SKY ABOVE GREAT WIND
Our Zen Practice
Our Zen Practice
Photo by Susan Efird
At Eihei-ji, Jizo Bodhisattva listens to the inconceivable.
Dogen Zenji founded Eihei-ji (“Temple of Eternal Peace”) in 1244.
At Eihei-ji, Jizo Bodhisattva listens to the inconceivable.
Dogen Zenji founded Eihei-ji (“Temple of Eternal Peace”) in 1244.
On a somber spring evening around midnight . . .
I wanted so desperately to ease my loneliness.
My hand reached behind me for the Words of Eihei Dogen . . .
I offered incense, lit a lamp, and quietly read.
Body and mind dropping away is simply
the upright truth.
Ryokan, from "Reading the Words of Eihei Dogen"
I wanted so desperately to ease my loneliness.
My hand reached behind me for the Words of Eihei Dogen . . .
I offered incense, lit a lamp, and quietly read.
Body and mind dropping away is simply
the upright truth.
Ryokan, from "Reading the Words of Eihei Dogen"
“Practicing Zen is zazen,” wrote Eihei Dogen, the founder of the Soto school of Zen, in “Rules for Zazen," part of his great True Dharma Eye, or Shobogenzo. Zazen (seated meditation) is the simple practice of selflessness and of just doing. It reveals our human potential and calls us to use this potential in the service of others. As Shantideva says, "For as long as space remains,/As long as sentient beings remain,/May I too remain /To end the misery in this world."
The three essentials of Zen meditation are posture, breathing, and attentiveness. “Straighten your body and sit erect. Do not lean to the left or right; do not bend forward or backward,” Dogen Zenji instructs us in his text. We sit still with full human dignity, spine lengthened, head straight, body open and relaxed. We give our complete attention to the breath and breathe naturally. When thoughts come, we let them go and return to the breath. We are present to our life, not leaning into or away from suffering or experience. We do not bend toward past or future. We sit upright and alert in each moment.
In another text, “Recommending Zazen to All People," revered by Soto practitioners, Dogen tells us that practice is inseparable from enlightenment. “To practice wholeheartedly is the true endeavor of the way. Practice-enlightenment is not defiled, not special. It is a matter for every day.” (Tanahashi trans.) Here is the version used by the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Our life is always whole. We do not sit to become enlightened, but to express the enlightenment inherent in each of us. In zazen we open ourselves to ourselves and enter directly the depth of our living, which goes beyond our individual life, our thoughts and concepts, to touch all life. We see that nothing is separate from us.
How do we practice wholeheartedly? By single-minded engagement with the present moment. We sit every day. We sit silently for ten years, then for ten more years, then another ten years. Zazen is all-embracing effort. It is also “the dharma gate of enjoyment and ease," declares Dogen. We sit with love and tenderness toward ourselves and all beings. We awaken to who we really are, appreciate who we are, and serve joyfully.
Other Forms of Practice
Zen practice includes zazen, the foundation of our practice, and also other practices that help shape and expand our meditation experience. These include kinhin (walking meditation), chanting, daisan (interview with the teacher), and shakyō (copying sutras). All of these practices help transform and enlighten our everyday life.
Kinhin is walking meditation performed between periods of zazen to refresh our legs. Kinhin helps us to be attentive as we go from sitting in meditation to being active in the world.
Chanting, the recitation of chants, represents our aspiration and vows. By familiarizing ourselves with Zen chants—some almost two thousand years old—we access the spirit of Zen and gain energy and insight. Click here to listen to the Heart Sutra chanted in Sanskrit by Bernadette Fernandes of Morning Star Zendo.
Daisan is an individual interview with the teacher to discuss practice and receive encouragement.
The Three Tenets of Zen Peacemakers
Our Zen practice of the Three Tenets—Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Taking Action—helps us live the fullness of our humanity and effect real change in the world. A reading list of books helpful in challenging racism can be found on the Practice page menu.
Please visit the Schedule & Contact page to learn more about the structure of an evening of Zen practice with the Sky Above sangha.
The three essentials of Zen meditation are posture, breathing, and attentiveness. “Straighten your body and sit erect. Do not lean to the left or right; do not bend forward or backward,” Dogen Zenji instructs us in his text. We sit still with full human dignity, spine lengthened, head straight, body open and relaxed. We give our complete attention to the breath and breathe naturally. When thoughts come, we let them go and return to the breath. We are present to our life, not leaning into or away from suffering or experience. We do not bend toward past or future. We sit upright and alert in each moment.
In another text, “Recommending Zazen to All People," revered by Soto practitioners, Dogen tells us that practice is inseparable from enlightenment. “To practice wholeheartedly is the true endeavor of the way. Practice-enlightenment is not defiled, not special. It is a matter for every day.” (Tanahashi trans.) Here is the version used by the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Our life is always whole. We do not sit to become enlightened, but to express the enlightenment inherent in each of us. In zazen we open ourselves to ourselves and enter directly the depth of our living, which goes beyond our individual life, our thoughts and concepts, to touch all life. We see that nothing is separate from us.
How do we practice wholeheartedly? By single-minded engagement with the present moment. We sit every day. We sit silently for ten years, then for ten more years, then another ten years. Zazen is all-embracing effort. It is also “the dharma gate of enjoyment and ease," declares Dogen. We sit with love and tenderness toward ourselves and all beings. We awaken to who we really are, appreciate who we are, and serve joyfully.
Other Forms of Practice
Zen practice includes zazen, the foundation of our practice, and also other practices that help shape and expand our meditation experience. These include kinhin (walking meditation), chanting, daisan (interview with the teacher), and shakyō (copying sutras). All of these practices help transform and enlighten our everyday life.
Kinhin is walking meditation performed between periods of zazen to refresh our legs. Kinhin helps us to be attentive as we go from sitting in meditation to being active in the world.
Chanting, the recitation of chants, represents our aspiration and vows. By familiarizing ourselves with Zen chants—some almost two thousand years old—we access the spirit of Zen and gain energy and insight. Click here to listen to the Heart Sutra chanted in Sanskrit by Bernadette Fernandes of Morning Star Zendo.
Daisan is an individual interview with the teacher to discuss practice and receive encouragement.
The Three Tenets of Zen Peacemakers
Our Zen practice of the Three Tenets—Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Taking Action—helps us live the fullness of our humanity and effect real change in the world. A reading list of books helpful in challenging racism can be found on the Practice page menu.
Please visit the Schedule & Contact page to learn more about the structure of an evening of Zen practice with the Sky Above sangha.