Tag Archives: zazen notes
Zazen Notes #18
For a few months I’ve had a pain in my left hip, especially when I’ve been sitting at work. Then whilst I was on holiday for a fortnight, and didn’t sit much, it went away leaving me wondering whether it was from zazen or my desk chair at work. To test it out I switched [...]
Zazen Notes #17
Now that autumn has arrived it is dark when I get up in the morning. The effect on my metabolism is very noticeable and during at least the first ten to fifteen minutes of zazen my eyes keep closing and my body feels sluggish. It is very easy to fall asleep or into heavy day-dreaming. [...]
Zazen Notes #16
Over the last couple of days – during zazen – I’ve been exploring the teaching of eko hensho (‘turning the light around’ / ‘shining back’) – and then later pondering on it in relation to contemporary Soto Zen teaching. This practice, which pre-dates Dogen, is mentioned in his Fukazazengi, but doesn’t seem to be emphasized so much in [...]
The Process of Silent Illumination
“false [thinking] is stopped and stillness [concentration] necessarily arises, stillness arises and wisdom appears, wisdom arises and stillness necessarily disappears [in active functioning). Clear and distinct, this is the only authentic view. - Hongzhi Zhengue (trans. Taigen Dan Leighton) It sounds so natural, and simple. Maybe it is. Yet between each phase yawn various pitfalls. [...]
Zazen Notes #15
Two weeks ago I stayed at the temple for a couple of days and had a really good time talking to Dharma friends, practicing otsutome and helping to plan various future events. The highlight of the weekend was meeting one particular person in the realm of mom, rather than momjit (to borrow the terminology of my current [...]
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