{"id":2186,"date":"2023-10-24T13:08:06","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T20:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/?p=2186"},"modified":"2023-10-24T13:57:36","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T20:57:36","slug":"shunryu-suzuki-on-shikantaza-and-the-theravadin-stages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/?p=2186","title":{"rendered":"Shunryu Suzuki on Shikantaza and the Theravadin Stages"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In one of his lectures, Shunryu Suzuki spoke about the difference between \u201cpreparatory practice\u201d and \u201cshikantaza\u201d, or \u201cjust sitting\u201d:<\/p>\n

But usually in counting breathing or following breathing, you feel as if you are doing something, you know– you are following breathing, and you are counting breathing. This is, you know, why\u00a0counting breathing or following breathing practice is, you know, for us it is some preparation– preparatory practice for shikantaza\u00a0because for most people it is rather difficult to sit, you know, just to sit.<\/p>\n

(\u201cThe Background of Shikantaza\u201d; Shunryu Suzuki, Sunday, February 22, 1970, San Francisco; transcript from shunryusuzuki.com)<\/p>\n

Suzuki said that directing attention to the movement of breath (\u201cfollowing breathing\u2026 counting breathing\u201d) has the feeling of \u201cdoing something\u201d, and that \u201cdoing something\u201d makes such practice only preparatory.<\/p>\n

Although attention can be directed to the movement of breath, necessity in the movement of breath can also direct attention, as I wrote previously:<\/p>\n

There can\u2026 come a moment when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a certain location in the body, or at a series of locations, with the ability to remain awake as the location of attention shifts retained through the exercise of presence.<\/p>\n

(Common Ground<\/a>)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a frailty in the structure of the lower spine, and the movement of breath can place the point of awareness in such a fashion as to engage a mechanism of support for the spine, often in stages (see A Way of Living<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In the \u201cquestion and answer\u201d period after the lecture, Suzuki mentioned first, second and third stages in Theravadin practice:<\/p>\n

Of course, to have good shikantaza, we have preparatory zazen. You know, from old, old time, you know, we have that technical term, konpunjo. Konpunjo means \u201cto enter,\u201d you know. That is started from Theravada practice, you know. To prepare for the first stage or second stage or third stage, they practice some special practice. Those practice is not the practice of the first stage or second stage or third stage, but to prepare for those stages.<\/p>\n

(70-02-22: The Background of Shikantaza, \u201cquestion and answer\u201d)<\/p>\n

Suzuki\u2019s assertion that practicing some special practice is not the same as practicing concentration accords well with Gautama\u2019s teaching. With regard to each of the stages, Gautama said:<\/p>\n

\u2026 for whatever [one] imagines it to be, it is otherwise.<\/p>\n

(MN III 42-45, Pali Text Society Vol III pg 92-94; bracketed material paraphrases original)<\/p>\n

Moreover, Gautama described the key to the attainment of each of the stages of concentration as \u201clack of desire\u201d.<\/p>\n

Suzuki mentioned three stages in Theravadin practice.\u00a0 Gautama generally spoke of four, and Suzuki\u2019s omission here is curious, as he did speak of four stages in another lecture (LosAltos17, 65-10-28).<\/p>\n

The fourth stage (the \u201cfourth musing\u201d) is different from the first three, in that a particular quality of mind is applied:<\/p>\n

Again, a [person], putting away ease\u2026 enters and abides in the fourth musing; seated, [one] suffuses [one\u2019s] body with purity by the pureness of [one\u2019s] mind so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded with purity by the pureness of [one\u2019s] mind.<\/p>\n

(AN III 25-28, Pali Text Society Vol. III p 18-19, see also MN III 92-93; bracketed material paraphrases original)<\/p>\n

\u201cPureness of mind\u201d is what remains when \u201cdoing something” ceases. \u00a0When \u201cdoing something\u201d has ceased, and there is \u201cnot one particle of the body\u201d that cannot receive the placement of attention, then the placement of attention is free to shift as necessary in the movement of breath.<\/p>\n

