 |
Meditation quiets
the waves (distractions)
of the heart-mind and enables
us to see clearly the real
form of all things. This
serene reflection meditation
is also termed shikan in Japanese,
literally, "to stop and
see."
"Stop" refers to the cessation
of all afflictions and distractions
and therefore refers to Zen meditation
in a narrow sense, while "see" means
the ability to grasp the real nature
of all things in their correct form
and corresponds to wisdom in a narrow
sense...
Great Master
Dogen declared that wholehearted
meditation is neither
a practice in which one
waits for enlightenment,…nor
is it a means to become
Buddha.
Enlightenment
is an inherent part of
meditation practice from
the outset. Just-sitting
meditation is free from
all obstacles and is synonymous
with enlightenment. We
call this meditation in
enlightenment and enlightenment
in meditation….
Formal seated
meditation is not considered
an unpleasant, compulsory
religious exercise, but
an act of the Buddhas
which is in perfect harmony
with nature and in accord
with the spirit of the
Buddha.
Zazen,
always surrounded by the
twin ideas of training
and enlightenment, is
in itself complete enlightenment
and the bodily posture
which reveals the fullest
manifestation of this
Original Enlightenment.
It is a religious exercise,
and yet at the same time
it is the state of Great
Enlightenment.
From Soto Zen,
The Very Reverend Keido Chisan Koho
Zenji
(Founder of Shasta Abbey)

Serene
Reflection Meditation
The practice of meditation,
(shikantaza, 'just simply
doing one's sitting'),
neither deliberately thinking
about anything nor deliberately
not thinking about anything,
is the foundation of this
religious practice: discovering
the Truth directly for
ourselves. This
tradition embodies understanding
of the fundamental Buddhist
teachings of karma, rebirth,
impermanence, no-self,
and Nirvana; the actualization
of Buddha Nature in everyday
life.
|
|
Now a lot of people know that meditation is an important part of Zen Buddhist practice, and they ask, “Why do you do meditation?”
"Why does Soto Zen (which is the form of Zen that I teach) meditate by sitting and looking at a wall?”
Well, it is one of the main ways that we have of looking inside us, of facing life and death squarely. Have you ever looked inside your own mind? In meditation, you sit and look at a physical wall, and after a bit you realize that you’re looking at it with “bricked-up spectacles”; because when you meditate, you’re really looking at what’s going on inside you, and there’s a lovely big “wall” in there which you’ve got to tear down, which you’ve got to do something about.
Because it is that wall, which you have created to protect yourself from life and death, that is actually the problem. It’s a problem because enlightenment is one and indivisible, so when you try to protect yourself from anything (and thus you separate yourself from it), you also separate yourself from enlightenment. And it is that separation from enlightenment which both perpetuates the fear of life and death and also causes you to sense that something is very wrong….So, that which brings a person to religion is fear of life when they are young and fear of death when they are older, and you need to know that both are really the same thing: both are the result of that inner wall that separates you from enlightenment.
From Roar of the Tigress,
Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett
|
 |
Daily cultivation
of meditation, the Precepts,
and wise discernment bring
us face to face with ourselves.
As training develops, faith
kindles and begins to illuminate ‘the
great darkness;’ compassion,
sometimes frozen and halting
at first, begins to thaw and
flow more easily.
The more willing
we are to see the koan of everyday
life arise, the easier it becomes
to recognize the natural arising
of Truth in our daily experience,
for the arising of the koan
and the appearance of Truth
are not separate from each
other.
Seeing the koan
and welcoming its arising is
to turn the stream of compassion
within, to wholeheartedly sit
still in the midst of conditions,
allowing those conditions to
come and go, as we neither
hold on to those conditions
nor push them away.
With the Precepts
as our guide for expression,
intention, and purpose,
we can simply look, acknowledge
that which arises, and relinquish
our grasping it as it passes
away.
This is the activity
of trusting oneself, trusting
one’s capability for
training and for Buddhahood.
For, in the very middle of
the self, right in the place
where thoughts and feelings
arise, the great expanse of
Buddha Nature waits and beckons
to us. When we are willing
to trust It, It will eagerly
embrace us and suffuse us with
Life.
From “Trust
in Buddha Nature” Journal
of the Order of Buddhist
Comtemplatives, Winter
1997, Rev. Master Eko
Little
History
of Serene Reflection or Soto
Zen Tradition
This tradition, known as Ts'ao-Tung
Ch'an in China and Soto Zen
in Japan, traces its history
back to the historical Buddha,
Shakyamuni. The master-disciple
lineage was carried by the
Indian monk Bodhidharma to
China in the 6th century C.E.
(Common Era) and spread widely
under the influence of the
Sixth Chinese Ancestor, Hui
Neng. The lineage was continued
on to Japan through the efforts
of the young Japanese monk
Eihei Dogen in the 13th century
and further developed by Keizan
Jokin a century later.
Although certain
external forms were adapted
to each culture as this branch
of Mahayana Buddhism moved
from India to China to Japan
and now to the West, the essence
of the Buddhist teaching remains
unchanged. The
Buddhist training at Shasta Abbey preserves both the teachings and the spirit of this enduring tradition while presenting them in a contemporary Western context.
|
 |