As
zen was forming, it was influenced by Confucianism and Taoism, and it is
characterized
today by its simplicity and appreciation of nature, as well as by its emphasis
on non-duality.
Meditation is one of many different Buddhist practices, and zen meditation
is one kind of
Buddhist meditation. The fundamental practice in zen is meditation called
zazen, which is a
Japanese word that literally means "sitting zen" or "sitting concentration."
Zazen is the practice of
awareness, of bringing your attention, or concentration, to the present
moment-this whole and
complete moment--by bringing your awareness to your posture, your breathing,
and your state
of mind. The Vietnamese zen teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, says, "We practice
so that each
moment of our life becomes real life." Actually, there is no other goal
in zen practice but to
engage fully in our essential being. You may find that as you practice
zazen other things also
happen, such as feeling more peaceful, or relaxed, or having lower blood
pressure, or feeling
more concentrated. The real practice of zen is to engage directly in reality,
not to improve or
manipulate our lives, or provide some pleasurable experience, although
I think many of us
approach meditation practice hoping it will help us in some way.
Many
of the instructions for zen meditation are directed to the physical details
of our posture.
The culture that zen grew out of made much less distinction between the
body and mind than
our culture does. So, the idea is that by sitting with a straight back,
and aligning our spine, and
being still physically, this will support our mind in settling and becoming
focused. This meditation
posture developed in India; it's a yogic position. Zen meditation isn't
something we do only with
the mind. What we practice with is much wider than our conceptual thinking.
In zen it is said that
realization must penetrate our flesh and bones, extending to the tips of
our hair and down into
the marrow of our bones. In zen meditation, we use our body as an ally
so that anything we
experience, we can practice with.
There
are several ways to sit cross-legged. In addition, zazen can be done sitting
in a chair or
lying down while paying attention to most of the same points of posture.
If
you are sitting cross-legged on a cushion, please experiment with where
you place yourself on
the cushion. I've found that sitting close to the edge of the cushion works
better for me. Only
your spine and sitting bones need to be supported by the cushion, not your
legs. It is common
for one's legs to fall asleep during zazen, but they should wake up in
three or four seconds after
they are uncrossed. If they remain numb for more than just a few seconds,
you are probably
putting too much pressure on a nerve in your leg, and sitting closer to
the edge of the cushion
may relieve the pressure. I also recommend trying out different heights
of cushions--sit on a thin
cushion, sit on a thick cushion, try sitting on two cushions. Experiment
and see how different
heights affect the alignment of your spine. After sitting for years, one
thing that I have found is
that my body continues to change, so that the cushions that worked for
me last year don't
necessarily work for me now.
Crossed-legged
sitting is considered a stable way to sit because there are three points
of
support, your two knees and your sitting bones. If you are sitting on a
cushion, your knees
should be supported. If they are dangling in the air, it will be hard to
have the strength you need
in your lower back. So place a cushion under your knee, or knees, if they
are not touching the
floor, so they will be supported by something solid. You may find that
if you sit on a higher
cushion that allows your knees to drop. If you are sitting cross-legged,
alternate which leg is on
top with each period of zazen. Most of us have a more flexible side and
a less flexible side, but
try to alternate your legs. If you don't, your body will become asymmetrical
over the years both
in zazen and out of zazen.
Many
people who find that sitting cross-legged doesn't work for them, sit Japanese
style, or
seiza,
by kneeling with their knees together, while sitting on their feet with
the assistance of a
cushion or a small wooden bench which takes the weight off the feet.
If
you sit zazen in a chair, your feet should be flat on the floor. If you
cannot find a chair the right
height, adjust the height by placing a cushion on the seat if the chair
is too low, or by placing a
cushion on the floor if the chair is too high. If the seat of the chair
is higher in back than in front,
it will be easier to support the back. As much as possible, support your
back rather than leaning
against the chair.
I
have never done zazen lying down, but people with back problems or arthritis
often do lie
down in the zendo. If you practice zazen lying down, lie on your back and
bend your knees,
placing your feet flat on the surface you are lying on. This allows the
lower back to come into
line with the upper back. All this is preliminary to actually taking the
zazen posture. Basically,
you want to find a position that you can be relatively still in for a while.
