A question on open, spacious awareness

[Hoseki]

Lovely!

Gassho
Satoday/LAH

[Onkai]

Thank you, Van, Jundo, and others who answered. I was never sure if I had the "spacious awareness" right. This thread is helpful to me.

Gassho,
Onkai
Sat

[moyomoy]

Hi Jundo,

Many thanks for sharing this. I’m very new in this topic and very keen to explore “Open awareness” during sitting.

Gassho

Moy


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[Shinshou]

My experience is like that described by Kokuu. Sometimes, there is awareness of everything all at once, but that is rare. When it happens, I don't celebrate it or mourn it. Usually, there is a switching between senses...I may hear the clock ticking, or see the wall in front of me, or feel the pressure on my ankles, or a transient emotion. When those experiences happen, I don't celebrate or mourn them. My experience has been that equanimity and open awareness come not from focusing, restricting, or controlling the mind's activity, but instead just allowing it without judgment. Just my view.

Shinshou (Dan)
Sat Today

[Jundo]

My experience has been that equanimity and open awareness come not from focusing, restricting, or controlling the mind's activity, but instead just allowing it without judgment. Just my view.

Yes, I believe that is a good description. I would add just that we allow the mind's activity without grabbing on or wallowing in it too. For example, if a negative or angry thought comes (or even a positive and happy one) during Shikantaza Zazen time, we don't grab on, get taken for a wide, wallow in the emotion, get tied up in the resulting trains of thoughts. Let it come, let it be, let it go.

If finding oneself nonetheless having gotten taken for a ride or wallowing ... release, return to breath or posture or open awareness ... again and again.

That, and sitting with the wholeness and completeness, sacredness, of "not one other place to be, not one more thing to do in this time of sitting but sitting" attitude of Shikantaza, with sitting itself being sat with a sense in the bones of the pinnacle of all life's goals and desires being just to sit for sitting's sake, and one has a pretty good handle on Shikantaza. I speak of this last vital aspect here:

WHAT's OFTEN MISSING in SHIKANTAZA EXPLANATIONS ....

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?15111-WHAT-s-OFTEN-MISSING-in-SHIKANTAZA-EXPLANATIONS

Gassho, J

STLah

[Jakuden]

What an awesome thread, thanks to all.

Gassho
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH

[Suuko]

Indeed. Great thread. Good to be back.

Gassho, Guish.