This was a short piece I wrote for the Stonewater Zen Winter 2024 newsletter based on a discussion we had in a Shobogenzo discussion group.
Gassho
Kokuu
At present, I am part of a group that is studying Master Dōgen’s text Fukanfzazengi (Universal Guide to the Standard Method of Zazen). This was the first piece Dōgen wrote upon returning from China in 1227 and his attempt to share the practice of shikantaza with everyone in Japan.
Although I have read the text many times before, going through it line-by-line and hearing about the impressions that others have of it has brought new life to parts I had previously brushed over.
One such part is this paragraph immediately after Dōgen has guided us into the zazen posture, and the Nishijima/Cross translation runs like this:
When the physical posture is already settled, make one complete exhalation and sway left and right. Sitting immovably in the mountain-still state.
Two other translations are:
Finally, having regulated your body and mind in this way, take a deep breath, sway your body to left and right, then sit firmly as a rock (Yokoi and Victoria).
Once you have adjusted yourself into this posture, take a deep breath Inhale, exhale, rock your body to the right and left, and settle into a steady, unmoving sitting position (Waddell and Abe).
I have often viewed these instructions as optional and something to do if you are not already comfortable on the cushion, but reading them again and seeing how they are followed by a phrase which describes a steady, mountain-like posture has made me think again.
Often, I come to zazen immediately after finishing another activity, and quite often with my head full of thought. Moving straight into sitting can end up with still being quite head-focused. Since re-reading this part of the text, I have found that just taking some moments to follow its instructions, in taking one deep breath in and exhaling, then swaying around until my body is centred, works well in bringing me into my body.
Earlier on in Fukanzazengi, Dōgen warns that ‘going in with the head… we have almost completely lost the vigorous road of getting the body out’. He clearly intends for zazen to be an embodied practice in which we involve our whole body and not just our mind.
The next sentences following the instructions to take a steady seat are related to what to do with the mind—thinking-not-thinking—also suggest that this is the case.
For me, Zazen is not a practice just involving my thoughts but instead about assuming a stable posture in which I can abide in a restful state of awareness with my whole body. These instructions are both part of preparing for Zazen and the practice itself.
Gassho
Kokuu
At present, I am part of a group that is studying Master Dōgen’s text Fukanfzazengi (Universal Guide to the Standard Method of Zazen). This was the first piece Dōgen wrote upon returning from China in 1227 and his attempt to share the practice of shikantaza with everyone in Japan.
Although I have read the text many times before, going through it line-by-line and hearing about the impressions that others have of it has brought new life to parts I had previously brushed over.
One such part is this paragraph immediately after Dōgen has guided us into the zazen posture, and the Nishijima/Cross translation runs like this:
When the physical posture is already settled, make one complete exhalation and sway left and right. Sitting immovably in the mountain-still state.
Two other translations are:
Finally, having regulated your body and mind in this way, take a deep breath, sway your body to left and right, then sit firmly as a rock (Yokoi and Victoria).
Once you have adjusted yourself into this posture, take a deep breath Inhale, exhale, rock your body to the right and left, and settle into a steady, unmoving sitting position (Waddell and Abe).
I have often viewed these instructions as optional and something to do if you are not already comfortable on the cushion, but reading them again and seeing how they are followed by a phrase which describes a steady, mountain-like posture has made me think again.
Often, I come to zazen immediately after finishing another activity, and quite often with my head full of thought. Moving straight into sitting can end up with still being quite head-focused. Since re-reading this part of the text, I have found that just taking some moments to follow its instructions, in taking one deep breath in and exhaling, then swaying around until my body is centred, works well in bringing me into my body.
Earlier on in Fukanzazengi, Dōgen warns that ‘going in with the head… we have almost completely lost the vigorous road of getting the body out’. He clearly intends for zazen to be an embodied practice in which we involve our whole body and not just our mind.
The next sentences following the instructions to take a steady seat are related to what to do with the mind—thinking-not-thinking—also suggest that this is the case.
For me, Zazen is not a practice just involving my thoughts but instead about assuming a stable posture in which I can abide in a restful state of awareness with my whole body. These instructions are both part of preparing for Zazen and the practice itself.
I read this as a way to priming your mind for zazen, very much like how sports athletes have their ticks before performing. The example I always return to is Rafael Nadal and all of his rituals. When I do my zazen I follow zendo etiquette with bowing and the whole works.
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