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Thread: Shikantaza Symphony

  1. #1

    Shikantaza Symphony

    This is based on something Tomas asked in another thread ...

    In Shikantaza Zazen, we just experience the world, our thoughts, our feelings, all that is happening in life, as just what is.

    It is much like hearing music without trying to force it, but rather, just relaxing and listening. When we do so, just hearing comes naturally,

    If I may compare this to being at a classical music concert: One could sit there and repeat to oneself, "I really want to hear this music, I really want to hear this music." But if so, one will not really hear the music. Or one could focus on the breath in order to hear the music, but might instead only find silence and breath. Instead, when one truly relaxes, and just does not think or try much of anything, the music naturally washes through one ... and one might even become the sound, and the sound is just you. What is more, we learn to sit in radical equanimity and acceptance, not judging this performance by our desires, whether it suits our taste or not, pleasing or displeasing, and instead, simply let it be its own music that it is.

    In fact, in this performance, one finds that the musicians, the theatre, the instruments and vibrations in the air, the audience and our very ears are not two ... all together is the real Buddha Symphony, and cannot be separated ... the world, life, me, you and everything else are this production ... a great Whole Work, Unbroken Creation ... fast and slow, happy and sad parts, both the lovely and harmonious as well as the unpleasant or cacophonous ... from the first note until the seeming finale ... even the silence before and after those, between and in the very heart of every note ...

    Something like that.

    My only quibble with some views of meditation is with the claim that "it is only real meditation, going well, when I am completely swept up in the music, forgetting myself." I don't think so. Such moments are precious, and not to be ignored ... they enrich us and are necessary to this Path. However, they are not the entire, wonderful "Concert Experience!" I include driving to the theatre, getting stuck in traffic on the way, buying popcorn in the lobby (Do that have that at classical concerts? If not, cheese ), sitting there sometimes lost in thought about other things yet the music and my thoughts blend together ... then remembering where I am, and coming back again and again to the performance. I even love when the show is over, the curtain comes down and it is time to head home.

    ALL of this is "enlightenment" to the wise ear in Master Dogen's arrangement. It is not only the moments when we are swept up in, and become, the music.

    What is more, on the way back into the world, when the orchestra has gone silent, the theatre is shut, and we are thrown again into the noise and clamor of the city or our messy lives, hopefully the beauty and harmony of the symphony is still in our bones. It is all LIFE'S SYMPHONY to the Buddha's Ear.

    In truth, nothing is left out, from the universe's first sound billions of years ago, to the first beat of our own heart, to our final breath, to the world's last vibration someday ... and whatever more.

    We are this Music, and this Music is who we and all things are.

    Something like that.

    Gassho, J

    STLah

    Sorry to run long ...


    Koichi Kishi (貴志 康一, Kishi Kōichi, March 31, 1909 – November 17, 1937) was a Japanese composer, conductor and violinst. He spent his childhood in Miyakojima, a district of Osaka. Following the example of his mother, he learned to play the violin. At the age of 18 he went to Europe to complete his training as a violinist at the Geneva Conservatory and the Berlin School of Music. He then studied composition with Paul Hindemith and conducting with Wilhelm Furtwängler. In 1934, at the age of 25, he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic. As a composer, Kishi's composition includes orchestral works, stage works, chamber works, film scores and songs. In 1935, he went back to Japan. In 1937, the 28-year-old Koichi Kishi died of a heart condition in Japan.
    Last edited by Jundo; 01-21-2022 at 11:06 PM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  2. #2
    Oh, this is wonderful. I’ve added the entire album to my library. Thanks Jundo!

    Sat Today
    Bion
    -------------------------
    When you put Buddha’s activity into practice, only then are you a buddha. When you act like a fool, then you’re a fool. - Sawaki Roshi

  3. #3
    Oh, This is Lovely !

    Thank you Jundo!

    Gassho
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  4. #4
    nice, Jundo. Thank you.
    sometimes my zazen looks more like Karlheinz Stockhausen but than too it is all right.




    aprapti

    sat

    hobo kore dojo / 歩歩是道場 / step, step, there is my place of practice

    Aprāpti (अप्राप्ति) non-attainment

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by aprapti View Post
    nice, Jundo. Thank you.
    sometimes my zazen looks more like Karlheinz Stockhausen but than too it is all right.




    aprapti

    sat
    To me, your zazen looks absolutely dignified I always appreciate it when we sit together!

    Sat Today ( with Aprapti )
    Bion
    -------------------------
    When you put Buddha’s activity into practice, only then are you a buddha. When you act like a fool, then you’re a fool. - Sawaki Roshi

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Bion View Post
    To me, your zazen looks absolutely dignified I always appreciate it when we sit together!

    Sat Today ( with Aprapti )
    thanks Bion. i like it too!

    aprapti

    sat

    hobo kore dojo / 歩歩是道場 / step, step, there is my place of practice

    Aprāpti (अप्राप्ति) non-attainment

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by aprapti View Post
    nice, Jundo. Thank you.
    sometimes my zazen looks more like Karlheinz Stockhausen but than too it is all right.




    aprapti

    sat
    Karlheinz Stockhausen. I had to look that up. Yet, it is beautiful and harmonious too, when the heart is still.





    Gassho, J

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  8. #8
    Ha!
    In one of the first chapters of the Zen Master's Dance reading I was very close to posting a video of his Helicopter String Quartet.
    "A Helicopter is not a music instrument..."


    Thank you for posting this Symphony.
    Gassho,
    Kotei.
    Quote Originally Posted by Jundo View Post
    Karlheinz Stockhausen. I had to look that up. Yet, it is beautiful and harmonious too, when the heart is still.


