Is it Zazen?

[Byrne]

Hi,

For the past 8 years I've driven roughly 500,000 miles on the U.S. highway for work. Especially on those late nights I've spent lots of time driving in silence, letting my mind just go without holding on. As I'm coming to understand the practice of Zazen through Treeleaf I see a parallel with Jundo's teaching on Zazen practice. Granted the periods of non-thinking were and are inconsistent and I wasn't taking much time to study Zen or much of anything else. Also I am operating a vehicle and not getting into an accident is always priority number one. But it was good practice for Zazen.

My question is, is this Zazen in some capacity? Can someone practice Zazen without practicing Zazen or studying Buddhism? Where, if at all, is the thread between study and practice?

Gassho

Sat Today

[Jundo]

Hi Byrne,

Many things can be like Zazen if tasted as such ... driving as you describe, running, knitting, dancing, playing the banjo, hiking in the hills, etc. etc. ... if undertaken with a heart of "just this" and "no where to go, no goal to reach" (even as we move forward on and on), no mistakes and no wrong turns (even when we get off the wrong interchange, hit a bad note or drop a stitch in need of repair). Yes, Zazen.

As well, everything in the universe is Zazen when seen with Buddha Eye ... changing a diaper, changing a tire, sitting in the doctor's office, snow and rain and sun, springtime and falling leaves, up and down economy, smiles and tears, politics and polite chit chat, silence and noise, war and peace, the kitchen sink ... everything, and that means everything and more. Whether we know it as so or are blind to the fact, no matter. Each and all are Buddha, every moment Zazen. Nothing escapes.

However, do not forget that ONLY sitting Zazen, crossing the legs (or the like) and facing the wall, is Zazen. There is no substitute, there in nothing like it, seated (literally) beyond compare. Why? Perhaps as it is the one non-action in which "just this" and "no where to go, no goal to reach" can be Practiced in purest and unadulterated way. Only seated Zazen is "complete, whole, the only thing needed to do" in that moment of sitting. When we sit, it is very very vital to sit with the attitude sunk deep in one's bones that "there is no other place to be, nothing lacking, not one more thing to do" than this. (We do so because in daily life, running here and there and always feeling some lacks or discontents in life, we rarely if ever undertake one action with total heart and completeness in such way! Thus we call this "non-doing".)

And if one wants to ask "can't something be substituted for sitting, such as chanting or bowing or driving or walking in the woods", my response would be, "Yes, perhaps so, but then too: if one needs to ask one may not truly understand the power and beauty of doing this one perfect, 'meaningless-all meanings' action just to do and non-do so, with nothing else required, nothing else to compare. In a sense, one sits in wholeness, singleness and completeness precisely because there is a world of other options!"

So, driving is Zazen (when driving there can be only driving), everything is Zazen, but only seated Zazen is Zazen.

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Jakudo]

My commute to work takes up 5 hours of my daily routine, and I do the same, driving in silence, focusing on "just driving" in this very moment. Although it is a part of my practise it could never replace, as Jundo says, "crossing the legs (or the like) and facing the wall, is Zazen. There is no substitute, there in nothing like it, seated (literally) beyond compare."
Gassho, Jakudo.
Sat today

[Mp]

Hello Byrne,

When I run, I run. When I drink tea, I drink tea. When I sit zazen ... I sit zazen. =)

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday

[Joyo]

The responses here are so helpful, thank you all.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today

[Kokuu]

When I run, I run. When I drink tea, I drink tea. When I sit zazen ... I sit zazen. =)

Kokuu
#sattoday

[Josan]

For me, sitting zazen is like the centre of a spiders web that extends out to all other actions (drinking teas, running etc).

Gassho,
David

sattoday

[Jishin]

Is it Zazen?

Hi,

Look! Do you see me? Right here. I am right HERE. In this word. Inside this computer. In wires, routers, Internet, keyboard, fingers, body, lungs, air, universe...

If you can see me then you are looking at yourself with our shared computer screen, brain, mind, lungs, breathing the shared universe...

