Realizing Wholeness

[Onken]

Does anyone have a preference sitting indoors or out? I've been experimenting with my sits both indoors where I usually sit and out on my patio. It's truly wonderful experiencing the rustle of the leaves in the wind, crickets and other sounds essentially separate yet whole. I find it to be what it is without judgment, with just being in this moment, but all in all, a wonderful experience.

Thoughts?

[Stephanie]

You can hear crickets and leaves rustling in the wind in NYC? Are you on Staten Island?

And I usually sit indoors but do enjoy the opportunity to sit outdoors when I'm somewhere secluded enough. The desert is an awesome place to sit.

[Onken]

HAHAHa! It is a funny thing. Queens is a mix of city and residential. I have friends in other states that introduce me to trees when I visit.

[Taigu]

Sitting is not bound by what you meet.
We all enjoy the singing of birds, the sound of raindrops or the wind ( Dogen did too), and as you disappear in this just sitting you may just enjoy the next door television musical voice or the sweet melody of the traffic, as you totally disappear and sitting is just what it is, it does not matter. Desert or busy city centre, same.

Gassho


Taigu

[Kyonin]

I live in a very noisy street, so I sit with traffic noise all the time.

Still, I get to this place where I just blend in with everything. Hard to explain.

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Kyonin]

Sitting is not bound by what you meet.
We all enjoy the singing of birds, the sound of raindrops or the wind ( Dogen did too), and as you disappear in this just sitting you may just enjoy the next door television musical voice or the sweet melody of the traffic, as you totally disappear and sitting is just what it is, it does not matter. Desert or busy city centre, same.

Thank you, Taigu.

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Mp]

I enjoy both and if the weather is nice I can sit on the back and hear the crickets, kids playing in the park ... laughing and enjoying the warm sun.

Gassho
Michael

[Onken]

Thank you Taigu!

[Hans]

Hello Onken,

to truly put your butt on the cushion of placelessness will let you arrive home wherever you are. Thresholds everywhere, no locks other than the ones in your mind. Crickets and trash bins come out of the same womb.

Gassho,

Hans Chudo Mongen

[Myoku]

My good old ego likes to spice up practice with a bit of outdoor sitting once in a while, letting it happen its truly nice. Its right, the location doesnt matter, so ... well, so lets sit outside from time to time.
_()_
Myoku

[Jundo]

Here's my own take:

Flowers and smelly garbage cans, birds tweeting and blasting motorcycles racing by, the breeze blowing and noisy tv's down the hall, green grassy fields and smoking battle fields are all the same when the mind leaves away preferences, resistance, separation ...

This became clear for me when I first came to Japan and was sitting at several famous Zen temples, looking for the "authentic", peaceful "Zen experience". So, at Sojiji Monastery, when I used to sit there each week, it was mosquitoes and cars passing on the driveway next to the Zazen hall and (if can you believe it) a PA system that used to make loud announcements during Zazen, like "YAMAMOTO ROSHI, YOU HAVE A CALL ON LINE 2". At Taisoji temple, it was traffic sounds and the train passing every few minutes. At Nishijima Roshi's Dojo, it was the crowded children's playground right outside the open window as we sat on Saturday mornings.

However, it is true that Zen folks have also appreciated to sit with nature, the mountains and rivers and birds. Why? Because the places of mountains, rivers, birdies and trees preach with a Buddha's Tongue, in a way often harder to hear in the bustle and responsibilities of the city. That is for sure. Rivers sing of flowing Emptiness and time, and rocks naturally sit still, mountains flow and the sky holds all effortlessly. Zen folks have always appreciated a hermit's hut in the deep hills amid green. I love sitting in the outdoors! The poet and monk Ryokan wrote ...

Like the little stream
Making its way
Through the mossy crevices
I, too, quietly
Turn clear and transparent.

Hanshan ...

As for me, I delight in the every day Way
Among mist-wrapped vines and rocky caves
Here in the wilderness I am completely free
With my friends, the white clouds, idling forever
There are roads, but they do not reach the world
Since I am mindless, who can rouse my thoughts
On a bed of stone I sit, alone in the night
While a round moon climbs up Cold Mountain

So, it is good to sit among the hills and flowers and birds and brooks. They are our teachers, are just us.

But, please, also know how to sit with the trash cans and playgrounds and PA systems and battle fields. They are our teachers, are just us too.

Gassho, J

[Mp]

Like the little stream
Making its way
Through the mossy crevices
I, too, quietly
Turn clear and transparent.

Thank you Jundo, I really enjoyed this poem.

And a PA system at Sojiji Monastery? Wow ... I never would have thought.

Gassho
Michael

[Seiryu]

Lovely post Taigu

[Heisoku]

Sitting is not bound by what you meet... as you totally disappear and sitting is just what it is, it does not matter.

Thank you Taigu.

[Omoi Otoshi]

Quiet, noisy, warm, cold, beautiful, ugly, comfortable, not so comfortable.
To me, Zazen is practicing life. And life is never just one way.
I used to think it had to be a certain way. And that "meditating" in a noisy enviroment was next to impossible. But I don't mind disturbances anymore. Wife opening the door, kids playing, dog demolishing the house, late news on TV, it all fits perfectly. And if you can say there are break throughs in sitting, at least for me, there have been times when they were triggered by a sudden and unexpected sound.
I love sitting outside, just listening to the sounds of nature, but not often in the lotus position.

Gassho,
Pontus