Zen approach to waking up from sleep

[Douglas]

Some mindfulness folks, like Jon Kabat-Zinn, recommend doing a kind of body scan when you first wake up in the morning, before getting out of bed. Does Zen have anything like that? Maybe some sort of awareness-based method?

Also, how long do you usually wait after waking before doing zazen? I would imagine starting while still groggy might not be ideal. (though even groggy zazen is still zazen!)

Gassho
SAT/LAH

[Bion]

It is hard to generalize, because Zen is neither a single approach nor a fixed method. In Shingi (his monastic rules), Master Dogen describes in detail how a monk begins the day, and the entire routine is framed as mindfulness practice. From folding one’s blanket to walking to the toilet, everything is to be done with full awareness. Nothing is left unattended by the monk who is truly practicing.

Zen emphasizes awareness and presence in relation to our body-mind and our actions. Consider Tenzo Kyokun, which describes how the cook prepares meals without wasting even a single grain of rice. How much attention must that demand?

We can apply this same understanding to ordinary life. We seek to support our sitting practice, just as it supports us. This means noticing what we do and how it shapes us. For instance, if someone wakes up and spends 45 minutes lying in bed under the covers, it may become harder to get up and begin the day. If we pick up the phone and start mindlessly scrolling through social media before even getting out of bed, what happens to our capacity for focus and for cultivating wholesome qualities? Consider the opposite. What if a person begins the day truly paying attention to their bodies as they make the bed, wash their face, make the coffee, etc

Different people need different things and face different challenges. Someone who tends to be a bit lazier might benefit from giving extra attention to their waking habits and actions. By contrast, a morning person might find their main challenge is maintaining energy at other times of the day, or they may struggle with entirely different areas of life.

Regarding your question, I don’t believe there is a universally “best” time to sit after waking. Personally, I sit about 45 minutes to an hour after getting up. I have a coffee first and then begin my sitting practice. Each person’s body-mind will show them whether their schedule is working.

I hope some of this is of use.

With metta and in gassho,
sat lah

[Junsho]

Hi Douglas,

I might not have the same "academic" development as Bion Has, but I believe I can add something here. These are just suggestions, since, as Bion said, there isn't a universal way to approach these kinds of things.

My personal method is to do things in their own time. When I wake up, I don't get up immediately. I make a vow in my mind to do good and not do evil, and I am grateful for another day. After that, my day flows with ongoing self-correction and discipline to stay in the present, here and now.

When I go to sleep, I tend to relax the rules a bit—watch some news, scroll social media, spend time with family, etc.

My advice: Don't live too tightly, but don't let things spiral out of control either. Give yourself rewards occasionally, but know when to tighten up.

Gassho and deep bows.
SatLah

[Jundo]

My experience of retreat at monasteries in Japan is that there is nothing leisurely about waking. Upon the wake up bell, a handbell rung by a running monk through the hallways at 4am, one quickly rises, ties ones robes (one has been sleeping in the underrobes, if not the full Koromo), immediately folds one's futon and stores it in cabinet, and makes one's way to the toilet for a quick pee, then a detailed ritual of cold water washing of the face and toothbrushing ... then Koromo robe tied more formally. One must make one's way to the Zendo for morning Zazen ... making sure that one is already fully seated in the Zen Hall well before the bell for Zazen 10 or 15 minutes later. It is a fire drill, for sure.

Mindfulness shmindfulness, one is lucky not to fall headlong into the toilet with the speed of it all. And it is FREEZING COLD too much of the time!

This shows the face washing portion, from wake up bell at 4am to Zazen at 4:10am at Eiheiji. Look from the 8.45 mark of the video to the 12:00 mark.

From 26:25 mark, the video shows the traditional way of wrapping oneself in the futon like a burrito to sleep. That is 9pm, but only if the monk does not have special work ... like getting up early to be the morning bell-ringer!

Gassho, J
stlah

[Jundo]

Some mindfulness folks, like Jon Kabat-Zinn, recommend doing a kind of body scan when you first wake up in the morning, before getting out of bed. Does Zen have anything like that? Maybe some sort of awareness-based method?

I will let you in on a little modern Buddhist secret: When you encounter practices like this, they are far from traditional Buddhism, but rather tend to be something that the modern Buddhist teacher has cooked up for reasons very different from their original Buddhist intent.

So, for example, I assume the Dr. Kabat-Zinn's practice is aimed at someone with the leisure to be in bed for awhile without needing to get up to get working. They are to feel their body to enjoy it, appreciate it. That is a fine thing.

