Understanding

Maybe doing zazen, you have an unpleasant feeling if other people are next to you. In that case, you should understand why this is so: it might be not your fault. In other words, you should understand who those people are (in which way and why they influence you), and for this you should deny them, that is, just continue to do zazen. If you do everything right, then as a result, you'll have the feeling that they are your particular case, or, more precisely, that the whole situation around is your particular case, unless a thought occurs to you, which means you've failed to comprehend the situation.

A Funny Koan

There is a simple method to achieve a state in which you feel yourself and the object you're watching as one; and to do this correctly means that you should fully realize the object: ie, this practice is not about just turning off the left hemisphere. 

Working on Mu

One of the few books about Zen that I recommend you is Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy by Katsuki Sekida, and I once already referred to the chapter 'Working on Mu', now you can reread it.

What is Mu? This is the first koan, and Sekida gives the answer: '"Mu" means "nothing"'. And he is right: there is no point to hide the answer since you have to prove your competence only to yourself; and the answer, I believe, should be even more specific because Mu is the basis on which the further practice is built.

Physical Exercise Can Be as Effective as Zazen

Properly performed, physical exercise give the same effect as walking meditation, and for this, you should feel like an immovable centre relative to which you're moving everything around.

;-)

Let's Die! :-)

Your goal is to see things as they really are - you'll solve all your problems by doing this.

There is an archetype, or let's say a point of view within, that if you look from it, you perceive reality correctly (and even become identical to it). It can be either the point Seika no Itten or the Opposite Point (on the spine exactly at this level of Seika no Itten.) Which of these two points it's better to choose depends on which one it's easier for you to find at the moment. From either of these points you can evaluate what's happening around.

Over time, you naturally come to the understanding that this new viewpoint is not compatible with your former immature self must die: this is an obligatory part of Zen practice, and as I understand, through this go even those who work with koans.

This technique will enable you to see the world as if for the first time without any emotional coloring. When doing the walking zazen, imagine that you're dead, and it's your spirit is travelling unnoticed (this exercise makes sense only if you feel like an immovable centre relative to which you're moving everything around with the legs.) How does everything around you look now? As for me, having a neurosis, I was glad to get rid of my former self; I really loved being dead! This is a curious experience, which some even confuse with enlightenment. Enlightenment comes later: having gone through all this, you should finally resurrect but in a new quality.

At this stage, try to live just by reason, not intuition; try to see the world as if you saw it for the first time; try to see people only as some amount of flesh and bones.

What Should Be the Result of the Correct Practice?

This is my comment on the article see the link below. It's worth it to comment since that path of reductionism that some Buddhists practise is inherently flawed and leads to delusions. The same practice - being in the present moment - if performed incorrectly, can lead to the opposite result.

Our entire lives are nothing but a chain of moments in which we perceive one sight, taste, smell, touch, sound, feeling, or thought after another. Outside of this process, nothing else happens.

Such reductionism means that the author lost the sense of integrity of the situation - to what enlightenment could this possibly refer? Enlightenment is an understanding of a situation in its entirety, so the path of reductionism is inherently flawed. First, it's not correct to say that when it comes to Zen mind, you perceive just the object you're looking at: you perceive the whole situation at once. Secondly, the same applies to the perception of time: it's true that understanding can only be achieved through the present moment (this is so because we understand by denying, which is a pure sensation of the present moment), but understanding is in fact grasping a situation in its past, present and future at the same time.

There is no place for understanding in the author's scheme. Liberation is the result of the final understanding: as soon as you recognize yourself (the universe recognizes itself), the world doesn't scare you anymore.

Nothingness V.S. Emptiness

This is my comment on the article see the link below.

I doubt that for the author awareness is equivalent to understanding. Let me recall that when concentrating on the external world, you should also be fully aware of your body (see Zen Training : Methods and Philosophy by Katsuki Sekida.) Otherwise, no special skills are required, if you lose the feeling of your body while focusing on something. And you can really be aware of your body only by denying the outer world: the context (zazen in fact is a total denial of everything.) That's why spiritual practices have always attached great importance to such challenges as dousing with cold water, for example. Otherwise, you can easily concentrate on a sexual object and by doing this dissolve your self - to what elimination of dualism could this possibly refer?

At this stage, try to live just by reason, not intuition...

At this stage, try to live just by reason, not intuition. Try to see the world as if you saw it for the first time. At the beginning, try to see people only as some amount of flesh and bones.

Looking from the Darkness behind You

There is another trick for beginners: sometimes instead of focusing on the point Seika no Itten or on the Animal, you may find it's easier to concentrate on your back, which will enable you to feel the whole body. That is, you can concentrate on your back and as a result be aware of the whole body.

