Streets, Zen and bodybuilding 5
We want to do what Buddhas do: sit and shine into ourselves.
Preview: 6:00 a.m.: Does Roshi know the answer? / 6:04 am: How did I get in here? / 6:05 am: I can taste my hunger... / 6:09 a.m.: ...hunger for the attitude / 6:11 a.m.: This is how the Buddha sits / 6:14 am: Breath counting and bodybuilding / 6:19 am: »Find my mind« / 6:21 am: Zen at the adult education center / 6:24 am: We become Zen students / 6:30 am: We imagine the world well / 6:32 am: The monk / 6:37 am: Why doesn't the barbarian have a beard? / 6:40 am: We get up.
6.11 a.m.
Fifty Buddhas are sitting in the Zendo this morning. Fifty people modeled on the historical Buddha. The posture is older, dating back to prehistoric times, and the Buddha will have learned the posture from his yogic teachers. He, Shakyamuni Buddha, made it the embodiment of enlightenment.
Our model here in the zendo is the Roshi. He says: »The posture is suitable for calming the body and mind so that people can look deeply into their being and come to the same realization as Siddharta Gautama under the Bodhi tree: »All beings are perfect just as they are. Only their confused thinking and will prevent them from recognizing this...«
How is sitting supposed to lead to knowledge? I remember one of our teachers, Catherine Genno Pagès Roshi, showed us a large jar of water with earth dissolved in it. She shook the jar and the water became cloudy black and opaque with floating earth. She said: »In daily life, your thoughts are stirred up like the earth in this jar.« She placed the jar in front of her and sat in zazen. After a few minutes, she pointed to the jar: »The earth has settled to the bottom. You can see down to the bottom of the glass. The earth, the thoughts, are still there, but your vision is no longer clouded. This is zazen: your thoughts sink to the bottom and no longer obstruct the clear view of your true being, which is always there, like your shadow. This law is universal! It applies to Asian water and Asian mind, to American water and American mind, to European water and European mind. That is why we can teach the process, because water is water everywhere and spirit is spirit everywhere. You just have to sit and trust...«
Sit and trust. I secretly turn my eyes to Roshi again. Seeing his posture gives me strength and confidence. Especially during long sesshins, I need to look at his model.
How do you sit? In November 1243, the Zen patriarch Dogen Zenji described the technique of zazen to the monks of the Kippoji monastery in unsurpassably clear words:
The study of Zen means practicing zazen. To practise zazen, choose a quiet place that is not draughty or damp and use a thick mat.
The place for zazen should not be too dark, but should be kept moderately bright day and night. The place should be warm in winter and cool in summer.
When practicing zazen, use a small round cushion. Do not sit on the center of the cushion, but place the front part under your buttocks. Cross your legs and place them on the mat. The cushion should touch the base of your spine. This is the basic posture that has been passed down from Buddha to Buddha and from Patriarch to Patriarch.
Loosen your clothes and straighten up. Place your right hand under your left hand, then place your left hand on top of your right hand. The thumbs should be held straight and touch each other lightly. Both hands should be placed against your stomach. The tips of your thumbs should be at the level of your navel, which is the cosmic mudra. Remember to always keep your back upright. Do not lean to the right or left, forwards or backwards. Keep your ears in line with your shoulders. Your nose and navel should also be in line. Place your tongue on the upper palate of your mouth. Keep your lips and teeth closed and breathe through your nose. The eyes are open in their natural way. As you begin, tune your body and mind by taking a deep breath.
This is the sublime path of zazen. Zazen is not the means to enlightenment; zazen itself is the Buddha's accomplished action. Zazen is pure, natural enlightenment. [1]
In Genpo Roshi's zendo, it is permitted to practise zazen sitting on a chair. Some sit in the Japanese seiza position, on their knees with their legs crossed; others use the Burmese position with their legs crossed in front of each other. I sit like this myself and feel comfortable - even though I suspect that the full lotus position offers the most stable basis for zazen. But the full lotus position is a matter of years of dedicated practice, especially stretching exercises. Orthopaedists and physiotherapists advise: »Never go into the full lotus position for a long time if you have not mastered the full splits in all directions. Otherwise the insufficiently elastic muscles, ligaments and tendons will exert a pull on the knee joint and its components, which the knee will eventually give way to and respond with an injury. Then sitting on the floor is a thing of the past...«
Regardless of whether we sit on the chair or like the Buddha statue in the full lotus seat: it is hard enough to kneel motionless for hours in the seiza seat, or to remain on the chair without wobbling.
I look over at an old lady who sits with her round back tirelessly with the rest of us, slumped, hunched over - but proud and upright. The old lady brings tears to my eyes and I see in her that zazen is the »consummate action of Buddha, pure, natural enlightenment«. That's why I'm here, that's why I crept onto my pillow this morning, even if I'm in pain and often despondent: I want to do what Buddhas do: sit and shine into myself.
This article is part 5 of the series „Streets, Zen and bodybuilding“
- Streets, Zen and bodybuilding 1
- Streets, Zen and bodybuilding 2
- Streets, Zen and bodybuilding 3
- Streets, Zen and bodybuilding 4
- Streets, Zen and bodybuilding 5
