Mike,
What is the insight gained into? Are there similar or different
insights gained with shikantaza?
--ED
--- In [email protected], mike brown <uerusuboyo@...> wrote:
>
Joe,
Thank you your kind words. I've found it a really worthwhile endeavour
to go back to the roots of Buddhism and as a result my Vipassana
practice has profoundly deepened my Zen practice. It gives me great joy
to read that such an established practioner of Zen appreciates the value
of samadhi and the jhana factors. I find my own nimitta samadhi sign
(the "little soybean") is a golden thread when my breathing becomes
subtle (Subtle to the point of the breath ceasing - or at least
perceived to have ceased). This takes me into the first two jhanas,
which enables me to sit for at least an hour in undistracted comfort (I
soon learnt that the bliss in the first jhana can become a distraction
until the bliss is let go of), then I am able to penetrate the arising
and passing of phenomena at an almost sub-atomic level. Again, it's the
insight gained- and not the jhanic state itself (Same with samadhi) -
that leads to liberation. I just wish I could convince my more orthodox
Zen friends of what the Buddha taught.
With Metta,
Mike
Mike,
Wow, wonderfully said. Good to hear such sense talked here.
Thank you, it is kind of you and very comforting to me that you speak so
sensibly and openly and descriptively about this. Not everyone can or is
willing to do so. So, it's a special pleasure, and I feel we are sangha
brothers.
I think, too, that samadhi practice after awakening is what allows the
open and empty state of awakening to persist. It becomes not a
quick-shot when we can -- and do -- support it, naturally.
"Dharma-Joy" sometimes so overwhelms a person after entering, that they
feel they can drop practice, or they feel that all their day is consumed
by -- or must be dedicated to -- helping others. Whereas... in fact...
we find that we ourselves need continuous practice, maybe of a different
pitch or tuning now, but continuous.
Else, our heart closes.
I think in 10 or 15 seconds, samadhi can come on. I used to find this in
New York City, even sitting on a park bench amidst traffic and joggers
along the park on Riverside Drive, near Columbia. Everything would go
golden yellow, and the soybean on the forehead would make itself felt,
even during these casual sits. There was a stillness even in the
movement going on all around. Absolute stillness, in motion.
Fortunately I had a strong physical practice diet of running, hatha
yoga, Zazen, and Buddhist Yoga (as taught by my shihfu, Sheng Yen, along
with his famous self-massage), as well as a rather light vegetarian diet
in those earliest days, and no nerve-wracking stimulants like coffee or
black tea. Two or three long Ch'an retreats per year, and a few weekend
sits in addition.
The physical practices and diet help one's relaxation enormously, and
the BODY really begins to "like" meditation. ;-)
Samadhi is the natural result. Sitting zazen half-lotus for hours this
way is so easy, and necessary (natural). We learn what Dogen meant, too,
in his saying that this zazen of ours is the true EXPRESSION of our
original nature.
I agree that the "just this!" phrase can seem overemphasized, to a
hearer. But the zen sect exists to offer the methods of practice for one
to adopt, in order to experience "just this!" in the strongest and most
unrelenting form... namely, our original form. It's the METHODS that
need the emphasis, via teachers and sanghas, and by us. The utterances
of the successful can encourage us, but ultimately our progress toward
becoming full what we are needs more than a mental reminder about "just
this".
Without practice, the "this!" of the "just this" is simply the perpetual
motion of the mind. Anyone thinking that that's the state in which to
appreciate our original nature has got another thing (or 10,000 of them)
coming.
It would be the sad loss of a life to be stuck there.
Lately, there's lots of talk about gold medals and ceremonies on the
podium, and that's a kind of "just this" that the successful Athletes
can point to: but, consider the practice and training that made that
appreciation and accomplishment possible!
That's where it's at. And all the while, practice is a "just this", too,
but a "just this" that gets you closer and closer to where you really
are. You know that I don't mean this to sound enigmatic! ;-)
Strong practice,
--Joe
> mike brown <uerusuboyo@...> wrote:
>
> Joe,
>
>
> I think that the ability to enter samadhi strengthens any insight
gained from kensho/satori. Without it, awakening is fleeting because any
insight is much weaker.
>
> Samadhi allows us to experience the mind in its pure state for
significant periods of time, rather than just mind-moments. This can
then give us a better idea of 'where to be' when outside events threaten
to over whelm us. I notice in western Zen that the older, more
Buddha-inspired, teachings are looked down on as unnecessary/superflous
and the 'Just This!' view is over-emphasized.
[snip]
