Saturday, December 16, 2023

No Gaining Idea

What Yakusan demonstrated is also shikantaza, in which you have no gaining idea. You just sit. If you practice zazen to have complete calmness in your mind, then various problems you have become really obstacles, really a problem or disturbance. But when you have no gaining idea, then all the things which happen in your zazen will become Tenryu’s one finger. At that time, your zazen becomes so-called “painful zazen” [laughs].

from the booklet with the record set The Way of Eiheiji

cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the photo. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 68-10-12-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.