Toolkit
Deeper Purpose
Shikan Taza
What
In Soto Zen Buddhist training in Western Japan, we learned a very simple (if not easy) approach to meditation. Just sitting or Shikan Taza is just such a practice. The practice is to find a comfortable, but dignified seating position. You can take the half or full lotus for maximum stability, or use the Burmese seated position (lazy pose) or use a chair, or bench if needed. The idea is to find the dynamic balance between trying and allowing, staying alert and being relaxed.
Why
The average person has about 48.6 thoughts per minute, according to the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at the University of Southern California. That adds up to a total of 70,000 thoughts per day. If our goal is to use the mind as a tool and not be used as a tool of the mind, we need to allow the discursive, analytical mind to settle in order for us to find the peace and stillness of pure awareness itself, freed of any content. I was the President of the University Zen Students Association at the University of Iowa in 1989-1990 and lived in Japan for four years working 1:1 with a Japenese Zen priest. Shikan Tasa was the first practice I learned in the Soto Zen school of Buddhism originating out Western Japan. This deceptively simple practice is a simple refuge from the “busyness” of our day and the endless chatter of the mind. Any attempt to intentionally quiet the mind was akin to washing blood off a stone with blood–it just makes the problem worse, the more you try.
How
Imagine a string from the top of the back of the head to the ceiling, holding the spine erect.
Allow the gaze to fall, a few feet in front of you on the floor, tucking the chin slightly.
The hands can rest on your lap or on your knees.
Allow your awareness to follow the natural rhythm of your breath. Sometimes it’s helpful to envision the air as it enters and exits the nostrils, but the main point here is to forget techniques. If the attention wanders, bring it gently back to the present moment. And Just sit.
by Montaia