ZAZEN PRACTICE A GUIDELINE FOR BEGINNERS - Zen Guide: The .
ZAZEN PRACTICEA GUIDELINE FOR BEGINNERSthe fire of emptinessblazes out his beard
ZAZEN PRACTICEA Note to Readers:From May, 1999 to the present day, I have had many opportunities to talk to about fivehundred persons who are interested in learning and practicing what the Buddha and Zenmasters teach, and given answers to their questions about Buddhism and Zen on thiswebsite [Zenguide.com] on daily basis.I saw the need for an introductory guideline on zazen practice that would help.Therefore, I have tried to put some words down here as a guideline for those who wouldlike to see into their own nature or Buddha-nature, to free themselves from sufferingcaused by our own greed, anger, and ignorance, and would provide a guide to practicingthe very first steps.If he or she would like to help others wanting to achieve the same things, these guidelineswill allow them to do this. Actually, most of what I put them together here already appearin the answers mentioned above.What I put down in these guidelines, in the main part, I received from my own Zenteacher Thong Lac, under whom I practiced, and by his compassion and skillfulteachings, my mind’s eye opens at some degree. I deeply bow my thanks to him here.This was about twenty-five years ago and I have kept doing it by myself so far. The otherpart I have gleaned from different books on Zen and zazen practice by other Zen teachersof both old and recent times, and also from the Buddhist Scriptures (Sutras and Sastras).So, it might be said that nothing here is my own.As you already see, this guideline may be described as, ‘Scratching the surface.’Therefore, it may be revised and added as and when needed. Any comments orsuggestions from anyone of you will be welcomed and appreciated. You can forwardthem to me with the E-mail address below. Thank you in advance.Finally, I would like to deeply say thanks to my friends John Charlson (U.K), Joeri Vanden Broeck (Belgium), each of them with great heartedness and talent, helping in editingmy English. All of these make this guide easier to read, understand, and practice to ourreaders. And I also deeply thanks to all the authors, the translators, and the editors of thesources that I quote and cite in this guide.05/09/2001Take care,ChonTriChonTri@Zenguide.com2
ZAZEN PRACTICEMY DEAR FRIEND:BEFORE YOU CONTINUE TO READ WHAT ISPOSTED BELOW. PLEASE ASK YOURSELF:“WHAT DO I REALLY WANT IN MY LIFE,PRACTICE AND ENLIGHTENMENT?”IF YOUR ANSWER IS “YES.” JUST KEEPGOING ON. IF IT IS “NO.” PLEASEDISREGARD IT.3
ZAZEN PRACTICEBodhidharma (ca. 470 - 543?)Founder of Zen Buddhism.“Not establishing words and letters,Teachings transmitted outside the Scriptures.Directly pointing to humans’ mind,To see into their own natureand attain the Buddhahood.”Master Thong Lac (photo 1985)1. What is Zazen?4
ZAZEN PRACTICEZazen is a romanized Japanese term. “Za” literally means to sit or sitting;“zen” means to meditate or concentrate. Actually, “zazen” is much morethan “sitting in meditation”. In short, “zazen” is a Buddhist practice to settleyour mind in its original state: purity and clarity, and from that you can seeeverything in the world as it is.“Zen” is a Japanese pronunciation for the Chinese word “Ch’an”, and“Ch’an” is in turn a Chinese pronunciation of the word “Dhyana” in Sanskritor “Jhana” in Pali, the two ancient forms of the language used in India, in thetime of the Buddha, more than 2,500 years ago.It was also known as “Yoga”, another Sanskrit term, which is a method ofmental practice used by Brahmins before the time of the Buddha.Originally, “Dhyana” is a practice for settling the mind, which is usuallywandering around at all time and leads us into confusion state. However,“Ch’an” or “Zen” is something more than meditation or concentration. Itcombines the threefold practice of Bodhisattva’s Way:Observing Sila (Precepts)Developing Samadhi (Power of Mind Focusing)Practicing Prajna (Wisdom).“Zen” is not simply a device for centering and calming the mind but alsoembracing the wisdom of enlightenment.We also recognize the five different types of Zen. In his “Ch’an-yuan-chuch’uan-chi”, a collection of sayings of Chinese Ch’an masters and briefhistories of various Ch’an sects, Tsung-mi (780-841), a Ch’an master andHua-yen patriarch, listed the five different types of Zen as follows:(1) non-Buddhist zen: for example: the zen practiced in other religions thanBuddhism like Brahmanism, Hinduism, Jainism, Confucianism, Sufism (2) Ordinary zen: the zen as in haiku poems, William Blake’s poems, HenryD. Thoreau’s works (3) Hinayana Zen: the zen which a Buddhist Elder practices to attainsainthood, often for the practitioner only.5