I think in Zazen its easier to be HERE but we can also be HERE with our UNDIVIDED attention to whatever we are doing. It's just that it's a lot harder to do off the cushion.

Gassho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Kyonin]

Hi Byrne.

Sitting in your cushion is zazen and to me it's the highest expression of our practice. Even if there is sanctity and focus in life, even if running a marathon feels like zazen, only when you sit is when you can drop everything and understand how it all comes down to One.

But that's just me.

Gassho,

Kyonin
#SatToday

[Byrne]

Hi,

Look! Do you see me? Right here. I am right HERE. In this word. Inside this computer. In wires, routers, Internet, keyboard, fingers, body, lungs, air, universe...

If you can see me then you are looking at yourself with our shared computer screen, brain, mind, lungs, breathing the shared universe...

I think in Zazen its easier to be HERE but we can also be HERE with our UNDIVIDED attention to whatever we are doing. It's just that it's a lot harder to do off the cushion.

Gassho, Jishin, _/st\_

Really non-thought provoking description. I love it. Thank you so much everyone for your input. Treeleaf has been already been such a great addition to my life in this short time.

What is the line between practice and study? Can someone be consistent and diligent in their practice of sitting , but lazy in their study of Buddhism and still be in accord with Buddhism? Is there a line?

Gassho

Byrne

Sat Today

[Byokan]

Hi Byrne,

Can someone be consistent and diligent in their practice of sitting , but lazy in their study of Buddhism and still be in accord with Buddhism?

Oh I do hope so. That is me. (But this is the year I'm going to start studying in earnest!)

Gassho
Lisa
sat today

[Kokuu]

Hi Byrne

When I first started sitting, I had a daily practice for eight years before I started to read anything more than one book on the sitting practices I was doing.

Now I love reading dharma and find it inspires and deepens my practice but think you can get by with just a few reliable books such as Opening the Hand of Thought, until you feel pulled to read more. Practice definitely comes first and in discussions here you are going to pick up a lot of dharma anyway. The kind of practice discussion you can get from a good sangha is often far more valuable than reading but I do love the 'oh yes' moments I often get when reading dharma and it chimes with my own experience or a writer beautifully explains how things are in a way I understand but could never have written myself.

Gassho
Kokuu
#sat(andreadDogen)today

[Byrne]

Kokuu

I actually love the study. I love the books. Been reading and reading for almost 20 years. But it wasn't until the past month when I joined Treeleaf and started to actually learn sitting and have been consistent in doing it everyday and it has been a wonderful experience. What Ive read on this forum as well as various books I'm reading have definitely worked hand in hand with the daily sitting. Reading about Buddhism is a euphoric experience for me. I dig it. It's fun. if words are ultimately insignificant as a means to fully comprehend the dharma, where do the words slip away. Do the words need to even be Buddhist to sit by?

Gassho

Sat Today

[Kokuu]

Hi Byrne

Can the dharma be understood without words? Of course. Impermanence is part of life and we can see it all around as the seasons change and people we love die. We feel the connection of all things and even the lack of solidity of experience.

However, does reading dharma help me understand things better, inspire me and keep me motivated to practice? Certainly, yes.

Like you, practice and reading come together for me but I wouldn't want to say that would be the case for everyone.
In sitting, words fall away. In life, they can be useful.

Gassho
Kokuu
#sattoday

[Joyo]

Interesting discussion for sure I do enjoy reading dharma books, and have ever since I started practicing Buddhism 3 years ago. But I also enjoy other books as well, and it's amazing to me how Zen is really in everything....novels, non-fiction etc. etc. And don't forget poetry, lots of beautiful poetry to read and discover the dharma in.

I had a discussion with a great master in Japan... and we were talking about the various people who are working to translate the Zen books into English, and he said, "That's a waste of time. If you really understand Zen... you can use any book. You could use the Bible. You could use Alice in Wonderland. You could use the dictionary, because... the sound of the rain needs no translation."


Alan Watts


Gassho,
Joyo
sat today