Zen Buddhism
-
Zen Buddhism is more on meditation right?
Or I mean focus is on meditation?
Where can I know or learn more about Zen or meditation?
-
u referring to Rinzai [Linji] Koan Based or Soto zen [Cao Dong] meditation based ?
-
Originally posted by Arena:
Zen Buddhism is more on meditation right?
Or I mean focus is on meditation?
Where can I know or learn more about Zen or meditation?
Meditation and koan.
Koan are questions that cannot be answered by the mind, are incomprehensible through logical analysis but can be intuited through direct experience.
Questions include, "Before birth, who am I?" "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" "Who is dragging this corpse along?" and hundreds of other koans...
For beginners Zen teach some form of breathing mindfulness meditation first, which is common to basically most Buddhist traditions whether the Theravada, Mahayana or Vajrayana. Here the practice is to be aware of every minute sensation in the breathing -- it does not mean counting breathe, or controlling breathe, etc. It means being aware of the quality, texture, sensation of the breathing: whether it's cold or hot, soft or hard, etc... the key is 'sensing' and not 'thinking'.
The more advanced form of meditation taught in Zen may include Zazen or Shikantaza, in which one simply dives into non-dual awareness without any particular focus or support (like the breathe).
What do I mean by non-dual? No subject/object division. As Zen teacher Steve Hagen, author of many books including "Meditation: Here and Now" and "Buddhism Plain and Simple" (both are pretty good books), said: "Awareness is objectless and subjectless -- there's no 'you' who does shikantaza."
One does not separate himself as a perceiver apart from perception. There is sound but it's seen that there is no hearer, there is just sound. There is sight, no seer. There is thoughts, no thinker. No thinker/seer/doer = no Subject or no Agent or No Self.
There is pure sound but no object of sound. Like Steve Hagen said, "With objectless Awareness, there's sound, but no object of sound. There may be the sound of a plane or of birds chirping -- but it's not a plane, it's not birds. It's just sound, with nothing extra forming out of sound."
Where or how to learn meditation? It's best you learn under the guidance of a qualified teacher. There are also books around -- but it's best if you learn under the guidance of an experienced teacher and join a Buddhist community of similar practitioners. That would help a lot in your practice.
-
Hi,
so it means after the basic meditation like breathing mindfulness, zen meditation will differ from other sect - Theravada, Mahayana or Vajrayana?
-
Originally posted by Arena:
Hi,
so it means after the basic meditation like breathing mindfulness, zen meditation will differ from other sect - Theravada, Mahayana or Vajrayana?
The more formless and non-dual kind of approach is taught in Dzogchen and Mahamudra traditions in Vajrayana as well.
-
From what i know, you can find more on Zen meditation from these locations:
Kwan Lin Chan Lin Zen Meditation Centre:
Affiliated to Kwan Um School of Zen
Founding Master: Zen Master Seung Sahn of Korea
Resident Teacher: Venerable Chi Boon (Gye Mun Sunim)
http://www.kyclzen.org/
Dharma Drum Mountain Singapore:
Affiliated to Dharma Drum Mountain
Founding Master: Chan Master Sheng Yen of Taiwan
Resident Teacher: none, but teachers fly in now and then from DDM Taiwan
http://www.ddsingapore.org/
Zen Society in Singapore:
Affiliated to Sanbo Kyodan
Founding Master: Yasutani Hakuun Roshi of Japan
Resident Teacher: Boey, Vivien (RYÛBI-AN,
)
Tel: +65-(0)96653556
Fax: +65-(0)67350411
Emai: [email protected]http://www.sanbo-zen.org/master_e.html
-
Originally posted by Emanrohe:
Zen Society in Singapore:
Affiliated to Sanbo Kyodan
Founding Master: Yasutani Hakuun Roshi of Japan
Resident Teacher: Boey, Vivien (RYÛBI-AN,
)
Tel: +65-(0)96653556
Fax: +65-(0)67350411
Emai: [email protected]http://www.sanbo-zen.org/master_e.html
Ah interesting. I knew there was Chinese Ch'an, Korean Zen, didn't know that we have a Japanse Zen lineage here.
p.s. I and Thusness loved to read Dr David Loy's book especially 'Nonduality'. He's a qualified teacher from the Sanbo Kyodan lineage and used to stay in Singapore while he was doing a Ph.D on Philosophy in NUS. Now he's no longer in SG though.