    STLah

    義道 冴庭 / Gidō Kotei.
    Being a novice priest doesn't mean my writing about the Dharma is more substantial than yours. Actually, it might well be the other way round.

  9. #9
    Deep bows Jundo, thank you. I will share this teaching with my parents, who have been violin players for 40+ years. I think I will save this one for future readings, it has really moved me to the core

    P.S: Funny video Kotei, thanks for sharing. Another piece of music that I enjoy listening to:

    Gassho, Tomás
    Sat&LaH
    Last edited by Tomás ESP; 01-20-2022 at 01:54 PM.

  10. #10
    Thank you Jundo!
    Gassho, Kiri
    Sat/Lah
    希 rare
    理 principle
    (Nikolas)

  11. #11
    Member Hokin's Avatar
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    Lovely teaching, Jundo. Thank you for reminding me that every aspect of zazen is beyond good and bad.
    I will treasure this teaching in my heart in zazen...on and of the cushion!

    Gassho.
    Hokin.
    SAT.
    法 金
    (Dharma)(Metal)
    Wisdom Is Compassion & Compassion Is Wisdom.

  12. #12

  13. #13


    Tairin
    Sat today and lah

  14. #14


    Gassho
    Washin
    stlah
    Kaidō (皆道) Every Way
    Washin (和信) Harmony Trust
    ----
    I am a novice priest-in-training. Anything that I say must not be considered as teaching
    and should be taken with a 'grain of salt'.

  15. #15
    Lovely Music.

    For a simple "practice" it really encompasses the full depth of the dharma.

    gassho,

    ST
    Jukai '09 Dharma Name: Shinko 慎重(Prudent Calm)

  16. #16


    Gassho,

    Chukyo

    ST

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Jundo View Post
    My only quibble with some views of meditation is with the claim that "it is only real meditation, going well, when I am completely swept up in the music, forgetting myself." I don't think so.
    So is it ok if I find it hard, really hard, to drop body and mind during zazen? Maybe I should trust that it's a 'skill' that will come with time?

    Gassho, Kiri
    Sat/Lah
    希 rare
    理 principle
    (Nikolas)

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Kiri View Post
    So is it ok if I find it hard, really hard, to drop body and mind during zazen? Maybe I should trust that it's a 'skill' that will come with time?

    Gassho, Kiri
    Sat/Lah
    That is a great question Kiri. I kind of have the same question. Are body and mind dropped at once, or is it something progressive?

  19. #19
    This is probably not helpful, and it probably isn't clear but my thought is: Dropping body and mind is not something you do, it is something that happens. If you are striving to drop body and mind you are probably thinking about dropping body and mind. And if you are thinking during Shikantaza you are probably getting a bit off track. Just do Shikantaza - they way Jundo teaches us. Just settle into it. And I believe you will find that body and mind are dropped of their own accord. Probably for bit of time, and then they are back. Rinse and repeat.

    Gassho, Shinshi

    SaT-LaH
    空道 心志 Kudo Shinshi
    I am just a priest-in-training, any resemblance between what I post and actual teachings is purely coincidental.
    E84I - JAJ

  20. #20
    It's like riding a bicycle for the first time. At some point your parent lets go and you are riding all by yourself, but it is only after you look back and realize you have done it that it is apparent. And then you mess it up in the excitement.
    So you get on the bike again.

    Gassho,
    Nengyoku
    Sat
    Thank you for being the warmth in my world.

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Shinshi View Post
    This is probably not helpful, and it probably isn't clear but my thought is: Dropping body and mind is not something you do, it is something that happens. If you are striving to drop body and mind you are probably thinking about dropping body and mind. And if you are thinking during Shikantaza you are probably getting a bit off track. Just do Shikantaza - they way Jundo teaches us. Just settle into it. And I believe you will find that body and mind are dropped of their own accord. Probably for bit of time, and then they are back. Rinse and repeat.

    Gassho, Shinshi

    SaT-LaH
    Yes, this dropping is not something that we pursue. Nor is it something that we run away from. In fact, dropping happens when we rest in perfect equanimity, and the little self is put out of a job.

    Now, sometimes it is a softening of the borders of self and all the world, and sometimes it is a more radical dropping in which all differentiation of self and other, this thing and that, may fall away. Sometimes, over long practice, one may realizes that ones bones have become as soaked with this wisdom, gradually over time, as if one had passed through a waterfall in a moment. For others, it comes at once just as wet.

    The Rinzai folks (and some in the mixed Rinzai-Soto) overemphasize these one time passing moments of Kensho. I believe that they miss the point. In our sitting, they come and they are wonderful but, if you examine closely the people who have had such experiences, they don't seem particularly wise or peaceful due to such experiences. In fact, they seem often as tightly wound and intensively pushing to repeat such experiences as before. In the Rinzai way ... if one pushes pushes pushes, winding oneself up like an overly taught spring ... there will be moments when all comes lose and unwound suddenly. Some drugs can also bring about similar experiences.

    In Shikantaza, such moments come, sometimes deep and sometimes light, yet we experience that which is beyond measure and time.

    Gassho, J

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  22. #22
    Lovely! Thank you Jundo.


    Deep bows
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  23. #23
    Thank you Shinshi, thank you Jundo
    Gassho, Kiri
    Sat/Lah

    Στάλθηκε από το SM-A705FN μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk
    希 rare
    理 principle
    (Nikolas)

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Tomás ESP View Post
    That is a great question Kiri. I kind of have the same question. Are body and mind dropped at once, or is it something progressive?
    I wrote this today partially in response to your question, Tomas,

    https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...taza-as-Kensho

    Gassho, J

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

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