ED/Bill, I think 'single-minded sitting' reflects accurately the meaning of shikantaza. Others are derivatives. Anthony
--- On Thu, 25/11/10, ED <seacrofter...@yahoo.com> wrote: From: ED <seacrofter...@yahoo.com> Subject: [Zen] Re: FW: Quote from St. Thomas Aquinas To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, 25 November, 2010, 9:52 AM Anthony, Both you and Bill are 'right'. --ED "Shikantaza is a Japanese term for zazen introduced by Rujing and associated most with the Soto school of Zen Buddhism, but which also is "the base of all Zen disciplines." According to Dôgen Zenji, shikantaza i.e. resting in a state of brightly alert attention that is free of thoughts, directed to no object, and attached to no particular content—is the highest or purest form of zazen, zazen as it was practiced by all the buddhas of the past. The modern Japanese Zen master, Hakuun Ryôko Yasutani says: "Shikantaza is the mind of someone facing death. Let us imagine that you are engaged in a duel of swordsmanship of the kind that used to take place in ancient Japan. As you face your opponent you are unceasingly watchful, set, ready. Were you to relax your vigilance even momentarily, you would be cut down instantly. A crowd gathers to see the fight. Since you are not blind you see them from the corner of your eye, and since you are not deaf you hear them. But not for an instant is your mind captured by these impressions." (Introductory Lectures on Zen Training, Kapleau) The term is believed to have been first used by Dôgen's teacher Tiantong Rujing, and it literally means, "nothing but (shikan) precisely (da) sitting (za)." In other words Dôgen means by this, "doing only zazen whole-heartedly" or "single-minded sitting." Shikantaza implies "just sitting", and according to author James Ishmael Ford, "Some trace the root of this word to the pronunciation of the Pâli vipassana, though this is far from certain." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikantaza --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Anthony Wu <wu...@...> wrote: > > Bill, > > As I already said, shikantaza denotes 'only sit'. The rest are derived > meanings. For you the derivative of shikantaza is clear mind. > Anthony
