{"id":559,"date":"2009-01-09T10:03:47","date_gmt":"2009-01-09T10:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/treeleafzen\/2009\/01\/sit-a-long-with-jundo-zazen-fo-26.html"},"modified":"2009-01-09T10:03:47","modified_gmt":"2009-01-09T10:03:47","slug":"sit-a-long-with-jundo-zazen-fo-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/treeleafzen\/2009\/01\/sit-a-long-with-jundo-zazen-fo-26.html","title":{"rendered":"Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We’re All Beginners) V"},"content":{"rendered":"

We continue our series on “How To” Zazen …<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

… <\/i>and how to handle thoughts that appear during Zazen.<\/i><\/p>\n
I often used the analogy of clouds (of thought) drifting in and out of a clear, blue spacious sky (a mind open and clear of thoughts).<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Our mind in Zazen<\/span>
\nmay be compared to the sky … We are open, clear, spacious, boundless,
\nlike the clear blue sky … Our attention is focused on everything and
\nnothing in particular, just as the sky covers all the world without discrimination
\n… Thoughts, like clouds, often come and go.<\/p>\n

Clouds drift in and
\nout, that is natural. However, we bring our attention again and again<\/i>
\n(10,000 times and 10,000 times again) to the open, blue sky between, allowing the clouds of thought to drift
\naway. More clouds will come, and so we repeat the process endlessly,
\nonce more and once more bringing our attention back to the blue sky …
\nto the open spaces between thoughts. <\/div>\n

However, this is important to bear in mind:<\/p>\n

We do not try to “silence the thoughts forcefully<\/i>” in
\nSkikantaza<\/i>. It is more that we allow the thoughts that naturally drift
\ninto mind to naturally drift out of mind, much as clouds<\/span> naturally drift in and out of a clear blue sky. In this way, return again and again to the open, clear blue sky.Although
\nwe seek to appreciate the blue, open sky between the clouds, we do not
\nresist the clouds of thought that drift through our mind. We are not
\ndisturbed by them, we do not actively chase them out, neither do we
\nwelcome them, focus on them, play with them or stir them up. We allow
\nthem to pass, and return our focus once more to the quiet blue<\/u>. Again
\nand again<\/i>.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

As in the real
\nsky, both blue expanse and clouds are at home there. We should reject
\nneither<\/i>, not think the blue somehow “truer” than the clouds. In fact,
\nsome days will be very cloudy, some days totally blue … both <\/span>are fine. We never say “this cloudy day is not good because there is no blue sky today<\/span>“.
\nWhen the sky is blue and empty, let it be so. When the sky is cloudy,
\nour mind filled with thoughts, let it be so. You see, even when hidden
\nby clouds, the blue is there all along. Both the blue sky and the
\nclouds are the sky … do not seek to break up the sky<\/b><\/i> by rejecting any
\npart of it. (In other words, do not think one good<\/span> and the other bad<\/span>).
\nWE DO NOT SEEK TO BREAK UP OR RESIST ANY PART OF THE SKY, CLOUDS<\/span> OR BLUE … It is all the unbroken sky. Though we reject neither, we allow the clouds to drift from mind and
\nreturn our attention again and again to the blue. Throughout, we are
\nawake, aware and alert, conscious and present … we are not in some
\nmysterious or extreme state.<\/div>\n

The clouds of thought and the
\nclear blue are not two, are simultaneously functioning and whole … a
\nsingle sky. This is our way in ‘Just Sitting’ Shikantaza Zazen. <\/span>When you see the clouds, be as if you are thereby seeing the clouds as blue. When you see the blue, you may also see the blue as clouds.<\/p>\n

Master Dogen called that ‘thinking not thinking<\/span>‘ or ‘non-thinking’ …<\/span><\/p>\n

\"blueskybuddha.jpg\"<\/span>Click HERE  to Play Today’s TALK & SITTING  VIDEO<\/a>
(SITTING TIME: Approx. 30 Minutes)<\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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

We continue our series on “How To” Zazen … … and how to handle thoughts that appear during Zazen. I often used the analogy of clouds (of thought) drifting in and out of a clear, blue spacious sky (a mind open and clear of thoughts). Our mind in Zazen may be compared to the sky…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guided-meditation","category-meditation-techniques","category-zen-buddhist-meditation"],"yoast_head":"\nSit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) V - Treeleaf Zen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/treeleafzen\/2009\/01\/sit-a-long-with-jundo-zazen-fo-26.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) V - Treeleaf Zen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We continue our series on “How To” Zazen … … and how to handle thoughts that appear during Zazen. I often used the analogy of clouds (of thought) drifting in and out of a clear, blue spacious sky (a mind open and clear of thoughts). Our mind in Zazen may be compared to the sky…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/treeleafzen\/2009\/01\/sit-a-long-with-jundo-zazen-fo-26.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Treeleaf Zen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-01-09T10:03:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/treeleafzen\/files\/import\/blueskybuddha.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jundo Cohen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) V - Treeleaf Zen","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/treeleafzen\/2009\/01\/sit-a-long-with-jundo-zazen-fo-26.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) V - Treeleaf Zen","og_description":"We continue our series on “How To” Zazen … … and how to handle thoughts that appear during Zazen. 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