Most of what we have read or heard about sitting meditation has come from contemporary vehicles for Buddhism. This lovely piece, King of Samadhis, helps communicate the direct teaching of sitting meditation expounded hundreds of years ago to monks in Dogen’s assembly.

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Many of us are familiar with the first part of the Platform Sutra, recounting the story of Huineng’s life and how he obtained the robe and bowl after arriving at the monastery as a commoner.  

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All of us have been known to complicate our lives and our practice at times. We overthink problems, over-dwell on emotional states from time to time, and try to quantify where we are in practice. To simply sit without the complications, the trappings of practice, even something this simple, can be challenging for us.

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Time to return to the beginning with Spring/Fall around the corner.  Many of you have asked for more instruction on beginning meditation.

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Dogen speaks clearly about the mind that seeks the way and how to maintain the intensity of practice over time.  We couldn’t ask for a world of more distraction than the one we currently inhabit.

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There are always layers of understanding and misunderstanding in practice. It is similar to a snake shedding its skin; at one stage that is the only protection it has; then, at some point it is time to expand and let go of that empty skin that no longer serves.

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In the beginning, I was seeking that one essential point to connect with, to focus on, which would allow me a foundation that didn’t clutter up the mind with too many concepts or formulas, or rules.

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There’s room in practice for many kinds of students; at some stage in practice, we have been them all.  Everything is in a constant state of change, including us, and anything we think we understand about zazen is to be discarded to make room for even vaster insights.

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Death, the great equalizer, has a way of bringing life into a different kind of focus. Ikkyu’s skeletons share teachings from their point of view, which is accessible to those of us who remember we too will be those skeletons, and in fact carry them with us daily.

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Sometimes less is more. There is no technique discussed other than contemplating the mind. We might translate this into turning the light of awareness inward, or leave it open to experience and discovery.

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