The Great Spiritual Realization

[Beakon]

What is the great spiritual realization? Zen practice requires some handiwork! I was preparing my zafu for a morning meditation when black spots started to leak out. At first I didn't realize what it had meant. I soon realized that this was the material that fills a zafu.

Interesting Fact: Our beloved meditation cushions are filled with two materials: 1) kapak 2) buckwheat hulls

This worries me, for one reason my last name is "Champion-Taylor". I'm not much of a tailor, so I need to ask for advice. Have you encountered this problem? How did the solution work?

How A Zafu is Made:

https://youtu.be/GakexlbfAKk

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[Kokuu]

Hi Beakon

Yes, I have encountered a hole in one of my zafus. I patched it with material of the same colour. Didn't require any fine sewing and doesn't look pristine but no leakage anymore and works just fine.

I remember my mother telling me that a teddy bear grows holes because it is well loved. I think the same happens to a zafu!

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[Meitou]

Hi Beakon,

Now is your chance to try the traditional Japanese arts of Boro (tatters) patchwork and Sashiko stitching! https://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/s...red-patchwork/
As you can see, this falls into the category of 'visible mending', so as long as you can wield a needle and thread, you're good to go. If your zafu has lost a lot of stuffing, you can buy both kapok and buckwheat hulls to refill.

Gassho
Meitou
satwithyoualltoday/lah

[Beakon]

Hi Beakon,

Now is your chance to try the traditional Japanese arts of Boro (tatters) patchwork and Sashiko stitching! https://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/s...red-patchwork/
As you can see, this falls into the category of 'visible mending', so as long as you can wield a needle and thread, you're good to go. If your zafu has lost a lot of stuffing, you can buy both kapok and buckwheat hulls to refill.

Gassho
Meitou
satwithyoualltoday/lah

Thank you Kokuu & Meitou! Yeah, I understand Boro now thanks to the article you shared. Now I see the beauty in the artform emerges after years of reparations. It inspires me to think about if there will be future generations who will use my zafu and keep on repairing it.

Kokuu, I read your profile. I will have to PM you about meditating with physical limitations. I do not understand Chronic Fatigue Syndrome like you do, in time I can. I have difficulty with staying awake during meditations. Your mother is right, the more you love a teddy bear the more it needs repairs. I like that you are interested in haiku and botany.

As for the zafu, I haven't got a name for it yet. I picked up the Japanese tradition of naming inanimate objects. The wooden pantries in my suite have names, which help distinguish what contents are in it. Since taking up a practice of mindfulness, I've been trying to use a loving touch on my zafu. It dumbfounded me the zafu started to fall apart at the seems. Today I learned a zafu contains buckwheat or kapak, even a meditator needs to know handiwork. This is a realization of work devotion and impermanence.

[Jundo]

What is the great spiritual realization? Zen practice requires some handiwork! I was preparing my zafu for a morning meditation when black spots started to leak out. At first I didn't realize what it had meant. I soon realized that this was the material that fills a zafu.

Interesting Fact: Our beloved meditation cushions are filled with two materials: 1) kapak 2) buckwheat hulls

This worries me, for one reason my last name is "Champion-Taylor". I'm not much of a tailor, so I need to ask for advice. Have you encountered this problem? How did the solution work?

How A Zafu is Made:

https://youtu.be/GakexlbfAKk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have to say that the Zafu in the film, besides the wild pattern (we usually avoid distracting or stimulating patterns in the Zendo) is too soft with whatever she is using for stuffing. That is why tightly packed Kapok or cotton, or buckwheat or rice hulls, are best. A squishy Zafu is no good, and an overly hard one is no good for most folks. A rather firm one is best. One can experiment with adding and removing materials that suits one's own needs.

It is lovely that you sat through the Zafu to the point it needs a mend.

Now, a Koan: What is the Zafu that needs no fixing, and is ever whole, even as it tears to rags and all the husks spill out sometimes? What is never too soft or too hard, even when it is sometimes too soft or hard? What is the Patternless Pattern of the Universe which holds all patterns and solid colors? When we know this, we can help fix our broken lives, grabbing a needle to repair that Whole which can never have a hole.