This works especially well if you're doing the walking zazen: try to see the world from your back (from shoulder level to the tailbone) through the eye sockets - ie, try to see from the darkness behind you while pulling the road towards you with the legs. Remember, you can be fully aware of your body and of the outer world at the same time if and only if you feel like an immovable centre relative to which you move everything around (with the legs, for example.) Over time, in this way you'll learn to think with your body.

You Have to Get Used to This New Way of Looking at the World

So, you don't just walk but rotate the earth with the legs - now you perceive the world in a different way. This is a different, new point of view, and you have to get used to it. Do this exercise: as you start to rotate the earth, imagine that you're pursuing someone or being pursued - now the situation looks completely different for you, not like as if you walked like all 'normal' people (and I prefer to do this type of meditation in a deserted place.) Now you're changing the situation with the legs - try to figure out what I mean.

You have to get used to this new way of looking at the world. Accustomed, you'll learn to grasp the situation as a whole.

Common Mistakes in Zen Practice

This is my comment on the article see the link below.

There is always the temptation to accept bliss as truth along with other mistakes that can interfere with our practice.

First of all, as I understand, only some know how to apply the experience of sitting meditation to the realities of everyday life, ie, when the body is in motion. In addition, doing just sitting meditation and focusing on the tandem, you can easily make mistakes in what you've found (the very sensation in the tanden) and accepted as truth. So it makes sense to be more precise and to focus specifically on the point Seika-no-Itten located in the lower abdomen below the navel at a distance of the thickness of three of your fingers: index, middle, and ring (although if you know how to do zazen properly, you can concentrate even on the palm, for example.)

There are also several traditional annoying inaccuracies that arise when Buddhists try to convey their experience to others. One of them is the advice not to separate yourself and the object (situation) you're watching. In principle, it's true but not so simple. For instance, you can easily merge with a sexual object or dissolve your self while being in a stadium or a rock concert.

:-)

Summarizing My Experience of Depression

Summarizing my experience of depression: if you feel depressed, in the end you still feel better, and only then you can change something. But if you already feel good, is it necessary to change anything then? And if yes, in what way?

:-)

The Walking Zazen: The Main Trick - Concentrating on the Outer World

 See also The Walking Zazen


It was the summer of 1995 in Sofia; it was already evening, and I was exhausted after spending the whole day in search of new clients. So I found a deserted place near an abandoned railway, right next to the Danone factory, and started to try to freshen myself up.

I began to walk along the rail, training balance, but since I did this unprofessional, looking at the rail about a meter in front of me, I could also see my legs. In this way I was walking for 20 or 30 minutes when I suddenly noticed an interesting thing: I already felt that it wasn't me moving on a immovable rail, but now the rail was moving toward me, ie, for me, I was immovable while the earth was moving relative to me. 'Actually, that's the correct perception of the world,' I said to myself. Thereafter, I knowingly started training this feeling, and I was right.

The Main Trick

The Walking Zazen

I start describing my zazen method that I call the Walking Zazen (although it's not a trademark.) I'll also give you some exercises from which you can select the one that suits you best at the moment. In fact, I didn't invent anything new: it's just an easier way to achieve what Zen followers have traditionally achieved by doing sitting zazen. Someday, in the long run, I hope to please you with some new or even scandalous ideas, but this won't probably happen until next year.

The Walking Zazen: Sync Steps and Breathing

Synchronization of Body Movements with Breathing

This is also called synchronization of mind and body. Stand up straight and imagine that you're holding an imaginary scythe; imagine you're mowing grass with it. As you inhale, decide what to do (to make a stroke with the scythe); on an exhale, realize your decision: make this stroke.

This is the general principle: the most strong punch, for example, you can make on an exhale, so when you do squats or push-ups, inhale as you go down and exhale as you go up. But there is an exception: for the highest or longest jump, do it on an inhale.

When sweeping the floor, for instance, decide what to do on an inhale - to make several, 4 or 5, strokes with the broom - and as you exhale by the Bamboo Method, do this strokes. This is a sort of zazen: a good way to concentrate and a training for other exercises I'm going to describe further.

PS I don't encourage you to synchronize breathing with body movements throughout all your everyday life; as for me, I do it only when I'm on my own. 

The Bamboo Method of Exhalation

I usually use the Bamboo Method of Exhalation when I do sitting or walking zazen. You can read more about it here (page 71). If you're a beginner, then skip about Mu: 'The method is to say, in one breath, with intermittent or wavelike exhalation. We hit upon the name "bamboo method" for this type of exhalation, for just as a bamboo trunk has successive joints or nodes, so exhalation is stopped now... and then for a little while, giving short pauses...' That's all you need to know if you're a beginner.

I usually exhale through pursed lips to create tension in the tanden.

