The Zen Master's Dance - 11 - Fukan Zazengi (bottom of p. 45 to p. 49 End of Chapter)

[Gregor]

Just finished the reading and I want to 1st say, It was very good!

Jundo thank you for this book, so well written and inspirational, just what I needed today.

I think trust in Zazen and practice is important as our perspective shapes our experience of reality and having faith in sitting "as Buddha" gives us a true taste of Zen as well the inspiration to continue sitting.

The role-playing I think is a skillful approach to practice and I have often envisioned myself as sitting beneath the Bodhi Tree or as the tiger atop the mountain. At least at 1st or whenever I catch my mind wandering off and returning to the posture as I tend to need to resets.

Gassho

Gregor
ST

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[Kaisui]

The more I have been sitting zazen and reminding myself--thanks to Jundo's continuing advice--to trust that there is no other place to be and that sitting itself in this moment is Buddha, the more I am coming to feel that this attitude itself is the very thing I am here to see/realise on the cushion. I think before this, like many of us, I have been sitting expecting to see something new, something (enlightenment) that no one is able to describe so I can't know what to expect but that l know it when it comes. I am feeling more now that by sitting and encompassing this attitude of trust that sitting is a complete act, 'acting' it if it is not coming naturally, I am in that moment seeing what I am there to see - that we do not need to build up our small selves because we are already here as the whole.

There is no special equipment or place to be for your Zazen to "work". You don't need a Zafu, or a mala, or a chant, or even a rakusu. You don't have to travel to some distant land to learn from an acclaimed master. These things are nice, and can serve as reminders of our commitment throughout the day, but are ultimately superfluous.
Everything you need to attain the way is already actualized within your own body. Any doubts to the contrary are your own delusion surfacing. Take refuge too in that realization: you are enough.

Gassho,
Kaisui
(coriander)
sat/lah

[Jundo]

The more I have been sitting zazen and reminding myself--thanks to Jundo's continuing advice--to trust that there is no other place to be and that sitting itself in this moment is Buddha, the more I am coming to feel that this attitude itself is the very thing I am here to see/realise on the cushion. I think before this, like many of us, I have been sitting expecting to see something new, something (enlightenment) that no one is able to describe so I can't know what to expect but that l know it when it comes. I am feeling more now that by sitting and encompassing this attitude of trust that sitting is a complete act, 'acting' it if it is not coming naturally, I am in that moment seeing what I am there to see - that we do not need to build up our small selves because we are already here as the whole.

I truly adore when folks here can express these things better than I manage to do.

[Nengyoku]

The more I have been sitting zazen and reminding myself--thanks to Jundo's continuing advice--to trust that there is no other place to be and that sitting itself in this moment is Buddha, the more I am coming to feel that this attitude itself is the very thing I am here to see/realise on the cushion. I think before this, like many of us, I have been sitting expecting to see something new, something (enlightenment) that no one is able to describe so I can't know what to expect but that l know it when it comes. I am feeling more now that by sitting and encompassing this attitude of trust that sitting is a complete act, 'acting' it if it is not coming naturally, I am in that moment seeing what I am there to see - that we do not need to build up our small selves because we are already here as the whole.





Gassho,
Kaisui
(coriander)
sat/lah

I always find your discussions delightful. Thank you for this.



Gassho,
Nengyoku
Sat

[Kaisui]

Oh, I'm so glad to hear that resonates with what you mean Jundo by sitting with trust.

Thank you Nengyoku, I also found your words helpful and I hope that was clear when I quoted you with a gassho... but I could be more direct

Gassho,
Kaisui
sat

[Tomás ESP]

There is no stop to searching. In my own life I keep searching for answers, especially outside of myself. If we do not sit with the trust that this is it, then we will probably get up off the cushion and go looking for the truth somewhere else (and never find it...). I am still struggling to integrate this principle in my own practice. I know it intellectually, but I have a hard time putting it into practice.

Gassho, Tomás
Sat&LaH

[Chikyou]

Well, we come to the Fukanzazengi Big Zen Zinger of a Finish!

I would like to point out how many elements of trust, "method acting," felt embodiment, that there are in this section. One does not merely sit, waiting for something to happen because one is sitting there, in a certain posture.

Rather, one must sit with certain feelings, confidence, assumptions and attitudes about sitting, such as:

- To practice (Zazen) wholeheartedly is itself attaining the truth ...

- To sit is itself the 'Buddha Seal' of the Buddhas and Ancestors ...

- There is no other place to go to find it by wandering around ...

Why do you think such a trust in like truths and "method acting" is important in Zazen? Do you do so when you sit?

Gassho, J

STLah

I am working (without working ) on building that deep knowledge that sitting is Buddha, that there's nothing to attain. It's currently the hardest thing about this practice for me. "Method acting" is about right - also "fake it till you make it". I can intellectually know what I am doing/supposed to be doing but the deep knowing doesn't come from intelligect.

Still, as I practice the deep knowing is slowly revealing itself, day by day and sit by sit.

Gassho,
SatLah
-Kelly

[Amelia]

When I was a kid, someone came to school to do something like a motivational speech. They had everyone try to touch their toes, then told everyone to try again, but while believing they could do it. More people who could not touch their toes the first time were able to do so. This is what I think of when I read the prompt

Gassho
Sat, lah