Dhyana (P., jhâna) comes in different forms depending upon the religion. Mainly, dhyana or meditation (or contemplation) is concerned with helping us overcome the power of samsara. Through it we try to overcome mental confusion by concentrating on a single object which, ideally, if we are sitting, should be done for up to forty-eight minutes (it might take some practice to get up to this level).
In itself, dhyana is not gnosis but it can help us achieve it which in turn leads to liberation which is the direct beholding of the pure luminous Mind minus its defiling distortion waves. What I am trying to say is that we don’t automatically awaken to absolute Mind just by sitting in meditation. Dhyana is, however, very helpful.
In advanced dhyana we must first understand what the real target is. Perhaps oversimplified, it is looking for pure Mind in our ordinary, maculate minds (in the ten oxherding pictures of Zen it is picture number one, searching for the ox). This does take some concentration and a lot of patience! Such a Mind is there, but not in the way we imagine it to be which then becomes a positive hindrance. This Mind, I would add, is completely empty just like a jar or a cup would be called empty because it contains nothing except itself. To engage with such a Mind that is signless and empty is to realize what the term luminous (S., prabhâsvara) means.
Short of real dhyana, and for those who still want to pursue the joys they believe the world of samsara still has to offer, is Zen master Shunryu Suzuki’s rest room dhyana.
"In our everyday life, we eat many things, good and bad, fancy and simple, tasty and not so tasty. Later we need to go to the rest room. Similarly after filling our mind, we practice zazen. Otherwise our thinking will eventually become unhealthy. It is necessary for us to make our mind clear before we study something” (Not Always So, p. 43).
To carry Suzuki’s rest room dhyana or zazen one step further, while sitting on the toilet also practice zazen and visualize the defiled mind being evacuated along with last night’s pizza or hamburger. The pure Mind we might also envision as the clean water filling up the toilet bowl after we flush away the odious, defiled contents. What a delightful image!
Hi, why is 48mins the maximum time to sit in one go? Is it unhealthy, or hard to concentrate beyond that?
Posted by: James | November 23, 2010 at 01:22 PM