Zen Forms
Here is what the great Zen Master Dogen had to say about seated meditation in his famous text Fukanzazenki:
Cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words and following after speech, and learn the backward step that turns your light inwardly to illuminate your self.
Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your original face will be manifest. If you want to attain suchness, you should practice suchness without delay.
For zazen, a quiet room is suitable. Eat and drink moderately. Cast aside all involvements and cease all affairs. Do not think good or bad. Do not administer pros and cons. Cease all the movements of the conscious mind, the gauging of all thought and views. Have no designs on becoming a buddha.
Zazen has nothing whatever to do with sitting or lying down. At the site of your regular sitting, spread out thick matting and place a cushion above it. Sit either in the full-lotus or half-lotus position. In the full-lotus position, you first place your right foot on your left thigh and your left foot on your right thigh. In the half-lotus, you simply press your left foot against your right thigh.
You should have your robes and belt loosely bound and arranged in order. Then place your right hand on your left leg and your left palm (facing upward) on your right palm, thumb-tips touching.
Thus sit upright in correct bodily posture, neither inclining to the left nor to the right, neither leaning forward nor backward. Be sure your ears are on a plane with your shoulders and your nose in line with your navel.
Place your tongue against the front roof of your mouth, with teeth and lips both shut. Your eyes should always remain open, and you should breathe gently through your nose.
Once you have adjusted your posture, take a deep breath, inhale and exhale, rock your body right and left and settle into a steady, immovable sitting position.
Think of not-thinking. How do you think of not-thinking? Non-thinking. This in itself is the essential art of zazen.
The zazen I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the dharma-gate of repose and bliss, the practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment. It is the manifestation of ultimate reality. Traps and snares can never reach it. Once its heart is grasped, you are like a dragon gaining the water, like a tiger taking to the mountains.
For you must know that just there (in zazen) the right dharma is manifesting itself and that from the first dullness and distraction are struck aside.
When you arise from sitting, move slowly and quietly, calmly and deliberately. Do not rise suddenly or abruptly.
Let’s break this down step by step:
If you are sitting on a zafu (cushion) make sure your legs are in a comfortable position crossed in front of you and that you are sat close enough to the edge of the cushion so that your hips are pointing slightly down towards the floor, with your knees on the mat. If your knees are lifted up off the floor because your hips are tight you can put another zafu under one of both of your knees so you are supported. It is really important to be supported and comfy or the next half hour will be painful!
Put your hands in your lap with your thumbs very gently touching as if you are gently holding one sheet of light paper between your thumbs.
Once you are seated comfortably, rock forward and backwards, left and right a few times until you find a balance position where you are aligned with your shoulders over your hips. Let your shoulders drop down and feel like a string is gently pulling your head up from the crown of your head. Put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth and let go of tension in your neck and face but keep a bit of strength in your stomach to keep you upright and not slumped over.
Try to keep your head upright, eyes open and forwards and looking down slightly. It is recommended to have eyes half open and with a soft, relaxed gaze although it is tempting to just close them.
What to do in zazen is its whole own topic to be picked up in a different set of lessons. Different teachers will give different instructions ranging from following the feeling of the breath, to counting breaths, to, as Dogen suggests in Fukanzazenki, practicing shikantaza - just sitting - which is my preferred style. However, for the sake of this lesson on forms please observe the following no matter which style of meditation you are practicing.
When the bell rings that is the formal start of meditation. Generally one period of zazen is around 25 minutes. You should aim to keep as still as possible without fidgeting during this period. If you need to adjust your posture you can, and if your legs start to really hurt or your legs go to sleep you can come out of the formal posture and kind of hug your knees in front of you until the pain is gone and then go back to the formal posture. But try as much as possible to keep fully still and in posture until the bell rings again to end the period of meditation.
Depending what temple you are practicing in there may be various taiko drum beats and wooden han strikes. These are related to the overall rhythm of the temple telling monks that, for example, it is time to get ready for service. You do not need to do anything in response to these noises.
When the bell rings to signal the end of the meditation session what happens next depends on the temple and the day. Sometimes there is ‘kihin’ (walking meditation) and then the meditation session repeats, sometimes that is the end of the meditation session and a chant will begin. Sometimes there will be a 5 minute seated break between meditation sessions where people leave and enter the zendo. Just try to figure out what is going on and follow along. Regardless, when the bell rings to end the mediation session you can stretch out your legs, arms and back before whatever happens next.
