Self-conscious sitting

[Tom A.]

I have a somewhat silly question,

I love doing Zazen outdoors and in my car and sometimes that is the only time I have for Zazen, however, I get very very self conscious whenever people see me with the cosmic mudra doing Zazen. Does this suggest that I'm not serious about practice as I should be?

Edit: I meant that I get so self conscious that It seems almost impossible to continue practicing in those times.

Gassho,

Tom

Sat

[Jundo]

I have a somewhat silly question,

I love doing Zazen outdoors and in my car and sometimes that is the only time I have for Zazen, however, I get very very self conscious whenever people see me with the cosmic mudra doing Zazen. Does this suggest that I'm not serious about practice as I should be?

Edit: I meant that I get so self conscious that It seems almost impossible to continue practicing in those times.

Gassho,

Tom

Sat

Sometimes, I like to make a demonstration of sitting, sitting cross-legged in some public place like a park. These days, it is by far not the strangest thing that people will see on the street, and really, not so strange at all.

Other times, I just sit, on a bench or in my car, not particularly in the lotus position in the like. Just a guy sitting on a bench or in his car. I have even "sat" during long, dull business conferences or in hospital waiting rooms ... but not crossed legged. I just looked like a guy in the conference or waiting room.

So, no need to make a show, just sit ordinary way in public.

Gassho, J

STLah

[Bion]

Self-conscious sitting

You’d be surprised at how little people actually care. The zazen mudra might even go unnoticed.
Years ago, I was staying at a bnb in the mountains with a friend. He liked to sit zazen with me, so I taught him and we sat together often. That bnb had a lovely fireplace underneath an elevated place and there was a table, chairs and places to sit on that spot. Well, first evening there, it was quiet in the area, there were only a few people in the whole cabin. I suggested we sat zazen on top of the fireplace. It was December 30th. As we were sitting, a family that was staying there came downstairs into the common area, where the fireplace was and as they were walking around, noticed us in zazen facing the wall and were extremely respectful. I could hear one of the kids ask their mom what we were doing and she whispered “they’re meditating”. They gave us our space and that was that. We had lovely chats after that and even spent New Year’s together. No one judged us.

My point is: if anything, allowing others to see you in zazen means they receive a dharma seed. It might open the door for conversation or for them to investigate afterwards. Some will just think you’re weird.

I do have a little tip: whenever you feel self-conscious, remember shirtless people in spandex shorts feel comfortable doing pull-ups in public places and no one thinks they’re weird [emoji3526]


Sorry for the length!!

[emoji1374]Sat Today

PS: here’s a photo from that evening sitting zazen in the cabin

[Suuko]

I don't sit with the cosmic mudra in public but I consciously allow life to be what it is and make sure that I am sitting straight. I want to go and sit Zazen in nature very soon.

Gassho,
Sat,
Suuko.


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[Kokuu]

I love doing Zazen outdoors and in my car and sometimes that is the only time I have for Zazen, however, I get very very self conscious whenever people see me with the cosmic mudra doing Zazen. Does this suggest that I'm not serious about practice as I should be?

I think it means you are a human being who has a normal sense of embarrassment.

As Bion says, people really tend not to care what other people are doing if it is not affecting them. I used to feel self-conscious when sitting on my porch and my neighbours could see if they were passing by. After a few times, I found that I didn't feel it anywhere near as much.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[Jishin]

I have a somewhat silly question,

I love doing Zazen outdoors and in my car and sometimes that is the only time I have for Zazen, however, I get very very self conscious whenever people see me with the cosmic mudra doing Zazen. Does this suggest that I'm not serious about practice as I should be?

Edit: I meant that I get so self conscious that It seems almost impossible to continue practicing in those times.

Gassho,

Tom

Sat

Your Zazen seems perfectly good to me.

Gassho, Jishin, ST, LAH

[bayamo]

interesting coincidence- just the other day i ran into a girl who always takes the same bus i do. i stopped at a bakery for a beer and a sandwich. the waitress noticed i recognized and said "you don't remember me do you?" now, generally a guy hears this and he freaks cause uh oh is this some girl i never called back, but right away she laughed and said the bus number. anyways, that lead to some chit chat and she asked if she could ask me something, i said sure, and if i meditated on the bus (i usually listen to a guided meditation, sam harris or something similar) on the bus. i asked how she knew and she said she also meditates and she just recognized by my posture (sans mudra). anyways, yah i've done it in public (wow, that sentence without context is something) and never really gave it a second thought. we have a park with a small zoo with rescued wildlife at the end and i love going there to sit for a bit.
#sattoday

[Jundo]

And while we can sit Zazen anywhere (I have sometimes pulled the car over on the side of a busy highway, and sat Zazen in the rest area with the sound of traffic filling my ears) ... I do not recommend this ...

meditaciya-meditation-devushka.jpg

It might be an excellent Zazen on the edge of life and death ... but very short ...