ZAZEN PRACTICE(4) Mahayana Zen: the zen which a Bodhisattva (a candidate ofBuddhahood) practices to attain enlightenment not only for himself but alsofor others.(5) The last one is the Zen of the Highest Vehicle. It emphasizes on thequality and the characteristics of enlightenment achieved through the type ofzen practice and the degree of wisdom embraced in that enlightenment. Itincludes the Zen of the Tagathatas and the Zen of the Patriarchs, the Zenof the highest quality of wisdom emanating from the highest enlightenment.When asked about what is the difference between the Zen of the Tagathatasand the Zen of the Patriarchs, a Zen master replied:“Mountain is blue; snow is white.”For me, I would say: “The white cloud covering the snow mountain, theircolors are not the same.”2. Purposes in Zazen:In his “Zen Fables for Today”, Richards McLean retells the following story:“Why must I meditate in order to achieve enlightenment?” demanded theprince of the teacher. “I can study, I can pray. I can think on issues clearly.Why this silly emptying of mind?”“I will show you,” said the teacher, taking a bucket of water into the gardenunder the full moon. “Now I stir the surface and what do you see?”“Ribbons of light,” answered the prince. “Now wait,” said the teachersetting the bucket down.Both teacher and boy watched the calming surface of the water in thebamboo bucket for many minutes. “Now what do you see?” asked theteacher. “The moon,” replied the prince.“So, too, young master, the only way to grasp enlightenment is through acalm and settled mind.”This simple story is telling us the purpose and the way of zazen very clearly.To practice “Zazen” is to see into one’s “own nature” or Buddha-nature,which is from the very beginning, pure and calm, and every being in theworld has it.6
ZAZEN PRACTICEThis is what the Buddha declared when he had just attained his SupremeEnlightenment and was recorded in the Avatamsaka-sutra (The FlowerOrnament Scripture) and repeated in the Mahaparinirvana-sutra.When you see into your own nature, you know who you are, you know whatand how every thing and being in the world really is. From this, your actionand reaction will be in harmony with the whole and in situations around you.I have some words for you that will help you avoid the following situation:You may have already heard someone who has misunderstood or mistakenthe declaration of the Buddha about the Buddha-nature, and said: “We all areBuddhas, we are already enlightened so, we do not need to practice zazenat all.”This person might think himself or herself already enlightened, does notpractice zazen, and indulges in many wrong things which he or she doesn’trealize.These words would be correct for anyone who already sees into his or herown nature, knows where it is, and what it looks like.If anyone who does not yet see into his or her own nature, does not knowwhere it is, what it looks like, and cannot prove this through his or her ownexperience of awakening before a real Zen teacher, then he or she is not anenlightened one. They just speak about something borrowed from theBuddha or a Zen master, not of his or her own experience of enlightenment.This is considered the biggest type of zen-sickness. Words and experienceare not in accordance.Recently, there are people who did not have any experience of enlightenmentbut often criticized others: “You are attaching to enlightenment!” or “You areclinging to detachment!” when they heard someone said something aboutenlightenment or detachment. This is even more ridiculous than the ones whothought that “I am already a Buddha” or “I am already enlightened,” becausethey do not know what the true enlightenment is or what the real detachment is.This is also called a zen-sickness of words and action do not match each other.7
ZAZEN PRACTICEIn case you really think you are an awakened one, test yourself with thesequestions:Master Yueh of Toushuai set up three barriers to question students:Crossing rivers and passing through mountains to learn and search out thehidden, is only for seeing into the own-nature. Right now, where is yourown nature?Only when you know your own-nature then you can be freed from birth anddeath. When you are dying,, how will you be free?When you are freed from birth and death, then you will know where you arefrom and going to. When the four elements [which composed your body]disintegrate, where do you go? 1Your answers should come out directly and spontaneously from your kenshoand need the approval of a real Zen teacher. If not so, you need to putyourself into zazen practice until you are able to do so. Sit yourself like theBuddha did for six years long in the forests and 49 days and nights under theSala tree at Bodh-gaya. Sit yourself like Bodhidharma did facing to the bluerock-wall for nine years long at the Shao-lin Monastery in Sung-shanMountain in China.Sit yourself like the Buddha 2Sit yourself like Bodhidharma.1(from “Wu-men Kuan” by Zen master Wu-men, the 47th koan, translated fromChinese text).8