Before
I go on, I would like to give a caution. The instructions I will be giving
can be followed
to two extremes. One extreme is to not follow the instruction enough, to
be too lax which leads
to sloppiness, dullness, drowsiness, or sleepiness. The other extreme is
placing too much effort
into your posture which will produce tension or a rigid body and mind.
Two
characteristics of zazen are energy and relaxation. There should be energy
and some effort
in zazen, but not too much effort. If there is too much effort, you will
become tense, and your
zazen practice will become a strain. While sitting, you should be relaxed
but awake. If you
become too relaxed, you will day dream or fall asleep.
In
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind Suzuki Roshi said, "the most important thing
in taking the zazen
posture is to keep your spine straight." So whether you are lying down,
sitting in a chair, or
sitting on a cushion, try to keep a straight back. Push in a little at
the back of your waist, or arch
your back a little, but just a little. You do not want to be sway-backed,
and when you push in at
the waist, if your back gets sore, you are pushing too much. Pushing in
at the back of your waist
allows your lower back to support your upper back, and, at the same time,
your abdomen
should be relaxed and the shape of your belly will be "full."
Your
spine should be straight all the way up your back, up through the top of
your head, and
your head should be parallel to the ceiling, or, if you like, parallel
to the sky. Some people have
the sensation of their spine as a cord, or a light pushing up their back
and neck through the top
of the back of their head. Others visualize a string coming down from the
ceiling that attaches to
the top of the back of their head like a puppet, which allows their shoulders
and back muscles
to relax and hang down from their spine. Sometimes I experience my back
as if it were
supported by a thick rod about two inches in diameter that enters my back
at my waist and
pushes forward and upward to my breast bone. These images are just techniques,
some people
like to use them and some don't.
When
we say to keep your back straight, we don't mean to "force" your back into
a straight
position as much as we mean to let your back find its own uprightness.
Our thirteenth century
ancestor, Dogen Zenji, said, "if one's body is straight, one's mind is
easily straightened too. If
one sits keeping one's body upright, one's mind does not become dull....One
must be aware
when one's mind runs around in distraction, or when one's body leans or
sways, and allow body
and mind to return to sitting upright." We can practice mindfulness of
our posture, or back, both
in zazen and in daily activity.
There
are two ways we can work with our back or our posture. One way is to bring
attention
to our posture, or our spine, throughout a period of zazen, or throughout
the day, and to
readjust it if it is crooked or sagging, so that over and over again we
notice our back and
continually readjust it if it is not straight. Another way to practice
with posture is to bring our
attention to our posture and to note our position. Is your back crooked
or curved, straight or
leaning? Notice how you are breathing and what your state of mind is like.
Be aware of the
relationship between your posture, breath, and mind. Whatever position
you find your back in,
notice it without changing or adjusting it and see how it affects this
moment.
Suzuki
Roshi said, "the most important point is to own your physical body. If
you slump, you
will lose yourself. Your mind will be wandering somewhere else. You will
not be in your body.
We must exist right here, right now! This is the key point. You must have
your own body and
mind."
In
zen meditation, we sit with our eyes open. This means that your eyes should
not be wide
open and they should not be closed, but somewhere in between. You shouldn't
be staring at
anything or even have your eyes focused. Your eyes should be opened enough
to allow light in.
Look downward with your eyes at about a 45 degree angle so your gaze comes
to the floor
about 2-3 feet in front of you. When gazing downward, keep your face straight
ahead so that if
your eyes were wide open you would be looking straight ahead. Only your
gaze is cast
downward, not your head. When we sit together in the zendo, we bow to our
cushions and
away from our cushions before we sit down. If we are already sitting and
someone comes to sit
in one of the places next to us, we bow with them when they bow to their
cushion. So one way
I check to see if my eyes are open wide enough, and if I am present, is
if I can see the
movement of the person getting ready to bow next to me so I can join them
in their bow. Having
the eyes open, whether we actually "see" anything or not, helps keep us
grounded in the present
and helps us keep from falling asleep.
Breathe
naturally through your nose. In Zen meditation, there is no emphasis on
breathing in a
particular way, such as taking deep breaths or breathing slowly. Don't
interfere with the breath
nor control it. Just breathe naturally, allowing long breaths to be long
and short breaths to be
short, but try to be aware that you are breathing.
