Brian D. Buckley

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Seagulls dart and swoop.
Lone stone bearing everything,
weathered, unashamed.

Zazen is seated Zen meditation.

The idea is that you sit on a cushion, legs crossed in the lotus (or half lotus) position, hands together and thumbs touching in a mudra, and you let go of your thoughts. When thoughts arise, you don’t fight them, but you observe them and let them pass.

Sometimes there’s a specific thing to focus on, like your breath, or a koan. Other times, as in shikantaza zazen (which I practice), there is no focus – or rather, you focus without fixing on anything in particular. You generally do this for 20-30 minutes.

The idea is that if you do enough zazen, gradually you get to know yourself – which is another way of saying that you see the capital-T Truth, aka realization, awakening, or enlightenment.

I’ve been doing a lot of zazen lately.

I have a list of daily activities: chores around the house, Rosetta Stone, reading, writing, doing this blog, etc. But pretty much anytime I’m not doing one of those, I’m either sitting zazen or listening to a talk about Zen.

You might say I’m getting obsessed. Which is kind of funny, since Zen is partly about doing away with obsession. But part of the Eightfold Path is Right Effort, so I think it’s allowed.

Tomorrow I may head up to the Buddhist Temple of Toledo for their Wednesday service. If I do, I’ll let you know how it goes!

Anybody have any questions about meditation, zazen, or Buddhism generally? I’m far from being a teacher, but I’d be happy to answer the best I can.

A big part of my Zen training is learning to live in the moment.

Sometimes, the present can be pleasurable. If you’re eating a bowl of ice cream and someone tells you to be “in the moment,” you probably won’t have to fight very hard to get there.

Other times, the present is painful to one degree or another.

For instance, right now I don’t want to write a blog post. I don’t know why. Laziness, petulance, sheer human nature – whatever you want to call it. I feel like doing anything else.

Doing what you don’t want to do causes pain. Sometimes mild (like now), sometimes severe. In these cases, being in the moment is about confronting that pain head-on.

You don’t grit your teeth and force yourself to fight the pain. Rather, you take a deep breath, and you feel the pain as deeply as you can.

This isn’t masochism.

See, it turns out that when you feel your own pain deeply, it begins to heal. When you step into pain, you come one step closer to walking out the other side.

And what’s on the other side?

Serenity.

It’s not that simple, of course – nothing is. Sometimes the pain comes back over and over, and sometimes you just can’t stay in the moment. You look for escape. You cry, you scream, you rage. You say, to hell with Buddha and the whole deal.

But even then, it’s possible to come back to the moment, to live in a state of gentle awareness. Maybe not easy, but possible.

I’ve struggled a lot lately with being in the moment, but I think my practice is slowly improving.

Embrace the pleasure. Embrace the pain.

See? I feel better already.

Are you a lurker? Do you read the blog, but refrain from commenting? Are you comfortable in the shadows, partaking of bloggy goodness whilst shielding yourself from the harsh light of public exposure?

My lurking brethren, today I say unto thee: break thy shackles! Step forward into the light! Leave a comment and make yourself known!

If you don’t know what to say, why not answer me these questions three:

1. What is your name? (Doesn’t have to be your real name. Your Internet nickname is fine if you want.)

2. What is your quest? (Name a project you’re working on, either at work or in your spare time.)

3. What is your favorite color? (No, really.)

And that’s it! De-lurking complete!

Come on. You know you want to.

Visiting family. Should be back Friday or Monday.

Image source

Azure firmament,
salty sapphire sea below:
two, yet somehow one.