Someone asked about sitting Zazen and feeling very bored. THAT IS EASY! When bored, just be bored, When excited, just be excited. When sick, just be sick. When healthy, just be healthy. When young just be young, when old just be old. Sitting as "What Is," sitting is the still pivot point of boredom and excitement, beyond sickness and healthy, the timeless that is both young and old.
Of course, when sick just be sick, but that does not mean you do not call an ambulance when feeling chest pains. When cold there is only cold. However, at a certain point it is okay to put on a blanket too! When there is fire let there be fire, yet if the house is on fire, it is okay to get up from Zazen, grab a hose and save the cat. On the other hand, when there is boredom, just let there be boredom. Just sit as boredom, for bored is what is in that moment.
What is the difference?
Zazen respects safety and health in urgent need. Boredom will not kill you, but extreme cold, a heart attack or a fire might. However, as soon as the blanket is found, the heart restarted and the cat is saved from the fire, resume sitting. All is as it is.Boredom, on the other hand, is no emergency. Most of life's problems in the world, work or family, can wait for sitting to end. On the other hand, sometimes a crying child needs attention right now, and we do not hesitate to spring from the Zafu! I have sat in 300 year old temple buildings during earthquakes, and in house closets during hurricanes. Sometimes one just sits through the shaking and blowing, sometimes one gets up to run or deal. No problem, for when sitting just sit, when running for cover or to save the baby, just run for cover and just save the baby.
Oh, one moment is fire, the next is ashes. One day is hot, the next is cold. Boredom is just the passing condition in this moment, and we can never know what the next moment brings. There is a stillness that holds all the ground's shaking, a silence that sings as the noisiest wind. The problems of life and the world are just what they are, and we sit in equanimity with their happening. Although some things like fire or coronary cannot wait, most problems can wait. (In fact, we can learn to retain that equanimity deep down even as the adrenaline pumps, we run for the fire hose or call 911 ... or 119 here in Japan. 112 in Europe, 999 in UK. When calling 911, get your ass in gear and just call friggin 911! 911 is just 911!). Sit beyond hot and cold, life and death, sickness and health. boredom or excitement too. A famous Koan from the Blue Cliff Record:
===
A monk asked Tozan “How can we escape the cold and heat?”
Tozan replied, “Why not go where there is no cold and heat?”
“Is there such a place?” the monk asked.
Tozan commented, “When cold, be thoroughly cold; when hot, be hot through and through.”
(alternative wording, but same meaning: "“When it is cold, the cold kills you. When it is hot, the heat kills you."
Reply With Quote