What counts as “sitting“?

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  • Kevin M
    Member
    • Dec 2018
    • 190

    What counts as “sitting“?

    In The Art of Simple Living he talks of standing Zazen, for example while holding the strap on the subway you focus on your breathing a certain way and this is Zazen.
    Does this count?
    Heh heh ok not looking for a legalistic loophole just curious ..
    Gassho1
    STLAH
    Kevin


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  • Kyotai

    #2
    I would say every moment is an opportunity to "sit" but once a day or so, you should try and sit on your zafu as well.

    Gassho Kyotai
    Did not sit yet

    Comment

    • Jundo
      Treeleaf Founder and Priest
      • Apr 2006
      • 39983

      #3
      What Kyotai said.

      Any time one engages in an activity with a radical dropping of gaining mind, and profound equanimity, this is Shikantaza. Even washing the dishes or changing diapers or any activity can potentially be so. Each is done for its own sake, nothing lacking, a sacred doing. We recommend folks to engage in little Zazen moments many times during the day ...

      - Zazen for Beginners (13) - Anywhere, Anytime INSTA-ZAZEN!
      Introducing Insta-Zazen! © I often say that true Zazen is not a matter of sitting, standing, walking, running, floating in a pond or flying through the air. ALL OF LIFE, each instant and every action, is “Zazen” when lived as such, with the same vigorous, sincere stance of “attaining non-attaining,” and vibrant “doing non


      There is stillness even at the heart of motion, dropping of goals even as we have goals, "no place to go" even as we rush here and there.

      And yet ... there is something special and precious about actually sitting as we sit, still in stillness. And so we sit sit for a time each day.

      Gassho, Jundo

      STLah
      ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

      Comment

      • Meian
        Member
        • Apr 2015
        • 1722

        #4
        Every morning, before I get up, I sit. If I'm feeling unwell, I may recline, or I may sit cross-legged if I'm ok. But every morning, this is my routine -- sit first, then work.

        After that, I rarely time zazen. I just do it.

        This morning, for instance, I was "on call" between classes, so I sat "mini-zazen" as I waited and focused on my breathing. Just a few moments each time, but I do that often each day.

        That's just what I do, I do it anywhere.

        Gassho
        Kim
        St. Lh

        Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk
        鏡道 |​ Kyodo (Meian) | "Mirror of the Way"
        visiting Unsui
        Nothing I say is a teaching, it's just my own opinion.

        Comment

        • Shonin Risa Bear
          Member
          • Apr 2019
          • 922

          #5
          For years, the problem with my sitting "properly" was that I was proud of it.

          Now that I clearly can't get onto a zafu, I miss it (and the seiza bench too) -- and half an hour in even a folding chair can sometimes be excruciating, but there is something worth while going on, not as "marred," shall we say, by having a goal of being noticed and approved of. _()_

          gassho
          doyu sattoday
          Visiting priest: use salt

          Comment

          • Sekishi
            Treeleaf Priest
            • Apr 2013
            • 5671

            #6
            Originally posted by Kyotai
            I would say every moment is an opportunity to "sit" but once a day or so, you should try and sit on your zafu as well.
            Yes. This.

            A corollary (in my experience) - having a daily sitting practice makes it easier / more natural to access the mind of Shikantaza regardless of posture and surroundings. E.g. daily sitting makes it easier to sit without sitting!

            Gassho,
            Sekishi
            #sat #withsittingposture
            Sekishi | 石志 | He/him | Better with a grain of salt, but best ignored entirely.

            Comment

            • Kyonin
              Treeleaf Priest / Engineer
              • Oct 2010
              • 6745

              #7
              Hi Kevin,

              It is correct that we must expand zazen to our daily life paying attention to every moment. But sitting on your zafu is one of the core of our practice.

              I have found that the more I sit zazen, even if my ego revels against it, the easier it gets to just be with whatever life presents me.

              Gassho,

              Kyonin
              Sat/LAH
              Hondō Kyōnin
              奔道 協忍

              Comment

              • Heiso
                Member
                • Jan 2019
                • 832

                #8
                Hi Kevin,

                Like most others here I try to sit on my cushion each morning, if only for a little while but sometimes that isn't possible and when it's not I 'sit' on the train on my way to work. I used to feel this was a sort of second rate substitute, better than nothing. But I've come to really appreciate it as it seems to be another way to take my practice out in to the world and I've found something beautiful in the madness of rush hour going on around me while I'm sitting there not attaching, judging, grasping or fighting but just letting life happen.

                Gassho,

                Neil

                StLah

                Comment

                • MyoHo
                  Member
                  • Feb 2013
                  • 632

                  #9
                  Sitting is difficult for me sometimes. But there are many ways to practice. A day is full of tasks and they are all opportunity for practice but sometimes, it feels right taking a moment to sit and be glad and greatfull for all things. The good things, the large and small blessings in our lives and if you can manage it, the other things that compose our life also. To just stop for a moment, like a butterfly and just breathe. The silence between the notes is also music. Its all OK you know, allways has been, from the beginning.



                  MyoHo
                  Mu

                  Comment

                  • Jundo
                    Treeleaf Founder and Priest
                    • Apr 2006
                    • 39983

                    #10
                    Originally posted by MyoHo
                    Sitting is difficult for me sometimes. But there are many ways to practice. A day is full of tasks and they are all opportunity for practice but sometimes, it feels right taking a moment to sit and be glad and greatfull for all things. The good things, the large and small blessings in our lives and if you can manage it, the other things that compose our life also. To just stop for a moment, like a butterfly and just breathe. The silence between the notes is also music. Its all OK you know, allways has been, from the beginning.



                    MyoHo
                    But sit ... and please put "Sat Today" before posting, Myoho. Thank you.

                    Gassho, Jundo

                    STLah
                    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

                    Comment

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