In another lecture, Suzuki described the experience:<\/p>\n

Sometimes when you think that you are doing zazen with an imperturbable mind, you ignore the body, but it is also necessary to have the opposite understanding at the same time. Your body is practicing zazen in imperturbability while your mind is moving.<\/p>\n

(\u201cWhole-Body Zazen\u201d, lecture by Shunryu Suzuki at Tassajara, June 28, 1970 [edited by Bill Redican], transcript from shunryusuzuki.com)<\/p>\n

Suzuki was expanding on the last line of a famous poem by the 6th<\/sup> century Buddhist Fuxi:<\/p>\n

Water does not flow, but the bridge flows.<\/p>\n

(ibid; Suzuki credits Dogen)<\/p>\n

The flow of \u201cdoing something\u201d in the body, of activity initiated by habit or volition, ceases in the fourth concentration.\u00a0 Instead, activity is generated purely by the placement of attention, and the location of attention can flow.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Suzuki advised his students:<\/p>\n

Let the water flow, as that is the water’s practice. Let the bridge stay and sit there, because that is the actual practice of the bridge.<\/p>\n

(ibid)<\/p>\n

The twelfth-century Chinese teacher Foyan similarly expressed a caution to his students:<\/p>\n

In my school, there are only two kinds of sickness.\u00a0 One is to go looking for a donkey riding on the donkey.\u00a0 The other is to be unwilling to dismount once having mounted the donkey.<\/p>\n

\u2026 Once you have recognized the donkey, to mount it and be unwilling to dismount is the sickness that is most difficult to treat.\u00a0 I tell you that you need not mount the donkey; you are<\/em> the donkey!<\/p>\n

(\u201cInstant Zen:\u00a0 Waking Up in the Present\u201d, tr T. Cleary, Shambala p 4)<\/p>\n

Having experienced the placement of attention as the source of activity (\u201criding on the donkey\u201d), the tendency is to want the activity of the body to come solely from the placement of attention all the time (\u201cto be unwilling to dismount\u201d). \u00a0Foyan asserted that activity from the location of attention is inherent in human nature, and the unwillingness to relinquish such activity is not healthy.<\/p>\n

Gautama did not express a caution with regard to the fourth concentration.\u00a0 Instead, he recommended a way of living that incorporated the experience, a way of living he called \u201cthe intent concentration on inbreathing and outbreathing\u201d (SN V 316 & 326):<\/p>\n

\u2026 if cultivated and made much of, (the \u201cintent concentration\u201d) is something peaceful and choice, something perfect in itself, and a pleasant way of living too.<\/p>\n

(SN V 320-322, Pali Text Society V p 285)<\/p>\n

The \u201cintent concentration\u201d consisted of sixteen thoughts, each applied or sustained in an inhalation or exhalation (see Appendix\u2014From the Early Record<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Applying and sustaining thought would appear to be a preparatory practice, but in Gautama\u2019s \u201cintent concentration\u201d, the thought comes out of necessity in the free placement of attention in the movement of breath. The free placement of attention only occurs with clarity in the fourth concentration, but as Foyan pointed out, such freedom is inherent in human nature.<\/p>\n

The fifteenth of Gautama\u2019s \u201cthoughts applied and sustained\u201d was:<\/p>\n

Contemplating cessation I shall breathe in. Contemplating cessation I shall breathe out.<\/p>\n

(SN V 312, Pali Text Society Vol V p 275-276; tr. F. L. Woodward)<\/p>\n

\u201cCessation\u201d here is the cessation of \u201cdoing something\u201d, while at the same time remaining conscious of inhalation and exhalation–the hallmark of the fourth concentration.<\/p>\n

Gautama could experience \u201ccessation\u201d in thought applied and sustained by means of \u201cthe survey-sign\u201d, an overview of the body as though observed from the outside.\u00a0 Gautama would arrive at the \u201csurvey-sign\u201d after the fourth concentration, and although the \u201csurvey-sign\u201d is not a state of concentration, he nevertheless deemed the sign \u201cthe fifth limb of concentration\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gautama let the water flow and the bridge just sit there, but the water could go still and the bridge could flow in his thought applied and sustained, by means of the \u201csurvey-sign\u201d.<\/p>\n

