Practice zazen as if your hair were on fire. When we sit, we cannot be thinking about yesterday’s actions or tomorrow’s plans. When we while away the time doing this, we are not sitting, but thinking. Sitting should be performed like any other action, we should be consumed by it, so that the thoughts drop … Continue reading Absolute
Tag: sitting
Learning
Imagine we had never been in a body of water, had never even seen one or known anyone else who had, but we suddenly decided, for whatever reason, that we wanted to learn how to swim. We could find a number of textbooks regarding the subject, we could read all about the different techniques, find … Continue reading Learning
Momentary State
Why do we exist? What is the nature of man, of the universe, or existence itself? Is there a God? Why is there evil in the world? What is Free Will? What constitutes Determinism? From whence does the collective consciousness issue? Are we reincarnated? Do we have a soul? Is there any meaning to this … Continue reading Momentary State
Why do you sit?
This is a question many non-sitting people ask and a question difficult to answer. When sitting, no words are required, no explanation, no thinking, so to have to articulate why makes matters hard. When speaking to people who have never sat zazen, my answer varies, but the core is always the same. When I take … Continue reading Why do you sit?
Illumination
Imagine being a in pitch black room, of which you have no comprehension of its size or contents, or even if there are other people present. Then imagine you have a candle, and with this small light you are able to see pockets of what the room contains. As you move around, you light up … Continue reading Illumination
Motive
There is a circular movement at force within the universe. The earth goes round the sun, the moon around the earth. The clothes your parents used to wear come back into fashion, names of your grandparents, fads, economy, popular interests. This cycle happens too within our own lives, on a smaller timescale. We battle with … Continue reading Motive
Satori
The sudden and intuitive way of seeing into anything, whether it be remembering a forgotten name or seeing into the deepest principles of Buddhism. One seeks and seeks, but one cannot find. One then gives up, and the answer comes by itself.* We have all experienced this on some level or other, whether we were … Continue reading Satori
Mind-Body
Mind-Body We cannot separate mind from body nor body from mind in this realm within which we dwell. When we are hungry we feel it in both, just as when we are angry our mind flares with the emotion as our heart race quickens and our stomachs clench. When we train our bodies, we train … Continue reading Mind-Body
The quick of life
What makes a man? Is it his mind, his thoughts? If we took away his capacity for thought, would he still be a man? And what when we're asleep? Are dreams our thoughts, or does the mind rest? Either way we are not thinking as we do when awake, yet we continue to exist. What … Continue reading The quick of life
Intention
"Full of great intentions..." how often have we heard that? On a daily, hourly basis, we are brimming with conscious intentions, whether we act on them or not. "I'll finish work on time today", "I'll make a cup of tea in a minute", "I'll spend more time with my sister" - whatever the level of … Continue reading Intention
Zen musings 