Shikantaza Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Shikantaza 只管打座 is literally translated as "only concentrated on doing sitting". More often it is called: "just sitting" or "silent illumination". It is the main meditation technique of the Soto school of Zen Buddhism. The "just" in "just sitting" has two connotations: Firstly, one should do nothing but the sitting. Secondly, one should sit in the right "mindful" way. The Shobogenzo, an ancient document by the zen master Eihei Dogen Zenji (1200-1253), is the most important description of shikantaza.
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2 Theoretical context 3 Literature 4 See also 5 External links |
Meditation method
Shikantaza is often referred to as the method of no method. While other forms of meditation often have quite clear instructions - such as focusing on the breathing process - shikantaza is held to make use of pure consciousness or mindfulness. The basic idea is that one has to transcend, go beyond, the thinking mind. While sitting one should not think about the sitting, but "really" sit, being one with the sitting. The moment one stops thinking about methods or other things, the correct way suddenly appears. From the viewpoint of Zen, thoughts are a fundamental problem. Most of the time we don't really do things, but rather think about them. That's why zen-masters often stress the point that enlightenment is to be found in things like dish-washing and going to the toilet.
There's a famous distinction by Dogen: not-thinking versus non-thinking. One could imagine what it would be like to be "without thoughts", yet a completely blank mind is absolutely not the goal of shikantaza. The thinking has to be transcended altogether. One needs to discover individually what lies behind all these thoughts.
This is an Article on Shikantaza. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Shikantaza Theoretical context
For an experienced practitioner Shikantaza is straightforward and simple. Yet, for a beginner this strange "method" is almost impossible to understand. It demands literature study (and/or teaching) and actual practice to understand it thoroughly. Its primary elucidation is in Dogen's Shobogenzo, which is an infamously difficult work of immense philosophical, linguistic, and hermeneutic complexity. He makes extensive use of paradoxical logic, subversive quotation strategies, imagery, and a rich literary education, and it is impossible to imagine someone without significant general education and specialized training in the Buddhist textual tradition could begin to access most of the work. Contemporary teaching is often relatively easy to understand, as well as a good introduction to the classic works. Nowadays, many zen-masters have a typical, very "down-to-earth" way of speaking about the practice. Also they try to explain the whole idea of meditation and the connection to this specific practice very lucidly.Literature
See also
External links