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Another good zazen question from the e-mail box:<\/span><\/p>\n Does this bit of\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span>Fukanzazengi<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0seem to you to emphasize the mental\/thinking side of things as \u201cthe secret of sitting-Zen\u201d?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span> \u201cSitting in balance in the mountain-still state, \u201cThink the concrete state of not thinking.\u201d \u201cHow can the state of not thinking be thought?\u201d \u201cIt is different from thinking.\u201d This is the secret of sitting-Zen.\u201d (Mike Cross trans.)<\/span><\/span> 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\u2019m fiddling with \u2019em. Previously I had just sat and, well, let it all \u2018hang out\u2019 a bit more. My practice now seems more awake and aware, but I wonder if it is a bit too \u2018taught\u2019 mentally. On the other hand, as I\u2019ve found with several different attitudes\/approaches to Zazen, it all seems to go the same direction eventually.<\/span><\/span> What do you think of all this?<\/span><\/span> 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.<\/span><\/span> First, let me offer an alternate translation to the\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Fukanzazengi<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span>\u00a0passage you quote. This one is from the Soto Translation Project and fits with the characters and adds little other interpretive material. \u201cSitting in balance,\u201d \u201cconcrete state\u201d and the second use of the term \u201cstate\u201d do not occur in the original and, in my view, do not accurately depict the actual practice:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u201cOnce you have adjusted your posture, take a breath and exhale fully, rock your body right and left, and settle into a steady, immovable sitting.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Think of not thinking.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Not thinking \u2013 what kind of thinking is that?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Nonthinking.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>This in itself is the essential art of zazen.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> Wholehearted zazen is to \u201c\u2026stop the operations of the mind, intellect, and consciousness.\u201d Stop fiddling completely and certainly don\u2019t 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.<\/span><\/span> Not all styles of zazen are the subtle method that can be discovered, what Katagiri Roshi used to call \u201cBuddha\u2019s zazen.\u201d 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\u2019s one reason working intimately with a teacher is important.<\/span><\/span> In wholehearted zazen, the modern way of separating mind and body has little utility. In\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Fukanzazengi<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span>,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span>Dogen entangles instruction on what we might call the mental and physical aspect \u2013 vividly showing this point.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u201cYou have gained the pivotal opportunity of human form.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Do not pass your days and nights in vain.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> With best wishes for your practice,<\/span><\/span> Dosho<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another good zazen question from the e-mail box: Does this bit of\u00a0Fukanzazengi\u00a0seem to you to emphasize the mental\/thinking side of things as \u201cthe secret of sitting-Zen\u201d? \u201cSitting in balance in the mountain-still state, \u201cThink the concrete state of not thinking.\u201d \u201cHow can the state of not thinking be thought?\u201d \u201cIt is different from thinking.\u201d This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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