A mistrust when sitting

[Michael Joseph]

Zazen is strange, but makes a profound point about our psychological and philosophical attitude toward the world and life.

The world/life is just the world/life. It is what it is.

It is only human beings who judge this world/life as satisfying/dissatisfying, complete/lacking, legitimate/illegitimate etc. This life and world leap beyond all such human scales and judging. The world does not feel anxiety about being the world or about the state it is in. Only human beings feel such anxiety about the world.

Thus, we sit Zazen dropping away all human measures of satisfying/dissatisfying, complete/lacking, legitimate/illegitimate etc.

When we do so, a surprising thing happens:

One discovers that the dropping of satisfying/dissatisfying, and the willingness to just sit as what is, is most satisfying!

Putting aside measure of "complete vs. lacking" reveals a wholeness which is complete as it is.

Zazen legitimizes itself when we just drop the question from mind "is this legitimate or not"?

There is something pure and whole, positive and complete about the world when we simply rest, dropping all pursuit of "satisfaction, completion, legitimacy" and the like. This life "as it is," for all its apparent faults, reveals a wholeness beyond all the mental divisions, frictions and feelings of lack. Thus we sit, dropping our wallowing in divided mental categories, frictions and measures of lack. It is the little self which has a head full of categories, divisions, judgments etc, so that sense of self softens or fully drops away. What is to be anxious about?

Sit as "what it is," and life is "what it is." One might say that Zazen is self-legitimizing ("non-self legitimizing"? [emoji14] ) when we simply sit dropping such subjective measures and concerns such as whether it is "legitimate or not."

Gassho, J

STLah

Jundo,

You've said this before, but it cannot be repeated enough. Perhaps I should say that I, at least, need the constant reminders. Thank you.

Gassho,

Hobun

Sat today

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[Jundo]

One must also have a trust in Shikantaza to "make it work" ... but not the usual kind of trust and faith.

If one trusts that Zazen is complete, with nothing lacking, that this sitting is the one act to do in the world while sitting ... then it is complete with nothing lacking,

On the other hand, if one sits full of doubts, thinking that something is lacking and there is something better to do ... then it is lacking.

Why? Zazen is neutral, but the interpretation and judgement of Zazen happens between our ears, and is up to us. Thus, a profound trust in the wholeness is vital.

Then getting up from the cushion, we realize the same about all of life.

Is life lacking or whole, to be escaped from or are we "always at home"? In fact, life is just life, and our subjective heart determines much of the lens through we we see and feel about it. We typically only know life as lacking, but now we can experience its completeness too. We typically only know how to desire, chase after, feel lack and run to get more-more-more in life, but now we taste "nothing more in need of getting."

The real wisdom of this Path, if ya ask me, is to ultimately realize the wholeness of life while, at the same time, there is much that still is lacking and needs fixing in our world. We realize "always at home, no place to go," even as we keep moving, so busy, places to go and people to see in our day to day life.

TRUST in ZAZEN

Gassho, J

stlah

[dharmasponge]

Dharmasponge, please remember to put your name and "sattoday" before commenting. Thank you.

l saw your comment elsewhere ... May l ask, who told you so? lf it was meant to refer to here (l don't assume so), the advice was not quite this, but rather more subtle about sitting right through "good and bad":

Gassho, J

STLah

Hi Jundo,

No, it wasn't anyone in here.....was a teacher from the San Francisco Zen Centre.

Tony

STlah

[Kokuu]

Interestingly he said it was good and I should develop confidence in my practice.

Dammed if I do (...dull vaguely anxious state)

Dammed if I don't (... perpetuate the status quo)

Almost Koan like.

Hi Tony

I have been thinking about this and, without wanting to disrespect a teacher at the fine SFZC, I wonder if there is a differentiation to be made between 'my practice' and 'the practice'?

Whenever I think about 'my practice' all kinds of judgements and ideas appear.
If I have faith in 'the practice', those fall away.

I wonder if we can just have faith in the practice and let sitting happen by itself without the addition of 'my' or 'I'?

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[Amelia]

Never thought if it that exact way, Kokuu. Nice!

Gassho
Sat today, lah