"Not Practicing Is Practicing"

[Alina]

Reading "Wherever you go, there you are" by Jon Kabat-Zinn, there's a chapter called "Not Practicing Is Practicing" that talks a bit about what happens when we forget or neglect to practice. It ends with a series of questions, and the last one is:

"Can you see that not practicing is an arduous practice?"

It really opened my eyes, so I'm sharing it.

Gassho

Alina
ST

[Shonin Risa Bear]

Yes; Shikan-taza is what might be called efficient practice, with an efficiency hierarchy from full to half lotus to Burmese to seiza to chair to (as I tend to need) a prone posture. "Ordinary life" is apt to be inefficient practice if we sleep-walk it; self-collection, often expressed as equanimity, can be key. Thus, watching a sunset or the rain is full lotus; setting a dish of water down for a pet or a wild animal is full lotus; waiting for the bus is full lotus; answering a fretful child's question is full lotus.

gassho

ds sat and maybe lah

[Jundo]

Yes, Shikantaza is a "non-practice practice."

If we go through life lost in delusion, confusion, anger, excess desire, worry and disappointment, hunger and regrets alone, that is true neglect of practice, and life is dusty and so hard.

So we sit, releasing our clutch on all the delusion, confusion, anger, excess desire, worry and disappointment, hunger and regret for a time, just Sitting to Sit, nothing lacking, nothing in need of attaining, no other place to be.

Then we rise from the cushion and return to the rest of life and, while it is still dusty, hard, scary, disappointing, happy but also sad sometimes, we practice not being so tied to all the delusion, confusion, anger, excess desire, worry and disappointment, excess pleasure seeking, hunger and regrets when opportunity arises ... and such opportunities arise plenty!

Then, the dust may remain, but also Clarity may shine though the dust ... there may be a kind of hard and easy, scary and peaceful, satisfaction and disappointment all at once. There is a certain Joy which shines through even the sad times, and through the happy time too, a certain Peace and Satisfaction even as our hearts are sometimes broken and tears roll down our cheeks (and also through the happy days), a certain Peace and Ease which shines through even as our knees our shaking in fear. All that by recalling in life the Clarity of the cushion even amid life's stormiest storms (and on the clearest sky days too) ...

... which is not always possible, so we call it "practice" in life. It is practice in clarity and letting things go and flow, by non-striving, releasing ... thus a "non-practice practice."

Sorry to run long.

Gassho, J

stlah

[Koushi]

"Ordinary life" is apt to be inefficient practice if we sleep-walk it; self-collection, often expressed as equanimity, can be key. Thus, watching a sunset or the rain is full lotus; setting a dish of water down for a pet or a wild animal is full lotus; waiting for the bus is full lotus; answering a fretful child's question is full lotus.

Lovely

Gassho,
Koushi
STLaH

[Jundo]

"Ordinary life" is apt to be inefficient practice if we sleep-walk it; self-collection, often expressed as equanimity, can be key. Thus, watching a sunset or the rain is full lotus; setting a dish of water down for a pet or a wild animal is full lotus; waiting for the bus is full lotus; answering a fretful child's question is full lotus.

Yes, lovely.

[Seiko]

Jon Kabat-Zinn

I am sorry to say that I feel a little cautious about Kabat-Zinn. But that's just me and my personal opinion. I have great confidence in the words of any of our transmitted priests here at Treeleaf (and elsewhere).

Gasshō
Seiko
stlah

[Jundo]

I am sorry to say that I feel a little cautious about Kabat-Zinn.

He has done wondrous work to bring "meditation to the masses," although there are subtle yet important ways in which "mindfulness" meditation is different from Shikantaza and other Zen meditation styles. Perhaps the greatest difference is the emphasis in Buddhism and other eastern ways of transcending the self/other divide, realizing non-self and such, in order to become the flowing yet impermanent Wholeness that is often called "Emptiness" (of separate self-existence).

Shikantaza is also not a method just for purposes of getting a little relaxation, quiet and peace (although that tends to come), but rather a kind of Peace (Big "P") and "Silence" (Big "S") the rings through and as all the war and peace, noise, chaos and ordinary quiet of this world.

Something like that.

Also, Shikantaza should not be used by the Pentagon and industry apart from the accompanying Precepts.

However, as a medical treatment for neurosis and such, I am sure that JKZ's method has helped many people. (Some critics have said that some of the corporations just use it to keep their employees more relaxed, like they use the coffee maker to keep them more awake, while ignoring the basic problems with the employment system that cause the stressed and depressed and sleepy employees in the first place.)

Sorry to run long.

Gassho, J

stlah

[Seiko]

He has done wondrous work to bring "meditation to the masses," although there are subtle yet important ways in which "mindfulness" meditation is different from Shikantaza and other Zen meditation styles. Perhaps the greatest difference is the emphasis in Buddhism and other eastern ways of transcending the self/other divide, realizing non-self and such, in order to become the flowing yet impermanent Wholeness that is often called "Emptiness" (of separate self-existence).

Shikantaza is also not a method just for purposes of getting a little relaxation, quiet and peace (although that tends to come), but rather a kind of Peace (Big "P") and "Silence" (Big "S") the rings through and as all the war and peace, noise, chaos and ordinary quiet of this world.

Something like that.

Also, Shikantaza should not be used by the Pentagon and industry apart from the accompanying Precepts.

However, as a medical treatment for neurosis and such, I am sure that JKZ's method has helped many people. (Some critics have said that some of the corporations just use it to keep their employees more relaxed, like they use the coffee maker to keep them more awake, while ignoring the basic problems with the employment system that cause the stressed and depressed and sleepy employees in the first place.)

Sorry to run long.

Gassho, J

stlah

Gasshō
Seiko
stlah

[Alina]

I am sorry to say that I feel a little cautious about Kabat-Zinn. But that's just me and my personal opinion. I have great confidence in the words of any of our transmitted priests here at Treeleaf (and elsewhere).

I wasn't recommending the book, just citing the source for the quote that I mentioned in the post.

JKZ's books have been very helpful for me, and sometimes I've found the way he expresses some concepts more accessible for me than examples given by Zen teachers, but that is just a personal matter (my educational background is in molecular biology just as his, so when he uses spectrophotometer calibration as a metaphor for stabilizing the mind, I can relate). I agree with Jundo that he has done a great job at bringing meditation to the masses, but in a way he has also opened the door for the Pentagon to use mindfulness practice, so I understand if you prefer to be cautious...

I've wondered if there was any other way though, I mean, if you make mindfulness practice "available to all", is it really possible to "keep it pure"?
Eventually someone would try to profit from it some how (that's just the nature of the world/society), and I do believe that JKZ's intentions are good (again, a personal opinion).

Gassho
Alina
ST

[Alina]

Yes, Shikantaza is a "non-practice practice."

... which is not always possible, so we call it "practice" in life. It is practice in clarity and letting things go and flow, by non-striving, releasing ... thus a "non-practice practice."

Gassho
Alina
ST

[Washin]

Yes; Shikan-taza is what might be called efficient practice, with an efficiency hierarchy from full to half lotus to Burmese to seiza to chair to (as I tend to need) a prone posture. "Ordinary life" is apt to be inefficient practice if we sleep-walk it; self-collection, often expressed as equanimity, can be key. Thus, watching a sunset or the rain is full lotus; setting a dish of water down for a pet or a wild animal is full lotus; waiting for the bus is full lotus; answering a fretful child's question is full lotus.

gassho

ds sat and maybe lah

Gassho

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