Place
your tongue on the roof of your mouth and hold your teeth together. You
might notice
both in zazen and in daily activity the connection between having your
teeth apart and your inner
dialogue or your chattering mind. When the teeth are held together, the
mind tends to stop
talking. Even when the lips are together, if the lower jaw is dropped,
our mouth, that place of
talking, can easily start to move and generate mind chatter. So try to
notice throughout the day:
are your teeth together or not and what is your mind doing? But be careful,
your teeth need only
be touching, they shouldn't be gripped or be grinding, but just come together.
If you clench your
teeth or hold your jaw tightly, it can damage your teeth and gums.
Pull
your chin in. Sometimes when people hear this, they tilt their head downward
and tuck their
chin under. If your chin is tilted downward, your mind can easily become
dreamy or drowsy. If
your chin is drifting upward, your mind tends to start thinking and getting
kind of "out there". So
pull your chin straight in, so that you are facing straight ahead, keeping
the top of your head
parallel to the ceiling. The chin need only be pulled in slightly; it is
almost more an attitude rather
than a physical action. It shouldn't be pulled in so much that your neck
becomes sore. Pulling the
chin in brings your ears back, over your shoulders. This also brings an
alertness to the posture.
If you pull your chin too far in, it will produce tension.
Usually
at this point, if we are sitting cross legged, we rock back and forth from
side to side to
find the center of our posture. This is to help us keep from leaning to
the left or right, or forward
or backward. We start by rocking from side to side in wide arcs which become
smaller and
smaller until we rest upright.
The
next point is the position of our hands, called the mudra. We place our
hands one on top of
the other with palms facing upward. Fingers should overlap and thumb tips
come together
forming a circular shape. The edge of the hands should be held against
the abdomen so that the
thumbs are at the height of the navel. The thumb tips should remain in
contact, touching with
enough pressure to support a single sheet of paper. If you become sleepy
or dreamy, the
thumbs tend to drift away from each other. If you are agitated or putting
too much effort or
tension into your zazen, your thumbs tend to push against each other making
a "peak". I have
found it helpful to bring my attention to my mudra over and over throughout
the period of
zazen--especially to my thumbs. What I have found is that thumbs do not
stay up by themselves,
unconsciously or out of habit. You have to be awake, you have to be present
with your mudra,
or your thumbs will change. One of the reasons the mudra is so important
is because it reflects
the rest of your posture. You may try to hold it with roundness and openness,
but if your
posture is irregular, your mudra will be irregular. For example, if one
shoulder is higher than the
other, your mudra will be tilted; if one shoulder is leaning forward or
if you are leaning to the
side, your mudra will reflect that. The shape of your mudra will reveal
the shape of your zazen.
Suzuki Roshi said you should keep "this universal mudra with great care,
as if you were holding
something very precious in your hand." In a sense, what we are holding
is our consciousness.
For
most of us, in order to hold our thumbs at our navel, we need to hold our
mudra up rather
than resting it on our feet or thighs. And again, in order to hold up the
mudra, we need
continuing mindful attention. If you let your mudra rest on your lap, sometimes
it pulls your
shoulders forward and causes your back to become round. However if you
are sitting on a very
thin cushion, it may not be possible to hold your mudra up. Your arms and
elbows should be
comfortable. They should not hug your rib cage, or be out at a sharp angle
from your body, but
somewhere in between.
I've
tried to describe the ideal zazen posture, but we have to start with the
body we have, the
body we are. Actually, we have no choice. So, instead of trying to force
your body into some
statue-like ideal, in Zen practice we emphasize being present with our
actual experience. By
placing our attention with the minute details of our physical posture,
we get to know our selves,
where we have tension, where we are crooked, where we are holding, where
we are at ease,
where we let go. Our body reveals who we are. Through awareness of posture,
we enter the
path of practice.
I would like to end with another quote by Suzuki Roshi:
"So try always to keep the right posture, not only when you practice zazen,
but in
all your activities. Take the right posture when you are driving your car,
and when
you are reading. If you read in a slumped position, you cannot stay awake
long.
Try. You will discover how important it is to keep the right posture....Buddha
studied many religions, but he was not satisfied with their practices.
He was not
interested in some metaphysical existence, but in his own body and mind,
here and
now. And when he found himself, he found that everything that exists has
Buddha
nature. That was his enlightenment....The state of mind that exists when
you sit in
the right posture is itself enlightenment."
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