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
In the previous post, I started describing my method of walking meditation, I call it the Walking Zazen, and the first part was devoted to the case when you concentrate on your body. In this post, I'll explain how to do it when you're concentrating on the external world. Choose from this two types the one that currently more suitable for you: if you tired of working on the Animal, try doing what I'm going to describe below.
Do everything as you did working on the Animal: stand up straight and make sure your tandem is filled, ie, as if your ass were looking at the sun, but now a bit lower you head to see only 3 - 5 meters in front of you. Now begin to walk and imagine that it's the road is moving relative to you (towards you.) Maybe it'll be easier to imagine that you're rotating the earth with the legs. Don't try to get a perfect result immediately: this is a different, new point of view, and it'll take some time to adapt. Day by day, slowly raise your head to look ahead of you even farther and comprise new spaces in your field of vision. As you make every step, exhale by the Bamboo Method, as described in the Walking Zazen post.
It's great to rotate the earth with the legs and to feel that you're the centre of the universe*...
- By practising in this way, you'll reach enlightenment easily and naturally, so all questions about the search for spirituality will disappear by themselves.
- This practice naturally eliminates from your mind any authority that is outside so all chimeras and the fears associated with them will start to disappear though, unfortunately, not once but gradually, for several years, but it's only a matter of time before this understanding starts to pass on the subconscious level.
- You'll learn how to comprehend a situation instantly as a whole, and further I'll show that the very process of this can be described in quite banal terms.
There are two main types of zazen: you can concentrate on your body or on the external world; to reach enlightenment, you must learn how to do these two types as one at the same time. The trick is to have the right point of view: if you feel like an immovable centre relative to which you're moving everything around, you can be fully aware of your body and of the external world at the same time.
Sitting Zazen: Concentrating on the External World
All these techniques that were described on examples of walking meditation you can also apply to sitting zazen: there is no fundamental difference.
Sit down as it was mentioned in the Sitting Zazen 1 and Sitting Zazen 2 posts. Close your eyes lightly and look at the floor or at an object located at a distance of 1 - 5 meters in front of you; keep you eyes slightly open but without focusing too much. As you inhale, gather your strength; on an exhale, gently rock the floor with what you're resting it against (with the knees if you're sitting in seiza or lotus; with the feet if you're sitting on a chair). You don't even have to rock the floor literally but just to imply this to put yourself in the proper condition, that is, you should feel that your body is an immovable centre relative to which you're slightly rocking the floor and everything else with the whole earth from side to side (that's why it's so important to rest against the floor with the knees or feet.) If you do everything correctly, you'll feel the whole earth with all its sounds, note this, as a whole; don't cling your mind to each sound in particular, but try to control the whole situation around with what you're resting it against: with your knees or feet. Imagine that your mind is covering the whole earth from above like a shroud.
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* Actually, physicists claim that any point in the universe can be considered its center.
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
In the previous post, I started describing my method of walking meditation, I call it the Walking Zazen, and the first part was devoted to the case when you concentrate on your body. In this post, I'll explain how to do it when you're concentrating on the external world. Choose from this two types the one that currently more suitable for you: if you tired of working on the Animal, try doing what I'm going to describe below.
Do everything as you did working on the Animal: stand up straight and make sure your tandem is filled, ie, as if your ass were looking at the sun, but now a bit lower you head to see only 3 - 5 meters in front of you. Now begin to walk and imagine that it's the road is moving relative to you (towards you.) Maybe it'll be easier to imagine that you're rotating the earth with the legs. Don't try to get a perfect result immediately: this is a different, new point of view, and it'll take some time to adapt. Day by day, slowly raise your head to look ahead of you even farther and comprise new spaces in your field of vision. As you make every step, exhale by the Bamboo Method, as described in the Walking Zazen post.
It's great to rotate the earth with the legs and to feel that you're the centre of the universe*...
- By practising in this way, you'll reach enlightenment easily and naturally, so all questions about the search for spirituality will disappear by themselves.
- This practice naturally eliminates from your mind any authority that is outside so all chimeras and the fears associated with them will start to disappear though, unfortunately, not once but gradually, for several years, but it's only a matter of time before this understanding starts to pass on the subconscious level.
- When you begin rotating the earth, you naturally sever all your attachments and become totally free.
- The world will immediately become less tangible as if it were more transparent; in the future, you'll see all objects more voluminous like on a stereoscopic picture.
There are two main types of zazen: you can concentrate on your body or on the external world; to reach enlightenment, you must learn how to do these two types as one at the same time. The trick is to have the right point of view: if you feel like an immovable centre relative to which you're moving everything around, you can be fully aware of your body and of the external world at the same time.
Sitting Zazen: Concentrating on the External World
All these techniques that were described on examples of walking meditation you can also apply to sitting zazen: there is no fundamental difference.
Sit down as it was mentioned in the Sitting Zazen 1 and Sitting Zazen 2 posts. Close your eyes lightly and look at the floor or at an object located at a distance of 1 - 5 meters in front of you; keep you eyes slightly open but without focusing too much. As you inhale, gather your strength; on an exhale, gently rock the floor with what you're resting it against (with the knees if you're sitting in seiza or lotus; with the feet if you're sitting on a chair). You don't even have to rock the floor literally but just to imply this to put yourself in the proper condition, that is, you should feel that your body is an immovable centre relative to which you're slightly rocking the floor and everything else with the whole earth from side to side (that's why it's so important to rest against the floor with the knees or feet.) If you do everything correctly, you'll feel the whole earth with all its sounds, note this, as a whole; don't cling your mind to each sound in particular, but try to control the whole situation around with what you're resting it against: with your knees or feet. Imagine that your mind is covering the whole earth from above like a shroud.
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* Actually, physicists claim that any point in the universe can be considered its center.
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