FromChapter 1: The Still Point of Zazen

Zazen is the heart of Zen practice. Historically, Zen monastics were known as the meditation monastics, and Buddhism itself originated in the zazen of Shakyamuni Buddha sitting and realizing the nature of reality under the bodhi tree. But the strong emphasis placed on meditation in Zen dates back to Bodhidharma, who was reputed to have sat nine years facing the wall in single-minded effort. All of the Zen lineages that are traced to Bodhidharma always maintained zazen as their primary focus and the basis of training.

Of course, there are other forms of Buddhism. There are schools that place emphasis on the study and comprehension of the sutras; others dedicate themselves to repeating the name of a buddha. There are forms of Buddhism that focus on liturgy or elaborate esoteric visualizations. In Zen, the emphasis is on zazen. Whether we are talking about Soto school or Rinzai school, whether we are dealing with koan introspection or silent illumination, the cornerstone of Zen is zazen.

It is amazing, however, how sparse is the information published about zazen, and generally how little is known about zazen even among those who supposedly practice it. When you survey the wealth of Zen Buddhist literature, there are volumes published on koans and koan study. There are extensive collections of sayings of great masters, but few historical documents talk specifically about zazen, and usually they are no more than a paragraph or two in length. Master Dogen is an exception to this. All of his teaching was based on zazen; in fact, he wrote one fascicle in his masterwork Shobogenzo devoted exclusively to the subject. Yet, we can say that everything that has been publisheed—all ninety-four chapters of the Shobogenzo, all the sutras and discourses of the Buddha, all the ancient teachings and the koans that have been handed down from generation to generation—is nothing but zazen.

The excerpt below comes from an introduction to zazen titled “The Still Point”:

From time immemorial, zazen has been the dwelling place of great sages. Wise ones and sages have all made zazen their own chambers, their own mind, their own body. And through these wise ones and sages, zazen has been actualized. However many great sages and wise ones we suppose have entered into zazen, ever since they have entered, no one has ever met a single one of them. There is only the actualization of the life of zazen. Not a single trace of their having entered remains. The countenance of zazen is completely different when we are in the world gazing off at zazen than when we are in zazen meeting zazen. Our consideration and understanding of the activity and the non-activity of zazen should not be the same as the dragon's understanding. Humans and devas reside in their own worlds. Other beings may have doubts about this, or again they may not. Therefore, without giving way to our surprise and doubt, we should study the words and activity of zazen with the buddhas and ancestors. Taking one view, there is activity, another time there is stillness. If our study is not like this, it is not the true zazen of the Tathagata.

We should clearly realize that zazen is not meditation, contemplation, visualization, or mindfulness. It is not to be found in the mudra, chakra, mantra, or koan. Neither in its stillness nor its functioning, its seated or its active form can zazen be said to be meditation. Zazen is not single-pointedness of mind, no mind, aware mind, or transcendental mind. It is not revealed in words or letters, and is only transmitted one-to-one, from buddha to buddha.

Master Dogen said, “Cease from the practice of intellectual understanding, pursuing words and following after speech, and learn the backwards step that turns your light inward to illuminate yourself. Body and mind of themselves will drop away and your original face will be manifested. If you want to attain suchness, you should practice suchness without delay. Cease all movements of the conscious mind, the gauging of all thoughts and views. Have no design on becoming a buddha. Zazen has nothing whatsoever to do with sitting or lying down. The zazen that I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the Dharma gate of repose and bliss—the practice-realization of total accumulated enlightenment. It is the manifestation of ultimate reality.”

Know that the world of zazen is far different from any other realm. At the precise moment of sitting zazen, examine whether time permeates the vertical and horizontal axes, and all of space. And consider the nature of zazen. Is it different from normal activity? Is it a highly vigorous state? Is it thinking or non-thinking? Action or non-action? Is zazen only the full lotus posture or does it exist in the body and the mind? Does it transcend body and mind? We must examine such various standpoints. The goal is to have a full lotus posture in a state where body and mind have fallen away.

The zazen of the mind is not the same as the zazen of the body, and vice versa. There is a zazen of shikantaza that differs from the zazen in which body and mind have fallen off. Once the body and mind drop off, we attain the comprehension and experience of the buddhas and ancestors. We must preserve this mind by thoroughly examining all aspects of zazen.

If we do not transmit zazen, we do not transmit the Buddhadharma. Here on this mountain, from the beginning, zazen has been an essential aspect of our practice. By seven-thirty in the evening on the day we formally arrived to begin our practice here, we began zazen, and it has continued to be our practice. During that first winter there were only six or seven of us sitting in a very cold building, but zazen never stopped for one moment. It is zazen that has created and maintained this sangha. It is zazen that moves out of this monastery to our affiliate groups across the country and across the ocean. It is zazen that unites all of the sanghas of the Buddhist practitioners throughout the world. Zazen is not only the basis of our practice and the process through which we realize ourselves, but realization itself. Zazen is enlightenment.

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