Thanks you, in six minutes you explained more about zazen then most videos do even in a hours time.

@zenfields7563

8 ай бұрын

I appreciate your kind remarks. Thank you!

@adamalferovich6940

8 ай бұрын

Have to agree 👍 with your words. This emphasis of natural rithm is so clear, obviously simple and deep. Thanks to dear Teacher 🙏

I have heard a bunch of explanations of what Shikantaza is, and all of them differ. The one I like the most is just sit. Whatever comes up, just let it go without chasing it. Just be.🙏

@zenfields7563

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for posting! I agree with your definition.

@gra6649

6 ай бұрын

@@zenfields7563 Not mine, but a definition. 🙏

During annapannasati we are mindful of the breath without controlling it. At first I found it hard to just observe without controlling, but eventually came to the realization that I couldn't control. You just let it happen. It's sort of like realizing you are grasping something tightly and then observing and relaxing the grip on it. Shikantaza is an elegant practice. My experience is that it is the above as in annapanna, but with everything. It is direct zen / dhyan. The method without a method, the lack of instruction is the point. The point is to get beyond the need for words and instruction, into direct experience. Any method with a method is not Shikantaza. It is really a beautiful and elegant approach. I find that doing some amount of annapannasati, then open awareness meditation, before ending with shikantaza is the best approach. Going from the most structure to the no structure.

@zenfields7563

Жыл бұрын

Beautifully put, Kevin! Yes, I sometimes engage in anapanasati, and then let it go. It can be a helpful place to begin from. Thanks for your input!

@adamalferovich6940

8 ай бұрын

Hello 👋 Friend. You mentioned the opened-awareness meditation and then - shikantaza if it were two different things. Although I did not think that there is a total similarity between both, nevertheless I was inclined to think that they are almost the same - open awareness and that state of body / mind we are living through, embody in shikantaza. So, did you mean that they are not-the-same? I would be really grateful for your comment on this question. 🙏☸️

@adamalferovich6940

8 ай бұрын

​@@zenfields7563please, if you can, share your opinion and vision on my question about similarity and difference between open-awareness "meditation" and shikantaza)

@zenfields7563

8 ай бұрын

Hi Adam, I can't say whether they are the same or different. I will say that shikantaza is physically oriented, and less concerned about what thoughts appear in the mind. We tend to focus on "correct" upright sitting, which means to sit in a balanced way that requires minimal use of muscles, thus allowing body to rest. Hope that's helpful. Thanks for the question!

@adamalferovich6940

8 ай бұрын

​@@zenfields7563Thank You for answer! Yes, this is what shikantaza about - "just sitting" keeping "correct" posture of the body. Like some Soto teachers (and not just Soto) emphasise - this is mostly and primarily "somatic practice". Where the body-breath and the state of the mind are "working" as a one whole process, without any divisions and discrimination. But, it seems to me thanks to Your comments and of others, I've got an answer to my question. With Loving Kindness, peace and happiness for everyone ❤

Omg thank you! I've been trying to understand Shikantaza for a long time! Looking forward to the next video

@zenfields7563

8 ай бұрын

You are welcome! Thanks for posting.

The mind expanding and contracting like the breath - that is a wonderful and very beautiful description. I am afraid that during the next weeks I will expand over this thought. 😊 What I like most about Shikantaza is that it is so very beautiful. I can‘t explain it, but that is my main feeling. Thank you very much.

@zenfields7563

8 ай бұрын

You are so welcome!

I've struggled in my meditation with really liking the silent, calm mind and finding myself trying to silence it, which i know is totally the wrong approach. Your description of the mind going through natural expansion and contraction just like the breath is very helpful. I think that thinking of my thoughts like this will help with accepting my experience as it is. I appreciate what you do!

@zenfields7563

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@Ikaros23

8 ай бұрын

Accepting the mind « as it is», is the whole point of the meditation. That is as a imperfect ever changeing part of beeing a human. A perfect life, or perfect meditation don’t exist. That is a life of perfect « Zen» don’t exist. Google the concept of « wabi-sabi» and « kintsugi», this will help you get a sence of the reality of the mind as « imperfect». And that your « struggle in the meditation», is the meditation. Just sit. And accept the « struggle». Just let the thoughts and emotions that pop up in your mind come and go like « clouds in the sky». Train your « locus of control», to accept all of the thoughts that pass by. Specialy the thoughts of suffering, struggle, fear, envy, anger, hate. And so on. Don’t judge them. Don’t manipulate them Just let them go

Brilliant, Daishin! Thanks for opening up the video for comments :)

@zenfields7563

2 жыл бұрын

You are welcome! I finally figured out how to do it!

very good explanation. Thank you very much Ven. Daishin. Hope more people see this video.

@zenfields7563

2 жыл бұрын

You are welcome. Glad to be of service.

