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Zazen
When Bodhidharma trekked across the Himalayas to China from India he encountered the Shaolin monks, who were at that time greatly troubled by bandits that would accost them. He taught them the martial arts which became Kung Fu, and he gave them also the Buddhism which he had learned from Nirmanakaya Siddartha Gauthama. As part of his Buddhist instruction, he taught them the Dhyana meditation which was in use in India.
Now the Oriental mind is not really the same in character as its Occidental counterpart. It is a circuitious mind, largely right-brained, whereas the occidental mind is direct and left-brained.
The strategy of Dhyana is to use the left-brained mind up, until in desperation it breaks through to the right side of the brain, producing realization. But the Chinese were already on the right side of their brains. “Oh,” they said, “quiet the mind? We prefer to do it this way: shut up, mind.” Why not just make the mind be quiet.
In Zazen, mind is no mind. It is inevitable, Zen teaches, that thought occur. But whereas in ordinary mode, one thought leads to another, in zazen each thought is allowed to bubble up from the unconscious to the surface and simply burst -- is not allowed to lead to another thought.
The practitioner sits in upright posture; ideally both of his knees are on the ground and he is in a cross-legged posture, either simple, or half-lotus, or lotus. If this is difficult, simply sit upright on a straght-backed chair. To get both of the knees on the ground we use a cushion -- best is a genuine zafu cushion if you can find one (call your nearest Soto Zen temple for where to get them. You can buy a good one at www.zenstitchery.com.)
Zafu Cushion
Breathing is long, calm, and slow. There are three degrees of zazen; counting the breath, focusing on the breath, and shikan taza, which means you just sit, doing nothing with your mind.
When counting the breath, count at the end of the outbreath. Count to ten or twelve, then begin again. When you are ready to let the counting go, do so. Meanwhile do not allow one thought to lead to another. We want the mind to be still.
Sit. You just sit. But there is a paradox in zazen. The more you don’t do anything with your mind, the more potential there is for saying something, and the longer you wait, gathering mind-stuff, the more profound and significant that utterance would be. But making profound utterance is not the goal -- the thrust is to allow these energies to continue gathering and building until there is a breakthrough to a higher level.
The mind will tend to run away with you at first, until the discipline becomes ingrained. In the beginning you will need to self-monitor to some extent, even though that seems a contradiction.
Normally, you will get insights. One teacher recommended that you keep a notebook and paper beside you, to record them if you must. A digital recorder is even better.
I asked Zengaku Soyu Matsuoka-roshi once if it is of value to do zazen for only five minutes. He replied: “Five minutes zazen -- five minutes -- enlightenment.” Begin with a five-minute commitment and expand it if and as you feel ready. In the Soto temple we sat for a half-hour, then did Kin Hin (half-step walking meditation in which you continue the zazen mindset for about ten minutes), then another half-hour sitting.
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