tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811962792112681912011-11-27T16:58:16.050-08:00Kyounnoreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-881196279211268191.post-54319103877393621592011-08-03T00:49:00.000-07:002011-08-03T00:52:28.320-07:00Today I did ~25 minutes of zazen in the morning.<br /><div><br /></div><div>It's amazing how just 20 minutes of sitting can be effective.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm already<i>&nbsp;doing what I should be doing.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>In the past month I stopped the sitting daily routine and I've been wasting time on every timewaster I could find.<br /><br />The way I sit is <b>shikantaza</b><i style="font-weight: bold;">&nbsp;- </i>just sitting. It's about having&nbsp;<a href="http://antaiji.dogen-zen.de/eng/adult39.shtml">the right posture&nbsp;</a>and just sitting, just being there.<br /><br />It has no specific instructions "what should one do with the mind". Dogen set out only this instruction as to what to do with the mind during <i>just-sitting:</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><blockquote><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-style: normal;"><i>Think of not-thinking. How do you think of not-thinking? Non-thinking. This in itself is the essential art of zazen.</i></span>&nbsp;</i></blockquote></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/881196279211268191-5431910387739362159?l=zazenjournal.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Kyounnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-881196279211268191.post-8399705837429885562011-08-01T02:24:00.000-07:002011-08-01T02:24:10.553-07:001) I have "studied" (for the lack of a humbler word) Buddhism for a year and a half. I have a background of philosophy at the University of Ljubljana (Slovenija; in the country the famous Slovanian philosopher Slavoj Žižek is from).<div><br /></div><div>2) I've always had problems with money. I don't have a car, and currently it's very hard for me to travel around and try to find a Zen / Buddhist teacher. However, I eventually <i>want to find a genuine teacher </i>in Korea or Japan (I somehow believe those two places might be the best for look for genuine teaching). I want to spend 1-3 years in a Japanese temple eventually.</div><div><br /></div><div>3) I think I have a decent understanding of what is meant by insight meditation and what is meant by concentration meditation. Although I have received no formal teaching, I have read volumes and listened to various teachers. I have a friend who trains Yoga who checked on my posture. I sit half-lotus. - When I sit, I will either focus on my breath and count breaths, or do <i>just sitting </i>(shikintaza). -&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>4) As I am aware that almost all literature stresses the importance of finding a teacher, there are also mentions of a possibility to attain awakening by yourself (it is said it can be done through extensive study on <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prat%C4%ABtyasamutp%C4%81da">dependent origination</a></i>). It's not my intention to be forever self-taught. This is, if anything, provisional. I think practice at home is still better than no practice. And by externalizing my efforts on a blog I hope to hear critiques and comments to help me and guide me on this path, at least until I find the means and decide to find formal training.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/881196279211268191-839970583742988556?l=zazenjournal.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Kyounnoreply@blogger.com8