What Are You Thinking There In Zazen?

Another good zazen question from the e-mail box:

Does this bit of Fukanzazengi seem to you to emphasize the mental/thinking side of things as “the secret of sitting-Zen”?

“Sitting in balance in the mountain-still state, “Think the concrete state of not thinking.” “How can the state of not thinking be thought?” “It is different from thinking.” This is the secret of sitting-Zen.” (Mike Cross trans.)

Recently I have been maintaining more of an awareness of, or alertness to, my thinking in zazen; a sort of vigilance around my thinking where I stop/drop thoughts when I become aware I’m fiddling with ’em. Previously I had just sat and, well, let it all ‘hang out’ a bit more. My practice now seems more awake and aware, but I wonder if it is a bit too ‘taught’ mentally. On the other hand, as I’ve found with several different attitudes/approaches to Zazen, it all seems to go the same direction eventually.

What do you think of all this?

Thank you for your question. You are asking, I think, what to do with thinking in zazen and if this aspect of sitting, thinking/not-thinking/non-thinking, is the secret and not, perhaps, the physical aspect.

First, let me offer an alternate translation to the Fukanzazengi passage you quote. This one is from the Soto Translation Project and fits with the characters and adds little other interpretive material. “Sitting in balance,” “concrete state” and the second use of the term “state” do not occur in the original and, in my view, do not accurately depict the actual practice:

“Once you have adjusted your posture, take a breath and exhale fully, rock your body right and left, and settle into a steady, immovable sitting.  Think of not thinking.  Not thinking – what kind of thinking is that?  Nonthinking.  This in itself is the essential art of zazen.”

Wholehearted zazen is to “…stop the operations of the mind, intellect, and consciousness.” Stop fiddling completely and certainly don’t fiddle with fiddling. Nonthinking, the free play of thinking and not-thinking, is always arrived at through not-thinking. Importantly, nonthinking cannot be reached through philosophizing.

Not all styles of zazen are the subtle method that can be discovered, what Katagiri Roshi used to call “Buddha’s zazen.” If they were, why would so many of our Zen ancestors calloused their butts? Lots of zazen styles will lead to wandering aimlessly in the weeds for aeons, clouding the body-mind more and more. That’s one reason working intimately with a teacher is important.

In wholehearted zazen, the modern way of separating mind and body has little utility. In Fukanzazengi, Dogen entangles instruction on what we might call the mental and physical aspect – vividly showing this point.

“You have gained the pivotal opportunity of human form.  Do not pass your days and nights in vain.”

With best wishes for your practice,

Dosho