SKY ABOVE GREAT WIND
Zen Practice
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.
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 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, founder of the Soto school of Zen, in “Rules for Zazen."
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.
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 says. We give our complete attention to the breath and breathe naturally. When thoughts come, we acknowledge them, let them go, and return to the breath over and over again. We are present to our life. We sit upright and alert in each moment.
In “Recommending Zazen to All People," Dogen tells us that practice and realization are one.
(Here is the version used by the Zen Center of Los Angeles.) 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 go beyond our individual life to touch all life. We see that nothing is separate from us.
How do we practice wholeheartedly? By single-minded engagement with the moment.
Dogen says, "Now sit steadfastly and think not-thinking. How do you think not-thinking? Beyond thinking. This is the essential art of zazen." We sit every day. We sit silently for ten years, then for ten more years, then ten more. We awaken to who we truly are, appreciate who we are, and serve joyfully.
Zen practice includes zazen and other practices that help shape our meditation experience.
These include kinhin, or walking meditation; chanting; daisan, or interview with the teacher; and shakyō , or copying sutras, especially the Heart Sutra. All of these practices help transform and enlighten our everyday life.
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.
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 says. We give our complete attention to the breath and breathe naturally. When thoughts come, we acknowledge them, let them go, and return to the breath over and over again. We are present to our life. We sit upright and alert in each moment.
In “Recommending Zazen to All People," Dogen tells us that practice and realization are one.
(Here is the version used by the Zen Center of Los Angeles.) 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 go beyond our individual life to touch all life. We see that nothing is separate from us.
How do we practice wholeheartedly? By single-minded engagement with the moment.
Dogen says, "Now sit steadfastly and think not-thinking. How do you think not-thinking? Beyond thinking. This is the essential art of zazen." We sit every day. We sit silently for ten years, then for ten more years, then ten more. We awaken to who we truly are, appreciate who we are, and serve joyfully.
Zen practice includes zazen and other practices that help shape our meditation experience.
These include kinhin, or walking meditation; chanting; daisan, or interview with the teacher; and shakyō , or copying sutras, especially the Heart Sutra. All of these practices help transform and enlighten our everyday life.