However, in original Buddhist teachings, one noted the sensations and part of the body in order to reject them for their impermanence. The body was not something to savor, but something to realize as a collection of temporary parts and conditions.

So, nothing wrong with his recommended practice of taking some time to slowly awaken, feeling the sensations, appreciating one's limbs. It seems like a lovely practice. However, it is more a kind of hedonism and relaxation, than Buddhism.

Gassho, Jundo
stlah

[Douglas]

I will let you in on a little modern Buddhist secret: When you encounter practices like this, they are far from traditional Buddhism, but rather tend to be something that the modern Buddhist teacher has cooked up for reasons very different from their original Buddhist intent.

So, for example, I assume the Dr. Kabat-Zinn's practice is aimed at someone with the leisure to be in bed for awhile without needing to get up to get working. They are to feel their body to enjoy it, appreciate it. That is a fine thing.

However, in original Buddhist teachings, one noted the sensations and part of the body in order to reject them for their impermanence. The body was not something to savor, but something to realize as a collection of temporary parts and conditions.

So, nothing wrong with his recommended practice of taking some time to slowly awaken, feeling the sensations, appreciating one's limbs. It seems like a lovely practice. However, it is more a kind of hedonism and relaxation, than Buddhism.

Gassho, Jundo
stlah

if I recall correctly,the aim is more about being aware of the state of your body, pains, etc. its from his book “Full Catastrophe Living”.

I suppose I’m asking more about how to motivate oneself to get on the cushion, chair, etc. When your mind is barely functional.

I’m not so hard on the mindfulness folk. Many people find their way to Zen and Buddhism after first exploring mindfulness. I count myself as one of them.


Gassho.
SAT/LAH

[Washin]

My waking-up routine is always the same.

I usually wake up 45 minutes before morning zazen. I spend a few minutes connecting with my body while still in bed and
expressing gratitude for a new day. Then I do Chinese rubbing exercises for the face and neck that help me wake up completely.
I treat making the bed as important. I remember a Zen teacher once said, " Make your bed as if you have never slept on it ". I love it.
Then I can have a cup of coffee before sitting.

All that time, I try not to touch the phone unless there is an air alert out, and I have to check what kind of "flying visitors" are approaching.

Gassho
Washin
st/lah

[Onki]

Hey Douglas!

I get up in the morning at 6am. I have some water, take my meds, and get ready for Zazen. I host an early morning sit from 6:30am-7am every weekday and 9am on Saturdays. After that, I chant The Heart Sutra and The Four Vows.

It takes practice to build up a morning routine and figure out when you can sit on the cushion. You don’t have to sit for half an hour either. If you can get 10 minutes in, that’s great. Jundo has recommended “Insta Zazen. (I hope those are the correct words!) You can do this anywhere and everywhere: driving, grocery shopping, standing in line.

And yes, I believe grogginess is groggy Zazen

Gasshō,

On

st/lah

[Chikyou]

I guess I’m really lucky in that I’m never groggy when I wake up (unless I have to get up two or three hours early for some reason - cutting an entire stage off of my sleep). My usual routine is to get up, toilet/brush teeth/wash face, sit zazen for half an hour, then get dressed and have breakfast.

I find that if I do other things before zazen, I will become much more inclined to do other things instead of sitting zazen. So I made it part of my wake-up routine, right along with face washing and teeth brushing. This works for me.

Gassho,
SatLah,
Chikyō

[Taiji]

My cat is my bell-ringer most mornings. He has me up at pretty much 5:00 on the dot every morning because (his) breakfast is Very Important Business.

So I get up, make the bed, stop off at the bathroom on the way to the kitchen, feed the cat, start the hot water pot if my spouse hasn't done so already, and attend to a few other every-morning things while the water warms up. After that, coffee, and after that, morning gets underway in earnest. Sitting happens shortly after coffee, provided I don't slip into mindless phone-scrolling or something like that. If I do, then sitting happens once I realize what I'm doing and shake out of it.

Mostly, though, this is just sort of the organic routine that has arisen thanks to my cat's strict oversight, so I can't say it has any special meaning.

Gassho,
Taiji
Sat/LAH Today

[Bob-Midwest]

I have repeated this gatha upon waking for years from Thich Nhat Hanh:

Waking up this morning, I smile.

Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.

