Shunryu Suzuki on Zazen

Shunryu Suzuki (鈴木 俊隆, 1904-1971)

Today I am sitting in Los Altos. Tomorrow morning I shall be in San Francisco. There is no connection between the "I" in Los Altos and the "I" in San Francisco. They are quite different beings. Here we have the freedom of existence. And there is no quality connecting you and me; when I say "you," there is no "I"; when I say "I ," there is no "you." You are independent, and I am independent; each exists in a different moment. But this does not mean we are quite different beings. We are actually one and the same being. We are the same, and yet different. It is very paradoxical, but actually it is so. Because we are independent beings, each one of us is a complete flashing into the vast phenomenal world. When I am sitting, there is no other person, but this does not mean I ignore you, I am completely one with every existence in the phenomenal world. So when I sit, you sit; everything sits with me. That is our zazen. When you sit, everything sits with you. And everything makes up the quality of your being. I am a part of you. I go into the quality of your being. So in this practice we have absolute liberation from everything else. If you understand this secret there is no difference between Zen practice and your everyday life. You can interpret everything as you wish.

A wonderful painting is the result of the feeling in your fingers. If you have the feeling of the thickness of the ink in your brush, the painting is already there before you paint. When you dip your brush into the ink you already know the result of your drawing, or else you cannot paint. So before you do something, "being" is there, the result is there. Even though you look as if you were sitting quietly, all your activity, past and present, is included; and the result of your sitting is also already there. You are not resting at all. All the activity is included within you. That is your being. So all results of your practice are included in your sitting. This is our practice, our zazen.

(The above is excerpted from ‘Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind’ by Shunryu Suzuki. A review of this incredible book can be found here.)

Buddha on Clear Comprehension

"O bhikkhus, a bhikkhu, in going forwards and in going backwards, is a person practicing clear comprehension; in looking straight on and in looking away from the front, is a person practicing clear comprehension; in bending and in stretching, is a person practicing clear comprehension; in wearing the shoulder-cloak, the (other two) robes and the bowl, is a person practicing clear comprehension; in regard to what is eaten, drunk, chewed and savored, is a person practicing clear comprehension; in defecating and in urinating, is a person practicing clear comprehension; in walking, in standing, in sitting, in sleeping, in waking, in speaking and in keeping silence, is a person practicing clear comprehension."
(Buddha, extracted from the Satipatthana Sutta)

*Notes: The satipatthana are the 'focuses of mindfulness,' a group of meditation & mindfulness practices found in ancient Buddhist texts; clear comprehension (sampajana) is a method to develop mindfulness through the day, during everyday activities; a bhikkhu is a Buddhist monk, and as monks are being addressed in this discourse, it is the word found here, but nuns & laypeople are also encouraged to practiced clear comprehension, and can benefit just as much from its use as monks.