and it is not “attained” after a certain amount of sitting or as a result of a certain quality of the sit. It is there as we embody it, not at the “end of a rainbow”. We sit with the purpose of sitting, to manifest or “exercise” enlightenment itself, which is not attainable, given we already are in possession of it. We can merely reveal it.
Sitting zazen with a goal in mind, is, as I understand it, for example when someone only does it expecting certain results like a special state, or realizations, or calmness or bliss or whatever. They come back to the zafu like someone digging for water, thirsty, eager and frustrated by the time consuming effort that takes too long to yield results. We come back to the zafu every day and that is where the goals end.
Sorry for rambling this long and also, I apologize for probably just saying a whole bunch of mambo jumbo
[emoji1374] SatToday
