Fukan-zazengi

The way of zazen recommended to everyone -- Part 2 --

Now, for zazen a quiet room is best.
Eat and drink moderately.
Let go of all associations, and pull all affairs aside.
Do not think of either good or evil.
Do not be concerned with either right or wrong.
Put aside the operation of your intellect, volition, and consciousness.
Stop considering things with memory, imagination and contemplation.
Do not seek to become Buddha.
To be Buddha has nothing to do with the forms of sitting or lying down.

Usually a thick zabuton is put on the floor where you sit, and a zafu placed on it.
You may sit full lotus or half lotus.
Your clothing should be loose but neat.
Then put your right palm up on your left foot and your left palm up on your right foot.
The tips of your thumbs should be lightly touching.
Sit upright, leaning neither to the left nor right, neither forward nor backward.
Your ears should be in line with your shoulders; your nose should be in line with your navel.
Place your tongue against the roof of your mouth.
Close your lips and jaw.
Always keep your eyes open.
Breathe quietly through your nose.
After having regulated your posture, exhale completely and take a breath.
Sway your body from left to right a few times.
Sit stably in samadhi.

Think of not-thinking.
How do you think of not-thinking?
Beyond thinking.
This is the essential way of zazen.

The zazen which I am talking about is not step by step meditation.
It is simply the dharma gate of peace and comfort.
It is the practice-enlightenment of the ultimate Way.
In doing zazen, the Koan manifests itself; it cannot be ensnared.

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