-
Oh i see, according to the Sanbo Kyodan website, Vivien is also a qualified teacher with the organisation and she also gives zen interviews but unfortunately, i haven't had a chance to visit them during sittings.
Last I heard, they sit zen (meditate) every wednesday nights 7.30pm and sunday mornings at a very early time (i think around 6am or so) at a place near Ewe Boon Road. I have contacted her before and she told me that every few months or so, teachers from Japan would visit and they would have sesshin (a kind of intensive zen meditation retreat) too.
-
Interesting
What tradition/lineage are you currently following?
-
-
Originally posted by HiAy3Captain:
-
oh, I am with Kwan Yin Chan Lin. :) Nice to meet you _(|)_
-
nice to meet you emanrohe
i am a pUrelander
-
Originally posted by Emanrohe:
oh, I am with Kwan Yin Chan Lin. :) Nice to meet you _(|)_
Interesting. What practice do you do now? Do you do koans?
-
Nice to meet you syncopation_music, Amituofo! :)
I try to be mindful whenever I can. I do koans too :)
-
I see... what koans you do?
-
Well, that question is a bit complicated, I don't exactly remember which koan do I do. But a few examples would be the Zhao Zhou's Dog Koan, the Wash your bowl koan, the Flag Moving, Wind Moving, Mind Moving koan (of Platform sutra) and also some others.
-
I see...
-
An article explaining the Zen practice of Shikantaza by someone from another forum that I and Thusness found to be very good:
Hi all!
Having written my thoughts on my view of effective meditation on a different forum, I thought I would get your thoughts on the matter. Implicit in my discussion of Shikantaza and effective meditation practice, as I see it, is the assumption of the Buddha Nature or Complete Perfection model, as apposed to a deficit model - or something to do, change or transform in order to “get it done”. The Buddha Nature model assumes non-duality and that we are already that, here and now (and is inclusive of the totality of life as it is here and now, hence nothing to change). It further assumes, as I see it, that we need only get out of our own way (in terms of habitual affective, cognitive and behavioural patterns) which are the source of our ‘apparent’ obstructions to noticing that-which-is.
I very much look forward to hearing everyone’s views and positions informed by their personal lived experience of meditation and study. However, I find dogma and unsupported belief uninteresting, so I hope we can keep it in the realms of personal experience, intuition, logical deduction and textural reference.
Thanks guys!
In kind regards,
Adam.================================
In Shikantaza, we sit in a comfortable erect posture. Then we allow our awareness to be in its natural state - Zen Mind, Original Face, and realize this to be our ordinary everyday mind as it is. What exactly this means is we 'allow' our mind to just be aware in an entirely uncontrived manner. This can be surprisingly difficult for the beginner because most people are unconscious of subtle tensions and "efforts to do, to suppress or not do" something with their mind which are deeply habitual - thinking, analyzing, fantasizing etc. If we can 'just sit' and just be aware of what is, focusing on nothing in particular and allowing our minds to rest, let go and just be aware and rest as THAT - as-we-are - we will notice a sense of awareness opening up, of brightness, of peace and ease. If allowed further, we will notice energy and bliss at some deeper dimension of awareness as Being itself. Taken further we get an increasing, yet subtle sense of infinity and loss of identification with the separate self arising from sensory stimuli.
Implicit to this discussion is a distinction between awareness and mind. I am defining awareness as our basic fundamental nature - the Tao itself. Mind in this context, is defined as cognitive activities or functions arising out of the brain and possibly astral levels of being. Mind may be considered a tool like the body. The body rests and just sits there; the mind rests and just sits there unengaged. Awareness as the fundamental nature of 'you' sees both the mind and the body, but is neither mind nor body, nor is it dependent on mind and body for its existence and function. Awareness is prior to mind and body. Awareness is essential and unchanging; mind and body are epiphenomena existing in awareness.
The simple meditation practice of Shikantaza is this:
Just sit and be aware. The key then is to just be aware with no effort to be aware - no doing, just be natural awareness as it is. If you find yourself trying to be natural awareness as it is, then that is contrived and you have engaged the mind. Simply LET GO, relax, and be aware of what is, but of nothing in particular. In letting go and naturally being aware of what is you will find that natural still point. Allow the mind to ease off and open up. This can be practiced at all time during the day. Just be naturally aware, openly at ease, and spontaneously engaging - whether sitting or otherwise.
This is true vipassana. Uncontrived. To see the natural state of reality as it is.
