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Shikantaza

Flow

Flow

NONE
SHIKANTAZA, or "just sitting," is alert nonselective attention which neither pursues nor suppresses thoughts, sensations, etc., but, rather, gives alert detached attention to whatever arises in and vanishes from Awareness.

Shikantaza literally means "Just Sitting". That is real meditation. There is no focusing, no concentrating, no anything. This is when Awareness comes to its True Nature as an All-Encomapssing Awareness that is at it highest point.

This form of meditation can also be done while walking, sleeping, or eating. All you have to do it become the doing, the action. Become the walking, sleeping, and eating. If one does that, no thoughts will arise and you will be in a state of No-Mind or Pure Awareness.
 
koan

koan

Active Member
I believe you may find yourself in a spot of bother with your claim, that just sitting is real meditation. There are many forms of meditation. Not all are appropriate for everyone, just as there are 84,000 Dharma doors.
 
Flow

Flow

NONE
koan said:
I believe you may find yourself in a spot of bother with your claim, that just sitting is real meditation. There are many forms of meditation. Not all are appropriate for everyone, just as there are 84,000 Dharma doors.
Click to expand...

Its not my claim, its a sect of Zen Buddhisms claim.
 
Ekanta

Ekanta

om sai ram
Hi guys, first post... I dont object to the original poster, but can perhaps ad a few things.

Actually the mind will always try to grasp something.
Even in Shikantaza, as a practice, there is a focus of concentration.
Its said the correct zazen-posture is satori (enlightenment) itself, so one is told to concentrate on the posture (and breathing).
If body is in correct posture, breathing will be correct and then mind will be correct... Of course the mind will come to rest by that...
The difference from some other practices (generally speaking) might be that there is no goal (mushotoku) and concentration is not on some idea (hishiryo), its here & now only. Its sometimes expressed as "thinking with the body"

So even if it is said that Shikantaza is do be done with:
mushotoku: no goal
hishiryo: beyond thinking

How do we get there... etc? Or what is its expression here and now?
The mind should merge with the zazen-posture, which expresses buddhas enlightenment. I.e. its not anything imagined (by the mind).

... Thats how I get it.
 
zenzero

zenzero

Its only a Label
Friend Ekanta,

Very good question.
How to still the mind which is always active?
The only way is through AWARENESS and so Gautama found that get the mind to be aware of your breathing. Do not control anything, do not manipulate anything, simply be aware of the breathing as the first step.
Now there are two schools of thought where one says if posture is right breathing is right satori will follow and personal understanding and practice is that if awareness is there posture, breathing, satori etc. will follow.

ZEN means dhyana, dhyana of what, dhyana of everything around simply awareness and allow things to happen on its own.
Remember: The Grass grows by itself!

Love & rgds
 
W

Wa Dok

Tea Man
Make tea. Play soft music. Be precise. Reflect on the process. Reflect on sensual imput. Ritual is good. Chant mantras. Not one of these is the goal of a still mind, but in our busy world that flows so quickly, like rapids after hard rains, these may help us attain quiet and peace; a mind in meditation.
I like the remark that "grass grows by itself" It is good to not engage anything that seems to be doing well on its own.
As for my personal practice, it might be more centered in Ch'an and Zen, but there is much virtue I see achieved through other methods; even Nichiren. By this remark, I do not mean to detract from those who embrace Nichiren. I simply mean that as an individual I found his path to attract a different sort of person than me.
 
Engyo

Engyo

Prince of Dorkness!
Wa Dok said:
As for my personal practice, it might be more centered in Ch'an and Zen, but there is much virtue I see achieved through other methods; even Nichiren. By this remark, I do not mean to detract from those who embrace Nichiren. I simply mean that as an individual I found his path to attract a different sort of person than me.
Click to expand...
Welcome, Wa Dok -

As for Nichiren, one of the problems seems to be presentation; the most ubiquitous Nichiren group outside of Japan doesn't always present the practice in ways I currently appreciate.
 
W

Wa Dok

Tea Man
If we wait, if we are patient, the right mind will come. The fleshly needs will trump mind at times, but with patience, (even a little patience) we may be able to get where we want to be.
 
B

bodisat

New Member
Zazen and any way of meditating is having direct experience of the self by annihilating it and being the buddha-nature instead. Simply sitting and instant awakening into joyful emptiness. There is but one truth and its indescribable, at the heart of all sitting practices and faiths.
 
dyanaprajna2011

dyanaprajna2011

Dharmapala
Shikantaza is considered an advanced form of meditation, only to be taken on when one has put in a great deal of practice in following the breath, or koans, etc. There's even a form of it found in Tibetan Buddhism, but I can't remember what it's called off the top of my head.
 
Ekanta

Ekanta

om sai ram
dyanaprajna2011 said:
Shikantaza is considered an advanced form of meditation, only to be taken on when one has put in a great deal of practice in following the breath, or koans, etc.
Click to expand...
This cant be the soto-zen view... There might be other forms of zen which mix back and forth etc. But in soto-zen Shikantaza alone is practiced from start without mixing with anything either before or after.
 
DreadFish

DreadFish

Cosmic Vagabond
Ekanta said:
This cant be the soto-zen view... There might be other forms of zen which mix back and forth etc. But in soto-zen Shikantaza alone is practiced from start without mixing with anything either before or after.
Click to expand...


There are the five styles of zen. We try to practice shikantaza from the beginning, but naturally, most people aren't really "just sitting" until they have practiced for a while and actually worked through their habits and delusions to the point that they can literally just sit, fully present, with absolutely no objective or gaining idea. So the actual practice of shikantaza is usually practiced by experienced practitioners who have learned to "just sit".
 
dyanaprajna2011

dyanaprajna2011

Dharmapala
DreadFish said:
There are the five styles of zen. We try to practice shikantaza from the beginning, but naturally, most people aren't really "just sitting" until they have practiced for a while and actually worked through their habits and delusions to the point that they can literally just sit, fully present, with absolutely no objective or gaining idea. So the actual practice of shikantaza is usually practiced by experienced practitioners who have learned to "just sit".
Click to expand...

Right. The highest stage is saijojo, which is where one practices shikantaza. It's nearly impossible to pull off with a beginner, as their minds are not calmed by following the breath.
 
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