Will sitting make me a Buddha?

 Doing zazen (lit., sit down meditation) will not open the door to enlightenment.  Only mind can do that.  In fact, zazen is almost counterproductive since enlightenment is independent of whatever condition the body is in, sitting or standing.  This perhaps explains why Zen master Ma-tsu said that “Not cultivation and not sitting is the Tathagata's pure meditation.”

The heavy emphasis on zazen can be attributed to Zen master Hung-chih who established the teaching of ‘silent illumination’ which Dogen brought back to Japan in 1227.  Dogen named his brand of silent illumination, shikantaza, meaning “just sitting.”  Incidentally, the method of silent illumination was opposed by Zen master Ta-hui who popularized the kung-an (J., koan).  

One of the early accounts of zazen is given by Zen master Tsung-mi.  However, it is clear that zazen doesn't stand alone as in just sitting.  During the ordination ceremony, which Tsung-mi describes, the ordinands are ordered to sit in zazen and practice mindfulness of breathing in and out (P., anapanasati) in which mindfulness (sati) is established completely before (parimukha) or prior to the in and out breath.  The point of this practice is to distinguish between the non-breathing absolute and the temporal body of birth and death.

Enlightenment goes quite beyond physical practices (and even the breath).  It is certainly true that if you sit all day in a Dharma center or a Zen temple you will eventually master sitting—but not enlightenment.  With enough practice, you might become an accomplished sitter like Ram Bahadur Bomjon, more popularly known as “Buddha Boy” whose ability to sit is astonishing, which is not overstating his ability.

While there are benefits to zazen or even the practice of hatha yoga, the benefits don’t disclose ultimate reality.  But both zazen and yoga can help us cope with the stresses of the everyday world.  Sitting still in a quiet place recharges our batteries so to speak.  When I used to sit in zazen in an abandoned mine on my ranch (especially during the summer when it was hot outside), it seemed like more of me calmed down as compared with doing zazen in a group.  It was as if my body became the surroundings—in this case a dark, quiet, cool mine.

Especially in modern Western Zen, there is still the belief, although for the most part unstated, that zazen and shikantaza are sufficient unto themselves to get us to yonder shore of nirvana.  But if this were actually the case, then every time a person did zazen, the Lankavatara or the Avatamsaka Sutra would become clearer.  Every Sutra would eventually make perfect sense. But this is not the case.  The most important part of Buddhism for the beginner and the experienced practitioner is studying what the Buddha said; who is trying to explain to us how to see ultimate reality which is beyond birth and death.

Comments

[Anonymous]

FYI

I took the liberty of making the comment below on Nathan's blog [Dangerous Harvest] post about your post. Here's my comment:

He's
-all hat no cattle
-lots of opinions no workable examples
-my way or the highway

Did he ever
-make lunch for a hungry child?
-fly an airplane?
-cause something to work well?
-prepare a meal for a sangha
-get his hands dirty in the garden of desire

Nah.

See any thing he loves about his life that lives off the computer screen?

What?

-----
I'm happy to dialog there or personally if you like

[Chong Go Sunim]

If sitting made one a Buddha, every truck driver would be a Bodhisattva, and everyone in a wheelchair would be a Buddha.

It's the mind that has to sit. While sitting meditation can be useful to keep one from getting distracted, sometimes I think it's a bit like banging your head against the wall so that you can learn to deal with pain. There's enough stuff in our daily lives to work with.

[Wheres Waldo]

Sitting does make you a buddha, cause my buddy died last year, and I had his body taxidermy posed and stuffed in the lotus position, ..........and sheeyat Ill be damned last week, that stuffed mofo started to levitate and glow bright orange, and a nimbus round his noggin, and he vanished POOF, all was left was some sparklin fairy dust.

So I call bullocks on yer article, beeyatch.