ZAZEN PRACTICE3. Sitting Postures: There are several sitting postures that were foundand used in meditation long ago, thousands of years in before the Buddha infact.Following, are described the main and more popular ones. These have beenused in meditation at least, from the time of the Buddha to present:a. Full-lotus posture: This is the best sitting posture in zazen.First, you have to put your right foot with the sole up on your left thigh andthen put your left foot with the sole up on your right thigh. Your two kneestouch the pad.Next, with your two palms up, the left one upon the right one with the endsof two thumbs lightly touch each other and with the pointing fingers make asmall oval circle, which lay on your lap and closed to the area under thenavel.Your backbone must be straight up but not stiff. Your nose should be in linewith your navel; your left ear should be in line with your left shoulder andthe same with your right ear and shoulder. In this position, your head isalready in vertical position with your backbone. This posture will give youthe most secure in sitting zazen. (See the Buddha or Bodhidharma in thepictures above).b. Half-lotus posture: This is the second sitting posture.It can be made in the same way with the full-lotus posture, except for onedetail, one foot is placed on the opposite thigh and the other foot rests on thepad. Beginners will find the full lotus difficult, therefore the half-lotusposture is useful as you would not get pain as much as you might do in thefull-lotus posture because one of your legs may rest on the pad.2All the pictures in this section are from “Buddhism, Flammrion Iconograhic Guides” byLouis Frederic, except for the picture of Bodhidharma which is from “Bankei Zen” tr. byPeter Haskel.9
ZAZEN PRACTICEc. Leg-folding posture: This posture is similar to the two previouslydescribed postures, except that your legs are folded but only laid onthe pad, neither of them need be placed on the opposite thigh.Your palms, as in the above postures, rest on your lap. You mightlittle or no pain with this posture because both of your legs are on thepad. This method is called “leg-folding” in order to distinguish it fromthe two first postures which are called “leg-crossing”.This posture is often called the “Burmese posture”. Actually, it is verypopular in the south-east countries of Asia such as Burma, Vietnam,Thailand, etc d. Sitting on your feet: This posture is also called “seiza” meaning“sitting on feet” or Japanese traditional posture, because it is particularlyused by Japanese people.You will need a cushion to support your buttocks and feet when your twofolded legs go backwards almost like kneeling. Your upper body rests on10
ZAZEN PRACTICEyour upper legs folding upon your lower legs which rest on the mat,meanwhile your buttocks are on a part of the cushion.Of the four postures above, the best one is full-lotus posture. The secondbest one is the half-lotus posture, the third one will be the folding-legposture, and the last one is the seiza because the two latter ones are lesssecure than the two first ones in zazen. However, you can use theminterchangeably in a long period of zazene. Using a chair or a stool: This is the least secure posture in zazen. Youmay use this posture when you can not do any of the above ones, through alack of flexibility or in case a health condition does not allow you to do so.When you use a chair or a stool to sit zazen, the one thing which is differentfrom the above postures is your feet rest on the floor and they should be in aparallel position and your back should not touch the back holder of the chair.A chair may be more secure than a stool, but a stool will alert you to a fall,helping you out of sleepiness.4. Cushions and Pad:You will need a cushion and a pad in sitting zazen. The pad is about 28inches square, stuff with kapok or cotton batting so it will be about 1.5inches thick. The cushion which is stuffed kapok or cotton batting, too, andabout 12 - 18 inches in diameter and it flattens out like a pillow to set uponthe pad. You may use a pillow if you wish.5. Garments for Sitting:You will not be comfortable with any kind of tight, heavy or hard fabricclothing when you sit in zazen. Therefore, any loose fitting garment made11
ZAZEN PRACTICEof fine, soft fabrics will be better in sitting. When you do zazen, wearinggarment is much better than wearing nothing.6. What to Do in Sitting Zazen:After positioning your pad and cushion on the floor, and placing yourself onthe cushion, you need to bend your upper body forwards about 45 degrees,and push your buttocks backwards a little to make sure they are in a naturalposition on the cushion. This will prevent them from getting numb.Next, bend your upper body to the left, making a 45 degree angle, and take itback to the straight middle position, then bend to the right in the same way.Repeat this move three times, gradually decreasing the angle until at last,your body returns to the straight middle position.The final preparation is to exhale and inhale slowly, evenly and deeplythrough your nose three times. Inhale so that your breath comes to thetanden (the field of elixir: the abdomen area about three inches beneath thenavel). After that, just let your breath goes naturally. You might want to setyour tongue-tip against the palatial area or right at the roots of your upperteeth.Now you are ready for your practice:a. Breath counting: Counting your breaths out and in is often the firstpractice in zazen usually assigned by a Zen teacher to a beginner. Thispractice is done like this:Start with your breath out counting “one,” then “two” for the next breath in,and so forth up to ten, then go back to one again. The second alternative iscounting “one” for each breath out and skip the breaths in. Just say thenumber in your mind and not a loud voice.Whenever you lose count, you simply start counting “one” again. When youlose your counting, this means, you were with random thoughts or randomfeelings.12