We should allow ourselves to notice mind throughout this period of sitting, as with other particulars that arise; as mind is part of reality, and not to be rejected, as rejection is an act of mind, not awareness. Rejection is based on the false premises of mind. In so doing we will notice when we find ourselves having fallen into doing in which we 'try' to be open and relaxed, when this happens we are no longer in an uncontrived state of natural abiding. The whole process requires concentration; that is, being brightly aware of what is. Concentration in this sense simply means being naturally aware and not being distracted by having our attention divided by activities of mind. As concentration wanes, awareness may become dull and one my space out, or more often, one's thoughts will re-assert themselves and we will go off on a tangent of thought. When we notice this we allow the stream of thought to drop by letting go again of the activities of mind, and just rest brightly aware of what is.
So, it really is simple, just sit and be aware.
A further point. Do not concentrate on sensory stimuli in particular, as that is contrived, it is effort of mind to do something. See this subtle distinction. Awareness is brightly aware as its natural state, there is not effort - no doing. Just be aware of what is - environment and awareness itself - no artificial distinction between external and internal - just the continuum of awareness. This, however, does not mean we are practicing awareness of awareness, that again is a contrived condition, a use of mind to focus on awareness. In such a case we would be privileging one object of awareness over another, and that is a use of mind. Rather, we are just being aware, just sitting. Discrimination in terms of intention, demarcation, effort, judgment are all discursive faculties of mind. Awareness operates entirely through direct knowing or clearly apprehending the nature of what is - it simply sees it for itself. No recourse to the inferential faculties of mind.
So, Shikantaza or Dzogchen practice is simple on the surface, but there is much subtly and depth to it. Just sitting does not give it explanatory justice.
A final point on the body. Since the body is peripheral to awareness, it does not matter if the eyes are open or closed. Traditionally, they are open. There are merits and problems with both options. My recommendation is conclude this question by what feels natural to you. We do not wish to maintain unnatural, contrived states of body and mind in our practice. Awareness is the practice... drop all else.
In kind regards,
Adam. :-) -
Hmm..well..much of zen is to de-clutter your mind, thus the explanation given above may be counter-productive to such a cause. That's why zen isn't explained so much usually. Giving explanations to zen and especially shikantaza is like using a 100kg golf club to hit a very light golf ball into the hole in a golf course, But actually the golf course is so very slightly tapered towards the hole such that if u leave the golf ball anywhere in the course, it will naturally gravitate towards the hole and enter it by itself. No extra work is needed. You just need to leave the golf ball alone, but that is exactly what ppl can’t do.
That is why, the masters only said to just sit. Dogen, the founder of the Soto school of Japan attained enlightenment when his master told them to ‘drop away body and mind’ during a meditation session.
‘Drop away body and mind’ is the method of shikantaza. Just drop drop drop, keep on dropping away. Another way to put it is like just letting things just fall off by itself, like leaves falling off the trees in autumn. There is really nothing to do.
Another very useful phrase in zen meditation is, “Not to believe anything which appears in your mind.” This was something that the Great Master Bodhidharma used when he was meditating for 9 yrs at Shaolin. In Zen meditation, once we sit, we do not believe anything. Just breathe in and out. Whatever arises anywhere, anything that appears before any of the 6 senses, don’t believe, just pass it. Just breathe in deep and breathe out. No expectations, nothing.
Another big no no in zen meditation is impatience. In zen, do not be impatient, the mind moves here and there on its own, just let it be, just continue breathing in and out, relax and just enjoy. After some time like this, the mind will eventually stabilize on its own. This may take a loooooog time, but no problem, just breathe in and out, relax. There is originally nothing to do in the first place. Don’t take things too hard.
The last very important thing is posture. Always keep it straight, well balanced and stable. Try not to use too much strength, before starting a sitting, find some time to get yourself into a good posture.
Once u are used to ‘dropping away body and mind’ in meditation, u can do it easily in daily life.
_(|)_
Emanrohe
-
Thanks for the sharing, what you said is very important.
Actually what was written above is not an explanation or theory of shikantaza, it's rather what was summarised based on the author's experience of shikantaza, non-duality and buddha-nature. It is more of a guide than an explanation if you read it. I find it a very useful guide for a sincere practitioner.
