Results 1 to 20 of 20

Thread: Zazen Is Not Necessary ... Thus It is Necessary To Sit ...

Threaded View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1

    Zazen Is Not Necessary ... Thus It is Necessary To Sit ...

    Hi,

    Some folks ask me if sitting Zazen for a certain time is necessary. In fact, it is not necessary in the least, nor a matter of time ... thus it is necessary to sit for a time!

    We sit beyond all time, and it is not necessary to sit at all ... thus we sit each day facing the wall for a certain time. Please don't think that it is not necessary to sit Zazen if physically able, even though it is not necessary to sit at all (Yes, this is a Koan). There is no "long or short" to Zazen, and we should sit putting aside all thoughts of measuring time ... but usually it is necessary to sit for some minutes of time to taste this "no long or short" that is timeless and beyond necessity.

    Thus, Zazen is not a matter of time, so we sit for a certain time each day putting aside all thought of time.

    In Shikantaza, we sit radically as this Original Buddha, nothing to attain, nothing in need of doing. The Sitting of Zazen itself is Total Fruition, no other act to do, no other place to be or where one can be. Thus, one attains Total Fruition that is "not attaining," Buddha sitting Buddha, and our inner desires and Dukkha based on "I need to do" are finished and done with as one realizes that aspect of life "never in need of doing." There is nothing about this world or ourselves or this moment that is in need of fixing from the start. Then, getting up from the cushion, we return to a world of things to do, places to go, problems in desperate need of repair ... but with this "no thing to do, no place to go, nothing in need of fixing" felt in the bones. In this way of living life, we learn to do without doing, go without going, fix what cannot be fixed. We learn to birth without birthing, die without dying!

    All of life is Zazen, walking sitting standing running or standing on one's head. Yet, I sit on the cushion each day for the stillness of silent sitting lets me better know this fact. (Up is down too, nor is there place ti fall, so no problem to stand on one's head, but less chance to topple over in the Lotus or Burmese!). Zazen is found everywhere, on and off the cushion and right in the city streets and daily life, yet it is sometimes hard to know so. While there is stillness in moving, it is sometimes hard to know while always moving moving, running chasing in this hectic life. So, I sit still then get up and move. In doing so, moving running chasing is just stillness. This hectic life is silence itself.

    Thus, Zazen is not a matter of time, so we sit a certain time each day.

    Gassho, J

    SatTodayLAH
    Last edited by Jundo; 03-19-2018 at 07:21 AM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •