Is sitting in a chair doing zazen? According to some Soto Zen experts it isn’t. If you are a paraplegic or quadriplegic in a wheelchair, tough break. You can never do zazen. But don’t be sad. Ask this question: “Did the Buddha mention anything about zazen, or mention that it only counts when a person sits in a full or half-lotus?” The answer is no.
Truth be told, the Buddha never mentioned anything about zazen. Sure, he mentioned dhyâna (P., jhâna), but it was never coupled with nishad/nisîdati (to sit, to dwell) which is rendered in Chinese, 坐. Zazen is a relatively new term in the long history of Buddhism the importance of which is overstated by Soto Zennists. According to Tang Dynasty Zen master Tsung-mi, rather than zazen, it is the one-practice samadhi that is transmitted down from Bodhidharma (Peter N. Gregory, editor, Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism, 120). Soto Zen has it all wrong. Zazen was not transmitted.
Soto Zen’s notion of zazen (tso-ch’an), with its strict emphasis on posture, fails to comport with the Sixth Patriarch’s Platform Sutra, chapter 19. For one thing, ‘sitting’ (坐) according the Sixth Patriarch, “means without any obstruction anywhere, outwardly and under all circumstance, not to activate thoughts” (trans. Yampolsky).
Soto Zen is a really a form of Buddhism for spiritually challenged beginners who have little or no grasp of the spiritual side of Buddhism; who are obsessed with the belief that sitting on a zafu turns one into a Buddha (which it doesn’t).
Mujaku, before I speak with Zoketsu about Brad Warner's blog, I'll peruse Brad's alt-porno site, Suicide Girls, along with some of the other odd stuff he's done and written, and then decide whether to spoil Norman's day with any references to Brad Warner.
The point you try to make in your post is a fair one; zazan is not buddhavacana. However, sitting meditation is, and to practice jhana, chan, zen means in part this sitting practice. For anyone to suggest that one with paralysis or physical limitations cannot sit or practice zazen is silly. No honorable Soto teacher would suggest this. With Metta.
Posted by: Misha | July 18, 2012 at 08:48 AM
Misha: When you see Norman tell him to check out Brad Warner's blog: Sitting In Chairs Is Not Zazen.
http://goo.gl/7sJVS
Posted by: The Zennist | July 18, 2012 at 08:25 AM
Wow. So much of your commentary has been very sound, but the above reads like you had a bad case of gas. I'll check with Norman Fischer about Soto Zen and its relationship with spirituality. He might disagree with you....
Posted by: Misha | July 17, 2012 at 08:49 PM