In my opinion, Shikantaza is not different from what is called 'Samadhi Bhavana'. In opposite to zen's approach to explaining Shikantaza technique, Samadhi Bhavana is explained in great details in books like 'The mind illuminated' by John Yates. There is a step-by-step approach one can use to develop Samadhi Bhavana technique.

Awesome, thank you.

@zenfields7563

2 ай бұрын

You are welcome!

Brilliant.

@zenfields7563

8 ай бұрын

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Randy!

🙏

Thanks pal !!!!......good book, "the inescapable love of God", by Thomas Talbot

Thank you very much Ven. Daishisin. My question is, is it the same idea as an open awareness meditation? Like you observe all sense experience, such as sounds, body sensations, thoughts, feelings, and breathing in an open state of awareness. Apart from focusing on the breath which anchors the mind to the present moment, the other sense experience is also observe and notice as they come and go without judgement. Just let them be. It’s like watching picture from a panoramic angle, than watching on a magnifying lens of attention. Or in a sense, just sit and see whatever happens, but still anchored to what is happening now.

@zenfields7563

10 ай бұрын

Hi John, I think your description is good and may be helpful to a certain extent. However, you are trying to create a map in your mind of what's happening, and that map also needs to be let go of. You don't need to know or be in charge of your experience. Let zazen do zazen.

@adamalferovich6940

8 ай бұрын

​@@zenfields7563oh, remarkably, it is exactly the answer to my question above, about possible similarity and difference between open-awareness and that of what we are "doing" during sitting in zazen. Thank You 🙏

How long does one sit for Shikantaza? I personally find meditation best as soon as I wake and just before sleep. Thoughts?

@zenfields7563

2 жыл бұрын

If you have the opportunity to sit with others, which I highly recommend, it's much easier, and you just follow the schedule. But if you are sitting by yourself it's totally subjective, so you decide for yourself how long you want to sit. In that case, listening to your body is an important skill to develop. It's great if you can meditate just upon waking and just before sleep. If you are unable to do that, however, anytime is a good time for meditation.

@unitedintraditions

2 жыл бұрын

@@zenfields7563 Thank you 🙏

@zenfields7563

2 жыл бұрын

@@unitedintraditions You are welcome.

@randycunningham7318

8 ай бұрын

My understanding is that regularly sitting is more important than duration of sitting.

If I may ask a question: Can proper and beneficial shikantaza be done by a practitioner unable to obtain a traditional zazen posture on a stool due to physical limitations? Thank you.

@ericdaishinmccabe

6 ай бұрын

Good question. I'd suggest that there is no "objectively proper" zazen posture. We are all different in our bodies. What works for one person is not going to for another. Each of us has to establish our own posture based on our own body, and comparisons with others are often unhelpful. That said, there is a right relationship with gravity that each of us must find for ourselves.

There’s a reason you’re saying six minutes isn’t enough time to describe how to practise zazen. You explain the phrase Shikantaza, then go on to describe a wealth of mental activities to do whilst sitting! In which case, it’s not just-sitting, is it. How do you explain Master Dogens phrase, shin jin datsu raku, body and mind have dropped off? If body and mind have dropped off, there’s no one present to direct attention, there’s no one present to notice anything at all! Sitting is to adopt the posture of the Buddhas, and not to do any secondary tasks. Don’t count breaths, don’t focus attention, don’t observe, notice or witness. Don’t try to stop thoughts, or try to stop a wandering mind. Sit as you are and let whatever happens happen without dividing yourself into seen and seer. When all effort stops, the one making the effort has stopped.

@zenfields7563

7 ай бұрын

Thanks for commenting. Just sitting is very hard to do. Most people I know need some technique to start. So, I don't recommend "just sitting" for everyone all the time. My teacher would often offer the technique of watching the breath, and would later suggest that watching the breath isn't always necessary. But for people just starting, it can be very challenging to "just sit." But it sounds like you have it all figured out. Best of luck!

@martinlakeuk

7 ай бұрын

@@zenfields7563 what’s easier than doing nothing? What activities can prepare us for non activity?

@zenfields7563

7 ай бұрын

Not sure where your question is coming from and I don’t feel comfortable answering without knowing your situation, tone, or experience. Best to work with your teacher. Feel free to reach out to me through Zen Fields if you want to talk.

@martinlakeuk

7 ай бұрын

@@zenfields7563 my tone is challenging and a bit rude, but from a good place. I teach zazen in London, in the Soto lineage of Master Dogen. I get a bit perplexed when I hear others describe Shikantaza as just sitting and then recommend an activity to do whilst sitting, as a prelude to Shikantaza. It doesn’t make sense to me, hence my last questions to you, what’s easier than sitting cross legged doing nothing, and what activities can we do to prepare us for inactivity? Zazen is very simple, but we overcomplicate it. I felt you were over complicating it. When I teach Shikantaza, I teach it from straight away. The fact that everyone takes several years to get that they don’t need to do anything is neither here nor there, but adding in a period of mental activities whilst starting out is just going to prolong understanding Shikantaza.