ZAZEN PRACTICEb. Breath following: This is the second practice of zazen. In this practice,you just follow your breaths out and in with your mind’s eye. This is verysimple thing to do but it needs a great attention of your mind. In otherwords, your mind in general has been wandering anywhere it went. It ismuch like a monkey going from this tree to the other one, it never rests for amoment. With this practice, and the first one, too, your mind has only onething to be with: your breath. By this, its wandering might be stopped andyour mind’s energy will not be wasted much like it did before.The mind’s energy saved in this way can be used in the way you want.However, do not confuse this power with enlightenment. When you lostyour following, this means, you were with random thoughts or randomfeelings. Just resume the breath following.Before standing up after a period of practice, you need to carry out the stepsof readiness in reverse. This means leaning from side to side as before butcommencing from the smaller angles up to the full 45 degrees.Furthermore, you need to massage your body wherever it has becomenumb knees, ankles, feet etc until you feel fine. Then you stand up towalk zazen or kinhin, (See “Walking Zazen” below).c. Silent Illumination (“Mo chao” (Ch.) or “Mokusho(Jap.)): This practiceoften comes after you have been practicing the first two methods for a while,meaning you do not lose counting in the first one, or you are not distractedfrom following your breaths in the second, even in noisy circumstances.This practice may be the most difficult one because your mind will not haveanything like breath as in the breath counting and breath following or a koanas in the next practice which it may rely on.In this practice, you just sit with your awareness, always be awake. You justsit like a mountain, immovable, with an immense faith in that your ownnature or Buddha-nature is manifesting in itself and you will realize it at anymoment.If any random thought or feeling arises in your mind, just let it come and goas it does. Do not try to stop, get rid of it or cherish it. When you lost yourawareness, this means that you were with random thoughts or randomfeelings and you need to regain it.13
ZAZEN PRACTICEOut of the three essentials in zazen practice: strong faith, doubt-mass, andstrong determination; strong faith is most needed in this practice. The faithin one’s Mind or Buddha-nature.This practice had been practiced by the Buddha himself, his disciples, andhas been practiced by the practitioners of Soto Zen. It is also called“shikantaza” in Japanese by the Soto Zen practitioners.d. Working with a koan: This is the main practice of the Rinzai Zenpractitioners. In this practice, you do not have to count or follow breaths butyou must be assigned a koan by your Zen teacher who has his own workingexperience with koans.The Koan is usually from a saying of the Buddha, a Zen master, aconversation which happened between a student and a Zen master, or a storyfrom the fact of everyday activity.The Zen master picks it up and gives it to the student to work with as ameans to concentrate his mind’s power to break through his own deludedmind and get in the world of enlightenment. For example:When a monk asked Joshu, one of the greatest Chinese Zen masters: “Has adog a Buddha-nature?” Joshu replied: “No”. This is one of the famous koanin the book “Mumonkan” (Gateless Gate), and was compiled by Zen masterMumon in the 13th century in China.Another famous koan was devised by Hakuin, one of the greatest JapaneseZen masters, and is as follows:“You can hear the sound of two hands clapping together. Can you hear thesound of one hand?”There are more or less 1,700 koans, only a number of them are in use at theZen monasteries or Zen centers around the world. All of them indicate thesame thing in you: your Original Face or own nature or Buddha-nature.When you work with a koan (Jap.) or hua-tou (Ch), you need to become onewith it. Whenever the koan and yourself are separate there will be random14
ZAZEN PRACTICEthoughts or feelings arising in your mind. In this case you need to becomeone with koan or hua-tou again. And this is the one way to work with it.One of the aims and effects of
and used in meditation long ago, thousands of years in before the Buddha in fact. Following, are described the main and more popular ones. These have been used in meditation at least, from the time of the Buddha to present: a. Full-lotus posture: This is the best sitting posture in zazen.
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The Way of Zazen, Rindô Fujimoto, Rôshi, translated by Tetsuya Inoue, Jushoku and . (Zen Master), was born near Kobe in 1894. An official's son, he was ordained in the Sôtô Zen sect before his teens, and since that time ha
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