Sitting Zazen 2

If you do zazen the only way I described in the Sitting Zazen post, your enthusiasm most likely will be weakened soon: your interest will be weakened - that's why the practice should be as diverse as possible.

Every day you solve different internal problems, so the topics of your internal dialogue also constantly change: what you were worrying about, yesterday - certain memories, etc. - is no longer relevant today (the reasons may be different including the influence of the media, for example.) In other words, every day your unconscious manifests itself in different ways, ie, its interaction with your conscious constantly changes. As a result, every day we do zazen in different ways - zazen that we did yesterday wasn't like today's - so to insist on doing a certain type of exercise if you've already lost interest in them is just silly.

There are two main types of zazen: (1) you can concentrate on your body (on your tanden, palm, etc), (2) you can concentrate on some external object. How to do the former type I described in the Sitting Zazen post; now I' going to describe the later.

Sit in any posture as described but now put in front of you on the floor some object: a candle, tennis shoe, water bottle, etc, unless you want to stare at the floor - at a distance of one to five meters. Some prefer staring at the wall, but I don't like that. The main thing is the object must not be above the level of your eyes: it's on the same level or below (when I lived in Bulgaria, I used to meditate in the mountains at night while looking down at the glowing Sofia.) I keep the eyes slightly open without focusing too much on the object.

About the hands: I usually pinch and hold with my right hand the point Seika no Itten (below the navel at a distance of the thickness of three of your fingers: index, middle, and ring) with my left hand on top.

Otherwise, there is a classic mudra.
So, if you're tired of focusing on your body, try concentrating on an external object. It's up to you what to choose since what you need at the moment you know better than anyone else (any teacher.)

Zen Shout

:-)

About Me

When I turned 26, in 1991, I was careless enough to attract the attention of a Christian sect. As a result, I lost everything.

Sitting Zazen 1

How to keep your body when during zazen, see here.

Lotus Position
Lotus Position is good but not required. For it, you need to use a pillow (zafu), as shown here.

What's so special about Lotus? If sitting on a chair, for example, you put one foot on the opposite thigh, it'll be an ambitious position; if you do the same with the other foot, it'll be super-ambitious so Lotus is a super-ambitious position.

Seiza
You can also sit in the seiza posture. If you find it's difficult, you can use a pillow, as shown here.


Sitting on a Chair
You can just sit on a chair, as shown here.


When You Do Zazen, Two Things Are Very Important...

(1) Your knees (or feet, if you're sitting on a chair) must be in firm contact with the floor; why it's important will become clear later when I'll describe how to do the walking zazen (my zazen method that I practice.)

(2) As they say here,
'The position of your torso is also very important, especially the position of the fifth lumbar vertebra; keeping it in the correct position will enable the spine to be curved correctly. The belly should be without tension, and you should remain stable. My master used to say that the curving should be such that it is like the ass is looking at the sun.'
In other words, your tandem should be filled; here're some photos as illustrations: http://the-1.ru/…/v-yalte-vyberut-korolevu-belly-dance_1.jp…
http://www.japan-sumo.ru/AKI2007/1kayo.jpg
http://abzac.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/201-192x300.jpg

I don't know who you look like, as for me, I'm somewhere in the middle :-D

Then you need to focus on your breathing. There are different opinions on how to breathe during zazen, I recommend breathing by the bamboo method. Even better if you control at the same time the Point Seika no itten (you can pinch and hold it with the fingers) in the lower abdomen.

If you have any difficulties when doing sitting zazen, start with the walking zazen, and only then move to sitting meditation.

A Reminder

I remind you that the One Point (Seika no itten) located in the lower abdomen below the navel at a distance of the thickness of three of your fingers: index, middle, and ring.

A Question

Zen practitioners know that self is just a total denial. They also know that every negation eventually turns into affirmation. What is this affirmation then?

When I started to practice Zen, I had problems with sitting meditation due to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that I had

When I started to practice Zen, it was difficult for me to concentrate sitting in a static body posture due to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that I had. Then I found these books by Koichi Tohei: Ki in Daily Life; The Book of Ki, How to Unify Ki.

In a nutshell, he has four basic principles of unification of mind and body:
1. Keep One Point it's about 2-4 inches below the navel (although if he know physics, he would 've known that every point of space can really be considered as a center of the univ…erse because of its geometry)
2. Relax Completely
3. Keep weight underside
4. Extend Ki

You can even find something on the internet if you google up "koichi tohei one point", for example. I've just found:
[PDF]Ki Breathing by Koichi Tohei Sensei
http://www.wheatbeltaikido.com/DojoDocuments/KiBreathing.pdf

But having neurosis, I wasn't always able to find and keep the One Point; therefore, I had to invent my own method.