Fukan-zazengi | Part Three
Now, for zazen a quiet room is best. Eat and drink moderately. Let go of all associations, and put all affairs aside. Do not think of either good or evil. Do not be concerned with either right or wrong. Put aside the operation of your intellect, volition, and consciousness. Stop considering things with memory, imagination and contemplation. Do not seek to become Buddha. To be Buddha has nothing to do with the forms of sitting or lying down.
We open by setting the stage for comfortable sitting. Setting aside distractions, we place the endless lists of actions aside. Letting go of our judgments and our reason, we can see them for what they are. When memories and fantasies emerge, we let them pass without latching on to them. Realize that the entire practice is here - there is no need to look elsewhere for guidance. This is it.
Usually a thick zabuton is put on the floor where you sit, and a zafu placed on it. You may sit full lotus or half lotus. Your clothing should be loose but neat. Then put your right palm up on your left foot and your left palm up on your right palm. The tips of your thumbs should be lightly touching. Sit upright, leaning neither to the left nor right, neither forward nor backward. Your ears should be in line with your shoulders; your nose should be in line with your navel. Place your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Close your lips and jaw. Always keep your eyes open. Breathe quietly through your nose. After having regulated your posture, exhale completely and take a breath. Sway your body from left to right a few times. Sit stably in samadhi. Think of not-thinking.
Place yourself comfortably erect. Put everything in its place so it is stable and you can relax into your posture. Take a deep breath to open the chest and sit proudly and open. Sway to find your balance. Then sit.
How do you think of not-thinking? Beyond thinking. This is the essential way of zazen. The zazen which I am talking about is not step-by-step meditation. It is simply the dharma gate of peace and comfort. It is the practice-enlightenment of the ultimate Way. In doing zazen, the Koan manifests itself; it cannot be ensnared. When you grasp this, you are like a dragon with water, or a tiger in the mountains. You must know that true dharma manifests itself in zazen, and that dullness and distraction drop away.
We place our attention beyond the realm of discursive thought. We don't use our thinking to visualize a path to samadhi - we open directly to our essential nature when we sit and open to all while clinging to nothing. This is the greatest Koan of all - the koan of our life, of practice-enlighenment. Here we are the master of all realms, and the Truth is present beyond all labels or knowing. Manifesting freely, we are entirely present.