Also this, be careful. That old Koan about "stepping off a 100 foot pole" is not so literal.

Even Zen folks should comply with traffic laws and the law of gravity.

Gassho, J

STLah

[Bion]

And while we can sit Zazen anywhere (I have sometimes pulled the car over on the side of a busy highway, and sat Zazen in the rest area with the sound of traffic filling my ears) ... I do not recommend this ...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7630[/ATTACH]

It might be an excellent Zazen on the edge of life and death ... but very short ...

Also this, be careful. That old Koan about "stepping off a 100 foot pole" is not so literal.

Even Zen folks should comply with traffic laws and the law of gravity.

Gassho, J

STLah

But how else could we look amazingly cool and enlightened in our Instagram photos if we’re not EXTRA? [emoji1]

[emoji1374] Sat Today

[Nengyoku]

I suggested we sat zazen on top of the fireplace.

I thought I misread this at first and had a giggle at the mental image of Bion sitting on the mantle like a stocking.

Gassho,
Nengyoku
Sat

[Tom A.]

Thank you everyone! I will keep in mind that I am only the 2nd or 3rd weirdest thing people will see in public. I did do sweaty Zazen in the sauna at the gym tonight, thankfully I didn’t do the cosmic mudra (it would have been strange even though nether regions were covered)

Seriously though, your encouragement is just what I need to get over my social anxiety and self-consciousness.



Gassho,

Tom

Sat


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[Suuko]

I wore my robe and Rakusu for the world culture day on our campus. They all thought that I was trying to portray Star Wars characters. One of my students said that I was the teacher from Harry Potter. I think we should just be okay with being weird.[emoji846]

Sat,
Suuko.

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[Prashanth]

A grey heron made its home near a river where I live. Each evening for hours it spends time standing, gently moving, observing the waters for fish. Sometimes it looks frozen for minutes, and sometimes virtually invisible. I look at it too and share some minutes of stillness with it.
The heron is aware of any danger that might befall it, but at the same time it doesn't create a flutter lest the fish notice. At the right time, it dashes it's beautiful beak and head into the water and comes out with a prize. This happens once in 30 mins or more, but it's always successful.

I want to be that Heron in Zazen, where there is no fish to be found or searched for, and yet to keep looking in vast stillness.

Gassho.

Sorry to run long.
Sat

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[Kokuu]

A grey heron made its home near a river where I live. Each evening for hours it spends time standing, gently moving, observing the waters for fish. Sometimes it looks frozen for minutes, and sometimes virtually invisible. I look at it too and share some minutes of stillness with it.
The heron is aware of any danger that might befall it, but at the same time it doesn't create a flutter lest the fish notice. At the right time, it dashes it's beautiful beak and head into the water and comes out with a prize. This happens once in 30 mins or more, but it's always successful.

Beautiful, Prasanth! When I lived in Zürich, there was a heron that would fish at the same spot on the river Limmat in the centre of the city and it was just like that too.

Dōgen himself, protrayed a heron in one of his poems:

ふし草も Fushikusa mo
みえぬ雪のの mienu yukino no
白さぎは sirasagi wa
おのがすがたに ono ga sugatani
身をかくしけり mi wo kakusi keri

A white heron
hiding itself
in the snowy field
where even the winter grass
cannot be seen

(tr. Steven Heine)


A heron also appears in some of the first lines of Hōkyō Zanmai (The Precious Mirror Samadhi) by Dongshan:

The dharma of thusness
is intimately transmitted by buddhas and ancestors.

Now you have it;
preserve it well.

A silver bowl filled with snow,
a heron hidden in the moon.

(Sotoshu translation)


I would be very surprised if the stillness of the heron is not one of the reasons for its portrayal in both of these works.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[Prashanth]

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing these, Kokuu.

Gassho.

Sat.

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