Attention is the way. When you pay attention in your zazen, you notice how easily you slip into attention to something else. Return to the original attention of your zazen. Then when you notice that something else has slipped into view, return again to your original attention. This is the process of zazen. Nothing else is important. So the Ancients could say, “Sitting is Zen, lying down is Zen.”
-RA
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Thanks Roshi that's exactly what I need to hear at the moment. Another one of my favourites, an oldie but a goodie is - ONLY 1, ONLY 2, ONLY 3 .....
ReplyDeleteDear Aitken Roshi,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this.
Gassho,
Ted
Who is the you whose attention wanders? This who is zazen. Once the who is clarified, where can the attention go? There is no where else than This! Thanks
ReplyDeleteDear Roshi,
ReplyDeleteSitting upright is an action in that it requires effort/attention for us to do it well (if we didn't do it well we might slouch, and if we didn't do it at all we would just slump down into a floppy heap!)
Lying down is not this sort of physical activity at all, it requires no such effort/attention as does sitting upright. Do you think that the Ancients suggest that, when we are not attending to an actual physical activity, we should attend to attention itself?
It seems that, in the absence of physical activity, there is nothing to do, but there may be things to not do.
Regards,
Harry.