Zazen Notes

well, here’s a quote from Dogen, just to stir things up:

When we let go of our minds and cast aside our views and understandings the Way will be actualized. One sage clarified True Mind (Reality) when he saw peach blossoms and another realized the Way when he heard the sound of tile hitting a bamboo. They attained ...  read more

I had some excellent experience on jury duty, sitting in a chair. Two things are important to me, sitting in a chair: sit on the edge of the chair, as I believe you describe (a chair with four legs solid on the floor); then, one foot flat on the floor with the knee at about a 90 degree angle, and the ball of the other foot resting on the floor under ...  read more

I thought my experience would translate into progress at the lotus, but after a lot of years, I decided I would have to figure it out, instead.

So here’s the story: as Carl Bielefeldt translated a master’s words in the first edition of Dogen’s Meditation Manuals, “seated meditation is not holding still”. The fascia and ligaments of the body ...  read more