With palms together,
Good Morning Sangha,
When practicing Zazen we should be present with ourselves and our environment, experiencing without thinking, feelings, tasting, smelling or touching. As we sit, our mind speaks to us, sometimes through thought, sometimes through sensation.We feel an itch, or something crawling, or a twitch, a stitch. We think. We see our thoughts. We might smell something, hear something, taste something. What is it?
This question arises and if we are not very careful, we are exploring it. Big mistake. Our Zazen is not to explore the interior and exterior of our minds and bodies. Our Zazen is to simply practice serene reflection: presence without attsachment/.
Shikantaza is the practice of wholeheartedly hitting the mark while seated. What is the mark? What is this present moment, exactly, before a thought or perception arises? That is the mark.
Be well.
sensei, when practicing the method of no method, thoughts do arise. what is the difference between exploring the thought and reflecting on the thought as you say? during zazen when thoughts arise, I stop the thought by thinking "next thought". I am not really trying to think of something but rather I am stopping my train of thinking. so there is a period of time then when no thought is present yet. is that the mark that you are referring to?
ReplyDeleteHello Jeff, No thought is presnt yet, the mark. Good. Try not thinking. Be well.
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