Thank you, I had a sucky zazen today and reading this thread made me feel a whole lot better 
Something to learn here perhaps about 'radical acceptance' as Marsha Linehan calls it. Maybe if I can learn to accept how much I suck at zazen, then I can learn to accept other aspects of life as well
Gassho
sat today
David
Something to learn here perhaps about 'radical acceptance' as Marsha Linehan calls it. Maybe if I can learn to accept how much I suck at zazen, then I can learn to accept other aspects of life as well
Gassho
sat today
David
Zazen is not a matter of never feeling "sucky." Rather, it is a Big NS "Not Sucky" which is so "Not Sucky" that sometimes it feels human "not sucky" but sometimes it feels human really "sucky."
Thus, in Zazen, we sit as what is, dropping judgment ... whereby sucky times are just sucky, not sucky times are not sucky, thus to find the Big "Not Sucky" that is embodied in both sucky and not sucky and everything else in the world.
A funny thing about the word "sucky" is that it sounds a little like "Dukkha" and "Sukkha." The Buddha set out on his search to find an answer for "Dukkha" ....
No one English word captures the full depth and range of the Pali term, Dukkha. It is sometimes rendered as “suffering,” as in “life is suffering.” But perhaps it’s better expressed as “dissatisfaction,” “anxiety,” “disappointment,” “unease at perfection,” or “frustration” — terms that wonderfully convey a subtlety of meaning.
In a nutshell, your “self” wishes this world to be X, yet this world is not X. The mental state that may result to the “self” from this disparity is Dukkha.
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Shakyamuni Buddha gave many examples: sickness (when we do not wish to be sick), old age (when we long for youth), death (if we cling to life), loss of a loved one (as we cannot let go), violated expectations, the failure of happy moments to last (though we wish them to last). Even joyous moments — such as happiness and good news, treasure or pleasant times — can be a source of suffering if we cling to them, if we are attached to those things.
In ancient stories, Dukkha is often compared to a chariot’s or potter’s wheel that will not turn smoothly as it revolves. The opposite, Sukkha, is a wheel that spins smoothly and noiselessly, without resistance as it goes.
Fortunately, Shakyamuni Buddha also provided the Dukkha cure. ... Our Practice closes the gap; not the least separation.
http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...y-Dooby-Dukkha
In a nutshell, your “self” wishes this world to be X, yet this world is not X. The mental state that may result to the “self” from this disparity is Dukkha.
.
Shakyamuni Buddha gave many examples: sickness (when we do not wish to be sick), old age (when we long for youth), death (if we cling to life), loss of a loved one (as we cannot let go), violated expectations, the failure of happy moments to last (though we wish them to last). Even joyous moments — such as happiness and good news, treasure or pleasant times — can be a source of suffering if we cling to them, if we are attached to those things.
In ancient stories, Dukkha is often compared to a chariot’s or potter’s wheel that will not turn smoothly as it revolves. The opposite, Sukkha, is a wheel that spins smoothly and noiselessly, without resistance as it goes.
Fortunately, Shakyamuni Buddha also provided the Dukkha cure. ... Our Practice closes the gap; not the least separation.
http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...y-Dooby-Dukkha
Right Zazen and Wrong Zazen
In a nutshell, by transcending constant human judgments of "right vs. wrong" "good v. bad" we may discover "Good Zazen" which feels right. But by constantly being judgmental and searching for "good Zazen", we are likely to miss the mark. This makes Shikantaza very different from many forms of meditation which seek a good experience that feels good.
Gassho, J
SatTodayLAH
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