When necessity places attention, and a presence of mind is retained as the placement shifts and moves, then in Gautama\u2019s words, \u201c[one] lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness\u201d:<\/p>\n

Herein\u2026 the (noble) disciple, making self-surrender the object of (their) thought, lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness.\u00a0 (The disciple), aloof from sensuality, aloof from evil conditions, enters on the first trance, which is accompanied by thought directed and sustained, which is born of solitude, easeful and zestful, and abides therein.<\/p>\n

(SN v 198, Pali Text Society vol V p 174; parenthetical material paraphrases original; \u201cdirected\u201d also rendered as \u201cinitial\u201d MN III p 78 and as \u201capplied\u201d PTS AN III p 18-19)<\/p>\n

Foyan spoke of \u201clooking for a donkey riding on the donkey\u201d.\u00a0 The degree of \u201cself-surrender\u201d required to allow necessity to place attention, and the presence of mind required to \u201clay hold\u201d as the placement of attention shifts, make the conscious experience of \u201criding the donkey\u201d elusive. Suzuki provided an analogy:<\/p>\n

If you are going to fall, you know, from, for instance, from the tree to the ground, the moment you, you know, leave the branch you lose your function of the body. But if you don\u2019t, you know, there is a pretty long time before you reach to the ground. And there may be some branch, you know. So you can catch the branch or you can do something. But because you lose function of your body, you know [laughs], before you reach to the ground, you may lose your conscious[ness].<\/p>\n

(\u201cTo Actually Practice Selflessness\u201d, August Sesshin Lecture Wednesday, August 6, 1969, San Francisco; \u201cfell\u201d corrected to \u201cfall\u201d; transcript from shunryusuzuki.com)<\/p>\n

Suzuki offered the analogy in response to the travails of his students, who were experiencing pain in their legs sitting cross-legged on the floor.\u00a0 In his analogy, he suggested the possibility of an escape from pain through a presence of mind with the function of the body.<\/p>\n

The difficulty is that most people will lose consciousness before they cede activity to the location of attention–they lose the presence of mind with the placement of attention, because they can\u2019t believe that action in the body is possible without \u201cdoing something\u201d:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to teach the meaning of sitting. You won\u2019t believe it. Not because I say something wrong, but until you experience it and confirm it by yourself, you cannot believe it.<\/p>\n

(Kobun Chino Otogawa, \u201cEmbracing Mind\u201d, edited by Cosgrove & Hall, pg 48)<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve written previously, there\u2019s an opportunity to make self-surrender the object of thought and to lay hold of \u201cone-pointedness\u201d just before falling asleep:<\/p>\n

\u2026 Just before I fall asleep, my awareness can move very readily, and my sense of where I am tends to move with it. This is also true when I am waking up, although it can be harder to recognize (I tend to live through my eyes in the daytime, and associate my sense of place with them).<\/p>\n

\u2026 when I realize my physical sense of location in space, and realize it as it occurs from one moment to the next, then I wake up or fall asleep as appropriate.<\/p>\n

(Waking Up and Falling Asleep<\/a>)<\/p>\n

When a presence of mind is retained as the placement of attention shifts, then the natural tendency toward the free placement of attention can draw out thought initial and sustained, and bring on the stages of concentration:<\/p>\n

\u2026 there is no need to depend on teaching. But the most important thing is to practice and realize our true nature\u2026 [laughs]. This is, you know, Zen.<\/p>\n

(Shunryu Suzuki, Tassajara 68-07-24 transcript from shunryusuzuki.com)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In one of his lectures, Shunryu Suzuki spoke about the difference between \u201cpreparatory practice\u201d and \u201cshikantaza\u201d, or \u201cjust sitting\u201d: But usually in counting breathing or following breathing, you feel as if you are doing something, you know– you are following breathing, and you are counting breathing. This is, you know, why\u00a0counting breathing or following breathing … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Shunryu Suzuki on Shikantaza and the Theravadin Stages”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2186"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2202,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186\/revisions\/2202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}