Guidance in my sitting

[Matthew]

Hello,

I’m a newer sangha member and I’ve been sitting daily for a few months now, but lately I’ve struggled to get myself onto the cushion as regularly. My schedule rotates and is variable and I have a hard time attending many of the group sitting sessions. I understand how important it can be to sit with the sangha and I’m hoping for some inspiration or guidance in how best to continue consistently in my practice. I also intend this post to be a way of setting an intention to commit myself to a steady practice.

Gassho
Matthew
Sat today and lent a hand

[Bion]

Hi Matt! What I found in my own situation was that deciding to sit in the morning before I start my day worked best and became a habit really quickly!

In reality, not shrinking the sitting of zazen down to a few notions is probably what helped me the most. What I mean by that is: zazen is perfectly zazen whether it is for 2 minutes or 45, whether it faces a wall or a busy square, whether it’s in a quiet zendo that smells like incense or a shaky bus that smells like sweat and feet, so I don’t expect to only sit zazen if it ticks off every item on my list of ideal conditions.
As soon as sitting zazen became a part of my day the same way eating, sleeping or breathing are, I realized that it is not a chore or an obligations, something I struggle to do, but rather something natural, inseparable from me.
Though I do sit every morning in the Free Sitting Room and always join the weekly zazenkai, I don’t join any of the other scheduled sits, as they don’t work well with my schedule and that’s alright. When you can, do sit in the Free Sitting Room, as you never know when company might show up or when you might just be the company someone else is looking for!
I won’t give you advice, but hopefully my own experience might serve you in some way!

Sorry for length

Sat Today

[Kaiku]

Hi Matt! What I found in my own situation was that deciding to sit in the morning before I start my day worked best and became a habit really quickly!

In reality, not shrinking the sitting of zazen down to a few notions is probably what helped me the most. What I mean by that is: zazen is perfectly zazen whether it is for 2 minutes or 45, whether it faces a wall or a busy square, whether it’s in a quiet zendo that smells like incense or a shaky bus that smells like sweat and feet, so I don’t expect to only sit zazen if it ticks off every item on my list of ideal conditions.
As soon as sitting zazen became a part of my day the same way eating, sleeping or breathing are, I realized that it is not a chore or an obligations, something I struggle to do, but rather something natural, inseparable from me.
I won’t give you advice, but hopefully my own experience might serve you in some way!

Sorry for length

Sat Today

What Bion said.

Gassho
Bobby
SatTodayLAH


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[Matthew]

Thank you Bion, advice or not your words are very helpful! I hope to join you in your sitting some morning.

Gassho
Matthew
Sat today and lent a hand

[Tosei]

Hi, Matthew,

Thank you for your persistence. That too is key. Bion's experience is one that is shared by many of us. We sit when we're able knowing that we're sitting with other members of the sangha whether we see them or not, or whether its right then and right there or not. During my time at Treeleaf, and for many many years before that, I've often had to sit alone, but now on those days (which thankfully now are more and more frequent) where I can look up at my screen and see the true faces of fellow practitioners, is like a sweet piece of fruit that you never tire of. Just treat those days you can sit with the sangha as a blessing, and those you can't, as a blessing as well. And, as Jundo's admonition on the back of my rakusu (and perhaps that of others) says: Just Sit!

Sorry for all the words, when the last two were probably enough,

Gassho.

((st))

[Kotei]

Hello.

To me, practice is about navigating through the duality of existence - the self and its friction with the world around - the realization that this self is just one side of the coin and there is another perspective, too.
I believe that wisdom and enlightenment and even true compassion happens, when we overcome the extremes of this duality and act accordingly.
Sitting is about this other perspective. It is not 'my' sitting, 'my' practice. 100% self is not, what is sitting there.
So every time, 'I' think 'I' have not enough time or energy to insert 'my' (possibly short) sitting into a busy day, I am smiling at my self, telling it:
This is not about you. Just sit!
(Thank you Tosei for the reminder and for your daily company and encouragement)

Of course, this is only how I am interacting with my 'self' and not something that's helpful for everyone.
Sorry for not being able to use less words.

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Rich]

Hello Mathew
Before you start your day give yourself some time to relax, let go and enjoy your wakefulness.

Sat/lah


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[Tokan]

Hi Matthew

I just posted this somewhere else, but will post it here too, not a complete story but a few tips to add to the others the nice folk at Treeleaf have already posted

I work full-time with random shifts and on-call duties, have three young children, and support my wife by sacrificing my 'me' time so she can get some for herself, leaving me little in the kitty some days. I do two things - one is just to sit regardless, sit with that compulsive need to do something (isn't zazen doing something?) My wife tells me I'm doing nothing, I like to think I'm neither doing something or nothing, but I usually say I and "doing nothing on purpose!" The second thing for me is to not be confined to zazen. Sometimes my practice feels just as vital when I am making food for my children, picking up their toys, taking out the trash, washing the dishes, and so on. When I include these things into my practice I sometimes also find that, once completed, I can then sit quite naturally, as it is important to attend to the daily needs of life. It would not be very ethical, at least in my mind, to let the children be hungry while I sit zazen, after all, my essential peace will only be disturbed by their 'hangry' mood afterwards

Jundo mentioned in his comment about 'insta-zazen', and that is something I also use. Sitting one 30 minute zazen is good, but 15 two minute mini-zazen's through the day also have their value. I know Jundo compares zen practice to jazz music at times, having rules that allow plenty of space for creativity and self-expression, I have found it helpful to look at it this way, it seems to allow a more natural and relaxed flow to my practice when it is about more than the zafu!


If you can, add the Treeleaf calendar to yours and try to sit with others in the scheduled sitting room, sometimes it helps to know that "at 1pm I'll be sitting with..."

Best wishes and gassho

Tokan (satlah)