Styles of Zen

Kotishka

What I've learnt from not meditating and breaking precepts is that my life because muddy and the noise my mind generates indoors usually meets its counterpart outdoors.

Reacting, responding, demanding. How unfortunate. I have discovered a secret probably known to all of you, but I find worth sharing nevertheless...

True practice begins when you sit everyday, especially when you do not want to. Following precepts and some guidance is essential too of course. It helps a lot to avoid just sitting and thinking, feeding delusions. ¿"Gendo zen"?

" Gedo zen is an intoxication. It is like alcohol or drugs, transporting you out of your own experience and life into a temporary state of ease."

I really liked this excerpt from the book "Begin Here: Five Styles of Zen" by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi Zazen-ji (1989) where these styles are described.

I feel like most Western audiences would probably engage in Zen or Buddhism from the perspective of therapy or even taking it as a science of the mind (Bompu zen). Then perhaps it could advance to a deeper practice. By the way, bompu zen basically is to practice for your the sake of your well-being.

Maybe a taste of bompu zen is the way to go?

Jeroen

It seems to me that one should do what feels right. If you are presented with five styles of zen and your intuition guides you to one, just try it and see how it feels.

For me, meditation was like this. I tried vipassana, I tried shamatha, but in the end something simple like shikantaza, ‘just sitting’ felt better to me, or even Mooji’s instruction to just Be.

DagobahZen

@Jeroen said:
It seems to me that one should do what feels right. If you are presented with five styles of zen and your intuition guides you to one, just try it and see how it feels.

For me, meditation was like this. I tried vipassana, I tried shamatha, but in the end something simple like shikantaza, ‘just sitting’ felt better to me, or even Mooji’s instruction to just Be.

Shikantaza or Zazen work for me. 😀 It is great there are so many different methods to suit individuals.

how

With the 5 smells of Zen dropped,
just sit, with no deliberation of thought?
Here, a friendship with deathlessness beckons.

Kotishka

Inevitably, Zen reduces to that. Life or death.

What are you doing now exactly? Don't you see how important it is?

.. the mundane, the unnoticed..

Sitting down,
With an empty stomach,
I bow.

Kotishka

“Man must have dreams
Man must break dreams
Man must realize dreams”

Ejo Takata