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Treeleaf Zen

… Just Breathing … how do we breathe during Zazen meditation? Thisdiagram (kindly provided by a temple in Japan) might seem prettyobvious … but what more do you want to know about ‘just breathing’?

Most Buddhist Clergy in Japan marry. That may surprise some folks. Buddhist clerics marrying is very unusual in the rest of Asia.

Shikantaza ‘Just Sitting’ is profound ‘Non-seeking‘ … … to attain that which cannot be attained.

The Buddha, when really very sick and unable to sit in the Lotus Posture, “sat” like this … The subject came up today in our Forum … FORUM: SITTTING WITH CHRONIC PAIN What about sitting with chronic pain? What if you just cannot get into the Lotus Posture, the Burmese, or even sit on a…

Although we usually practice Zazen sitting quietly, facing a wall … … we can practice Zazen anywhere. It is not limited by time or place. Nor is it simply a matter of sitting cross legged, standing, reclining, floating in a pond or falling through the air. For anything, anywhere, anytime is Zazen if perceived as…

John from Australia, a Sangha member, asked if I would talk about “BIG MIND small mind” … … Hmmm.  That’s BIG!The same fellow suggested I put a “sit-a-long suggestion box” on our forum … TREELEAF SANGHA FORUM … for anyone who would like to request a theme for a sit-along talk! Good suggestion! I can’t…

DUE TO TECHNICAL REASONS, TODAY’S ZAZENKAI WAS PRE-RECORDED. OH WELL. Welcome to our Saturday “Live from Treeleaf” Zazen, We start with 3 floor prostrations (or deep Gassho), then chant the Heart Sutra in ENGLISH, then sit about 40 minutes of Zazen, then 10 minutes of Kinhin, closing with the chant of the “Verse of Atonement”…

. In Soto style, we ‘face the wall‘… we sit with our backbone slightly forward of the center of the Zafu,  … back straight, as if a tiny thread were running tothe ceiling through the crown of the head … give that thread a smalltug, ever so slightly, tostretch the neck and pull the chin…

I am about to break a cardinal rule of ‘Soto Zen’ (not the first time): However, I hereby officially state that I do not think that the ‘Lotus’ Postures (although ideal if you can) are necessarily the best postures for most beginners … I suggest the Burmese … … and for beginners, next the Half-Lotus…

It is a fundamental Buddhist teaching that “All Things Change” … Some of those changes can be in ways we want, some in ways we surely do not want. But Buddhists learn to be ‘Masters of Change’  … going with the flow of it all …   (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a…
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