Dropping body-mind is very important. The only hindrance to clear seeing is identification with body and mind. When that is dropped off, awareness is no longer constricted on any particular objects but opens up and becomes like vast spotless empty space that has room for everything. Actually all along there is only pure unchanging space-like awareness (i.e. the sky), but our pinpointed fixation and identification with changing thoughts, appearances and phenomena (i.e. the clouds) causes us to overlook our essential nature.
Over the years since you were born your looks have changed, your beliefs and understanding and thoughts are always changing, i.e. the content of awareness is ever-changing, but that space of awareness in which all these things arise and are known feels exactly the same and hasn't changed a bit. Whether in the gap between two thoughts or when there is thoughts, you feel exactly the same. But don't try to look for it or attempt to see it, because you are what is looking/seeing all along. Nothing attained. Just let go, rest, be.
I read this some time ago:
A seeing friend once shared with me a letter he received from an American friend who is the Zen abbot of a temple in Japan.
"Last night," the abbot wrote, "I was visited by a man I didn't know very well and he noticed a calligraphic scroll I had hanging, with only the character for 'MU' (nothingness) on it. He asked, 'Toler san, have you ever entered the world of MU?' I said, 'Yes. Many times.' He then asked, 'How can you do it? At what times do you do it?' I said, 'Oh, you can do it anytime.' He asked, 'How?' So I led him through the pointing exercise. When I came to the question, 'Now, what do you see at the place where your finger is pointing?' he said, 'Nothing.' I said, 'Well, that's MU, isn't it?' He thought about that for about ten seconds, then suddenly laughed loudly and clapped his hands and said, 'I've been pondering that for years, and you showed me in a minute!' and thanked me profusely."
-
Zen Master Seung Sahn:
What is enlightenment? If you want to understand, you must let your mind become clear like vast space. All thinking and all desire fall away, and you have no hinderance anywhere.
To let your mind become clear like vast space -- what does this mean? Do you understand? This is true enlightenment.
------------------------
http://www.namoguru.org/Shabkar.html
Correct Meditation
(The following is an excerpt from the book "The Life of Shabkar - The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin" translated by Matthieu Ricard. Published by State University of New York Press.)
Kunzang [Shenpen] asked again, "What should one do when, while remaining in evenness, one does sink into that oblivious, ordinary state (leading to an animal rebirth but often mistaken for Mahamudra)?" I (Lama Shabkar) replied:
When clouds form, they obscure the stainless sky.
If they are blown away by the wind
And scattered in the ten directions,
The natural blue color of the sky reappears.
In the same way, when a state of vague oblivion
Obscures one's meditation,
One should straighten one's back,
Raise one's gaze,
Widen one's perspective, heighten awareness.
Let it extend into infinity,
Then let it be.
Thus one separates the pure essence from the dross;
This mental haze will clear away like clouds that just vanish,
Leaving the royal samadhi,
Vividly transparent, like the immaculate sky.
This is the supreme method
For dispelling difficulties and enhancing practice.
Rigdzin Shri Singha said:
The mind of sentient beings remains fragmented,
While the mind of the Buddhas is all-encompassing;
To let the mind become vast and open like the sky
Is the key instruction for enhancing practice.
From time to time, examine the mind with analytic insight;
Ascertain that mind is not something graspable--
That it has neither center nor boundary--
And let this discovery expand.
Sometimes, merge mind
With a clear, cloudless sky;
Make it vast and lofty;
Leave it wide open
As an immense, all-encompassing expanse.
Doing this, you will avoid the flaws
Of slackness, obliviousness, and somnolence;
Your experience of the view will be enhanced.
Then, when mind contracts again,
Like an old scroll rolling itself up,
Examine mind thoroughly, time and again:
This is a profound instruction.
Wondrous--remaining in lucid serenity,
The state of sky-like evenness!
Joyous--when day or night, indoors and outdoors,
Eyes open or closed, makes no difference to your awareness.
Wondrous--when the world of form appears
Like a rainbow in the unchanging sky of dharmakaya!
Joyous--to dredge the depths of samsara,
Bringing all beings to enlightenment!
All you whose wisdom is vast as the sky,
Brilliant as the unobscured sun,
Limpid as crystal, firm as an unshakable mountain--
To you I pay homage, go for refuge;
Grant me the waves of your grace.
After I had said this, his understanding of the view progressed greatly and his realization became as vast as space.
-
EMANROHE. do you know the meaning of hand hitting the floor,when you are a KYCL?
-
_(|)_
-
Hi Wings088, you meditate at kycl too?
Sadhu to Shabkar.