![]() Two or three minutes is a breeze… then the clock seems to slow down, you get itchy in hard-to-reach places, you fidget, your leg goes to sleep, your mind starts to wander, your eyes dry out, you have this unmistakable urge to scratch your nose - how is all of this a Buddhist practice? How hard can “just sitting be.” If you have never undertaken the practice, you’d be surprised. It may seem counter-intuitive that “sitting” Zazen is challenging - but have no doubt that it is. The greatest of teachers, Shakyamuni seated in meditation under the Bodhi tree. By emulating not only Buddha’s seated mediative posture, but the heroic quest for Enlightenment, you, too, can attain realizations. Although sitting may be easy, Zazen is far more challenging - but, we can make the same heroic journey. He sat under the Bodhi tree, searching for the answers to our suffering in a heroic meditative journey. Images of Gautama Buddha most often show him seated in meditation. ![]() “Just be” is a very big “expectation” in Zazen. “Good for nothing” in Zazen means “empty of goal, empty of purpose, empty of expectation - just be.” Arguably, Zazen is more difficult in our modern world than it might have been a few hundred or thousand years ago. It is among the most difficult of practices. Your mind zooms here and there - anything but empty. Zazen is Good for Nothing from Interior Mythos Journeys on Vimeo.ĭiscovering the true nature of suffering - and the nature of the very Universe - requires “emptiness.” Empty does not mean “nothing” as you’ll quickly find when you try to sit for twenty-five minutes. ![]() ![]() Shokuku Okumuru, a Soto Zen priest, and founder of Sanshin Zen Community, explains Zazen: So, from the very beginning we just to use Dogen’s expression just ‘throw ourselves into the way’ without expecting any reward.” In Dogen’s teachings of Soto Zen it is called Shikantaza. Desire, or egocentric desire is still working there. Because, if you practice to attain Enlightenment, then that is a desire. Shohaku Okumura explains, “We usually think this form of meditation is to attain some kind of Enlightenment or awakening, but Dogen said we should just sit, without any expectation. It was a core practice taught by Shakyamuni Buddha more than 2500 years ago, and still relevant. At the same time, it is one of the most difficult disciplines in Zen or Chan - and all forms of Buddhism. When you do not consciously direct your session. Yet, it works best when you have no goal. Shokuku Okumuru, a Soto Zen priest, and founder of Sanshin Zen Community.Ībbott Okumura provocatively declares, “Zen is good for nothing” - but this isn’t an empty phrase (pun intended.)Īll joking aside, Zazen (sesshin) is one of the most important practices! All traditions of Buddhism incorporate elements of this sitting. Who are the best practitioners of Zen? Aside from the great Zen masters - probably your cat.īy Josephine Nolan “In my heart I believe that to practice ‘good-for-nothing’ Zazen is the most authentic Buddhist tradition,” But - the goal of Zazen is to have - no goal! It’s important to have “no expectations” - in the famous ‘riddle language’ of Zen. Don’t get us wrong, it’s good for you, for your mind, your health, your stress. Zazen is a type of meditation that is central to Zen Buddhism, and first taught by Shakyamuni Buddha as an insight practice - and it’s good for nothing! Just sit. Author Submission: Buddha Weekly Books (BWB).Theravada The Elder School in Buddhism.Sutras Sutta English Complete English-translated Buddhist Sutras (Suttas) and commentaries from all traditions.
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