Hello everyone! I hope we're all doing well.
I thought that since I've now been practicing daily for some 7 or 8 months that maybe I could write down a few things that I've experienced in the hope that maybe anyone newer than me to this practice may benefit from reading it.
Apologies up front for going so long.
So, first up, let's talk about zafu's shall we? Here's my current hoard:
Too many! (link)
Why did I end up with so many Zafus?
Because I was ignoring pain, and sitting in the wrong way for my current flexibility and in typical stubborn fashion blamed my tools instead of myself..
When I started out, I was sitting for maybe 10 minutes. This was fine in really any posture. Slowly, I've extended it and now I tend to sit 2x 30 minutes a day, and for the last two months this has been intensely uncomfortable. The problem I've had was my outer leg going to sleep after 20 minutes. Not a little bit asleep but I mean completely dead. It would become so distracting I would eventually have to move, but sometimes I would just macho my way through it. This was a bad idea, I would spend the last period of my zazen completely tied up in my legs.
I tried what I thought was everything (lots of different zafus, different clothes, different zabutons, nothing worked).. Until, last week.. I turned one of the Zafu's on its side after seeing a Muho video where he strapped a belt around his (I tried that too, btw which also works).. With just that little bit of extra height I can now sit 45 minutes with zero pain in my legs (in quarter lotus). This was a bit of a revelation for me. If only I'd have tried this months ago I could have avoided a lot of discomfort! Although, I'm quite grateful for having sat through all of that pain, as the 'little bit asleep' feelings I get towards the end now feels like nothing and is easily accepted :}
I now sit on this bizarre looking combination: Finally! (link) Also, sitting in jeans (at least for me) poses absolutely no problem, as long as they're not too tight (although I'm a European, I grew up in the 80s/90s and so I don't wear such tight ones, Levi 511's are fine for meditation
Second, Books!
I may have gone a bit overboard: Books! (link) (I guess one of the benefits of being a bit of a bibliophile and having some disposable income for things I enjoy). I've especially liked the Nishijima books, and Shohaku Okumura's commentaries (I do have the Genjokoan one somewhere too, which is great). I have one or two books from Muho (In German) which I'm translating into English in a bid to improve my written German at the rate of about a page a day, which I'm also enjoying)!
Finally, I guess a word on the effects..
Why do I do this if there isn't an objective? On the cushion, I managed to convince myself to have no objective. It's a time when I get to, finally, stop playing the game. However, off the cushion there are subtle effects that I've noticed, which which have been quite transformative. If I miss a day, or two, I notice these things slipping. So I clearly have an objective to sit without an objective :}
I really react much less quickly to situations that previously I would explode at. I can deal with annoying members of my family with much less effort, I've become a lot more compassionate, charitable and empathetic. Also I quit smoking (56 days!) and getting drunk (I still have a single beer or a whisky now and again, but not to intoxication). Life is getting better.
I certainly can't have seen those things happening without zazen, treeleaf and reading so much in here even passively.
Here's to another 6000 months of Zazen, one breath at a time.
Thank you Jundo for making this place, and everyone for being part of it.
See you at the Zazenkai tonight.
Gassho,
./sat
Neil
I thought that since I've now been practicing daily for some 7 or 8 months that maybe I could write down a few things that I've experienced in the hope that maybe anyone newer than me to this practice may benefit from reading it.
Apologies up front for going so long.
So, first up, let's talk about zafu's shall we? Here's my current hoard:
Too many! (link)
Why did I end up with so many Zafus?
Because I was ignoring pain, and sitting in the wrong way for my current flexibility and in typical stubborn fashion blamed my tools instead of myself..
When I started out, I was sitting for maybe 10 minutes. This was fine in really any posture. Slowly, I've extended it and now I tend to sit 2x 30 minutes a day, and for the last two months this has been intensely uncomfortable. The problem I've had was my outer leg going to sleep after 20 minutes. Not a little bit asleep but I mean completely dead. It would become so distracting I would eventually have to move, but sometimes I would just macho my way through it. This was a bad idea, I would spend the last period of my zazen completely tied up in my legs.
I tried what I thought was everything (lots of different zafus, different clothes, different zabutons, nothing worked).. Until, last week.. I turned one of the Zafu's on its side after seeing a Muho video where he strapped a belt around his (I tried that too, btw which also works).. With just that little bit of extra height I can now sit 45 minutes with zero pain in my legs (in quarter lotus). This was a bit of a revelation for me. If only I'd have tried this months ago I could have avoided a lot of discomfort! Although, I'm quite grateful for having sat through all of that pain, as the 'little bit asleep' feelings I get towards the end now feels like nothing and is easily accepted :}
I now sit on this bizarre looking combination: Finally! (link) Also, sitting in jeans (at least for me) poses absolutely no problem, as long as they're not too tight (although I'm a European, I grew up in the 80s/90s and so I don't wear such tight ones, Levi 511's are fine for meditation
Second, Books!
I may have gone a bit overboard: Books! (link) (I guess one of the benefits of being a bit of a bibliophile and having some disposable income for things I enjoy). I've especially liked the Nishijima books, and Shohaku Okumura's commentaries (I do have the Genjokoan one somewhere too, which is great). I have one or two books from Muho (In German) which I'm translating into English in a bid to improve my written German at the rate of about a page a day, which I'm also enjoying)!
Finally, I guess a word on the effects..
Why do I do this if there isn't an objective? On the cushion, I managed to convince myself to have no objective. It's a time when I get to, finally, stop playing the game. However, off the cushion there are subtle effects that I've noticed, which which have been quite transformative. If I miss a day, or two, I notice these things slipping. So I clearly have an objective to sit without an objective :}
I really react much less quickly to situations that previously I would explode at. I can deal with annoying members of my family with much less effort, I've become a lot more compassionate, charitable and empathetic. Also I quit smoking (56 days!) and getting drunk (I still have a single beer or a whisky now and again, but not to intoxication). Life is getting better.
I certainly can't have seen those things happening without zazen, treeleaf and reading so much in here even passively.
Here's to another 6000 months of Zazen, one breath at a time.
Thank you Jundo for making this place, and everyone for being part of it.
See you at the Zazenkai tonight.
Gassho,
./sat
Neil
. May I keep going in the same spirit and enthusiasm
. By the way, as someone who spent the first 7 years of Buddhist practice buying books "almost" compulsively, I would say you have at least 5 years worth of reading material (or a lifetime, depending on your way of reading). May I suggest you go through them slowly and mindfully, letting the wisdom sit and transform you
! My problem was that I read 1/2 the book and once the rush of dopamine was gone, I would hunt for another one. I am glad I am more or less past that now
Comment