Gassho, J

STLah

[Beakon]

The Great Spiritual Realization



I am happy to report that my zafu was fixed by my zafu. I gave it a name, too. Shannon, my wife, fixed my zafu with the tools from our sowing kit. This means I won't have to spend the $75 - $130 to have it replaced. We did not practice Boro, although I wanted to do it.

Jundo, perhaps we can get a lesson on answering koans? It's fun to think about while I'm out applying for work.

My wife and I are meditating together now. This was her first time practicing zazen. She told me that she went to a Japanese rice field in he mountains where people were working. She understood the objective of the meditation, which is to sit still and concentrate on her breathing.

We talked about what she understood about the meditation practice. She said "When I was meditating I told myself that I need to sit still and not react to my thoughts and feelings". Practicing the meditation helped her realize how calmer she gets. We talked about how she felt before and after her zazen practice. Shannon was feeling like breathing was efficient, her belly was breathing softer.

Sat TODAY!

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[Jishin]

The Great Spiritual Realization

Jundo, perhaps we can get a lesson on answering koans? It's fun to think about while I'm out applying for work.

Hi Beakon,

I think Koans are fun and good teaching tools when used as illustrations of Buddhist concepts. Not so if used as realization tools by working on them day and night. I think this is the method used by other forms of Zen traditions like Rinzai. Reality can be distorted if there is a Koan entangled with it in my opinion. It’s just better to be present with life by just being with life and not by being present with life plus a Koan. It avoids unnecessary complexity.

So if you mean the first case then great! Let’s hear it from the teacher. If you mean the second case then great! Let’s hear it from the teacher.



Jishin

[Jundo]

Hi Beakon,

I think Koans are fun and good teaching tools when used as illustrations of Buddhist concepts. Not so if used as realization tools by working on them day and night. I think this is the method used by other forms of Zen traditions like Rinzai. Reality can be distorted if there is a Koan entangled with it in my opinion. It’s just better to be present with life by just being with life and not by being present with life plus a Koan. It avoids unnecessary complexity.

So if you mean the first case then great! Let’s hear it from the teacher. If you mean the second case then great! Let’s hear it from the teacher.



Jishin

Yes, Beakon, this is my approach to Koans, as Jishin describes. There is the Koan of the leaky Zafu, the Koan of hunting for a job, the Koan of leaves falling from autumn trees ...

We have been having a kind of a "course on Koans" in our slow readings through the Book of Serenity collection in our "No Words Book Club" ...

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/search.php?searchid=893572&pp=&page=3

Gassho, J

STLah

PS - If anyone would like a much longer discussion on dancing the Koans in our Soto ways ...

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?8190-Koans-You&p=49597&viewfull=1#post49597

However, I tell you that you would do just as well with the Koan of falling leaves and leaky Zafus ...

[Richard1]

It seems to me that Koan's in the hands of the right teacher are a methodology for the work we need to do to realize our non dualistic selves.
Would not dismiss them out of hand because they are Rinzai.

Richard Carlsen

[Jundo]

It seems to me that Koan's in the hands of the right teacher are a methodology for the work we need to do to realize our non dualistic selves.
Would not dismiss them out of hand because they are Rinzai.

Richard Carlsen

Oh, Koan are not Rinzai nor Soto. We all cherish them and dance with them, even if the ways of dancing are a bit different. I would say that the Koans are not even Buddhist or Jewish or Christian or Atheist, neither stars nor mountains, mice nor tables ... yet each and all of those. (A Koan too).

Gassho, J

STLah

[FaithMoon]

The ways of working with koans are different in the different schools and lineages of zen: Chan (Chinese) - see Chan Master Sheng Yen on Huatou practice, Thien (Vietnamese; BTW Thich Nhat Hanh is a Zen Buddhist - see his book Zen Keys for koans from his tradition), Son (Korean) has their own style and curriculum, Japanese Soto has the style of koan practice taught by Jundo, Koan practice in Rinzai (and mixed) Japanese lineages requires much face to face work with the teacher - it can be loud all night "mu-ing" but don't see that style much in Western zendos these days. Training in this tradition takes many years (1,700 or so koans). It is a beautiful tradition, frequently misunderstood by those who haven't personal experience with the training. There are usually at least a few on this forum who have trained in this way.