I vow to live fully in each moment

and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.

bob
sat, lah

[Seiko]

My memories of mornings when I was resident at Throssel Hole, were having to get up before I was awake. The big queue for a hand basin (too few hand basins) was so long that face washing and teeth brushing had to be performed in 2 or 3 minutes. I never observed anyone being late for morning service. Waking up took place during morning service.

Today, now that mornings are lighter and temperatures not so cold, the cats are waking me at 5.30am. A morning meow replaces a morning bell. My routine has to involve giving medical care and breakfast to the cats before I do anything else. I am often on "automatic pilot" at this time, doing the same things in the same order, placing the bowls the same way round, placing the correct food in the correct bowl (Connie is on a special diet), adding two different liquid meds to her food. mixing in extra water, giving her the pill medication by pushing it to the back of her tongue, cleaning the litter trays, vacuuming. At some point during this routine I will have thawed out (woken up).

Sitting follows all this. But on some level the zazen started with the first meow.

John Kabat-Zinn is welcome to come observe my life, it might open his eyes to other ways of living.

Gasshō, Seiko, stlah

[Shui_Di]

Hi Douglas,

There are many kinds of approach to understand that wave is also water.

One approach is cleaning your eyes, and maybe cleaning you glasses, and then wait till the wave is not so big, than observe it slowly, untill you realize that the wave is slowly appears from the surface of the sea, and the wave is become bigger and then the wave disappear again below the sea's surface. Then you know that wave and sea are not different. Then slowly to go near the sea and touch it with your hand, then you know that it is water. So the sea's surface including the wave, all is water.

It is the same as John's approach. wake up slowly, bring mindfulness to the body, knowing that you are here. Then slowly when your body move, then you know some sensation arise, some sensation disappear. Some mind arise, some mind disappear. All is come and go, for all is impermanence.


Another approach is, just jump to the sea with or without wave. Swim on it, and you know that sea wave water are one.

In my opinion, this is the traditional approach, especially in Zen way, which is more direct. When wake up, just wake. In Zen we should not attach to the leisure of mindfulness, nor being dragged by anxiety. Here anxiety and relaxation both are just condition. Buddha said that the 5 skandhas are empty by nature, including the feeling and body sensation. So, like the practice in Eiheiji, eventhough morning is like a rush, but in Zen approach, rush and not rush is just condition, which we accept it with open mind. Just like we just be naked, and go directly swim to the sea, and you will now, wave is water.

This is just my opinion

Gassho, Mujo
Stlah

[Douglas]

Thank you for everybody's response! Its all been wonderful!

Gassho, Doug
SAT/LAH

[Seiko]

Some mindfulness folks, like Jon Kabat-Zinn, recommend doing a kind of body scan when you first wake up in the morning, before getting out of bed. Does Zen have anything like that? Maybe some sort of awareness-based method?

Also, how long do you usually wait after waking before doing zazen? I would imagine starting while still groggy might not be ideal. (though even groggy zazen is still zazen!)

Gassho
SAT/LAH

Hi Douglas,
On reflection, I don't think my first reply was very helpful. I hope you will forgive me. Let me try again...

I avoid using the word mindfulness because everyone seems to have different definitions and folk are all too often talking as if each know what the other means, when they don't.

There are various views on whether one can successfully take the highly concentrated awareness of zazen off the cushion into all of life. My personal feeling is yes, no and sometimes. I mean, yes we should try to be more aware of our thoughts, speech and actions (and the rest of the 8-fold path), but is it really possible to maintain that high level of awareness every minute of every day? Not for me. Well not this week anyway. But sometimes we are naturally more aware than others, and in some activities we need to be more aware to avoid danger. And sentient beings DO have awareness, but my own awareness ebbs and flows, sometimes more sometimes less. I don't know if that is the same for everyone or if I am just unaccomplished. I think relaxation is sometimes necessary. And what is relaxation? Giving yourself permission to be less aware, to concentrate less? Perhaps. When relaxing, I am aware that I am relaxing. When rushing through a routine on auto-pilot, I am aware that I am rushing through a routine on auto-pilot.

Now, regarding the body-scan: On days when you have time and you can do it, I see no harm, and yes you might find it beneficial in some way. It is a practice in intensifying awareness. Then at the end of the day, in reverse, you could start with toes and end with brain, gently putting each body part to sleep (this is a recognised technique sometimes taught to insomniacs or people who have high stress) - turning down the awareness volume.

My early zazen is after my cat routine. So around 40 minutes after eyes open. Without a cat whose medical needs are so important, the zazen would be much earlier.

I hope this is a more useful answer.

Gasshō, Seiko, stlah