[Jundo]

The ways of working with koans are different in the different schools and lineages of zen: Chan (Chinese) - see Chan Master Sheng Yen on Huatou practice, Thien (Vietnamese; BTW Thich Nhat Hanh is a Zen Buddhist - see his book Zen Keys for koans from his tradition), Son (Korean) has their own style and curriculum, Japanese Soto has the style of koan practice taught by Jundo, Koan practice in Rinzai (and mixed) Japanese lineages requires much face to face work with the teacher - it can be loud all night "mu-ing" but don't see that style much in Western zendos these days. Training in this tradition takes many years (1,700 or so koans). It is a beautiful tradition, frequently misunderstood by those who haven't personal experience with the training. There are usually at least a few on this forum who have trained in this way.

There is also some case to be made too (Nishijima Roshi was rather of this perspective) that all the emphasis on Koans in Zazen and Dokusan distracts from the real power of our ways. The emphasis on Koan Zazen was a later addition to Zen Practice which was meant as a helpful tool, but can also be poorly used and turned into gobbledygook.

Gassho, Jundo

STLah

[Beakon]

There is also some case to be made too (Nishijima Roshi was rather of this perspective) that all the emphasis on Koans in Zazen and Dokusan distracts from the real power of our ways. The emphasis on Koan Zazen was a later addition to Zen Practice which was meant as a helpful tool, but can also be poorly used and turned into gobbledygook.

Gassho, Jundo

STLah

Goobledeegook! That's what I'm going to name the salad I'm making for dinner!


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[Beakon]

At last, I have an opportunity to properly reply, Jundo. I've been re-reading the post looking for the proper words to say, all I've got is nothingness. As I'm going through this practice, I'm realizing there is a long and winding road of practice. Our Soto Zen way is to practice as if practicing is already enlightenment. For koans, it's like this is a unique practice that could lead to major insights, the fruit of the practice. As a beginner, I am not feeling enlightened, more overwhelmed. In the New Year, I am looking forward to tackling issues like air purification in the apartment, as we're dealing with second-hand smoke from marijuana and tobacco from neighbors. My wife is a severe asthmatic, also an insomniac.

It's like I have the desire to learn more about Soto Zen, but it's urgent for me to learn about life skills like stress management and building relationships. There are subskills I'm learning for creating an environment at home that is conducive for meditation practice. Falling asleep is one problem during meditation that I'm always having. Inhaling unclean air in the apartment causes suffering, from falling sick. The practice of meditation was my birthday gift to me for my 31st birthday. For this year's birthday, I've given myself the gift of journaling, which I hope will be a good tool for practice in Zen Buddhism. This is a reboot of my old journaling practice with new glasses. I am slower to learn and stick to practices than others. From practicing meditation I've learned that if I overwhelm myself I lose confidence and stop practicing out of perfectionism. If I successfully journal it will aid my practice in Zen and help me draw out conclusions to insights and koans. I need to be gentle on myself, not hard on myself because I'm so eager to learn many things.

Our goal at home is to learn how to live an intentional life, close to our values. Instead of nodding off during meditation, I'm going to try to be a healthier and productive cook in the New Year. I want to try to generate energy for practice during sitting. Also, after Rohatsu, I looked into forms of depression that I was suspicious of having. I believe that the retreat boosted my mindfulness so I could be familiar with symptoms. I had reported that to my therapist who is being supportive of my Soto Zen practice. Yeah, I have a busy mind and desire to learn a lot of new things like koan practice. I even tried contacting a local bookstore to see if they have the book of equanimity handy. No reply, yet. I think after a year of practicing I am hooked on the fishing line of Zen that has no hook.

[Amelia]

Best of luck on your endeavors in the New Year, Beakon.

Gassho, sat today, lah