This evening, I’d like to share my inextinguishable admiration for all the knights of the Sitting Practice,
those who sit down through racing hearts,
Those whose storms of thoughts have caused their zafus to capsize a thousand,
These captains of the unspeakable, who sail on the ocean of their being,
Who decide, without apparent reason, to jump into the water and follow the call from the depths.
These brave people are who you are, they are what I am,
The day covers them with the same veil of insignificance.
When they meet, however, their eyes encounter in a different way,
They pay homage to each other in the silence of a smile invisible to all.
At night, while riding the cushion, they come together across space and greet each other through time.
They have in their hearts the smoldering seal of the authentic, unpredictable quest.
Through awakened nights, they dig every time a few inches deeper,
In the piercing sun of their heart, they illuminate the sadness of the days
and scour the cataracts of boredom.
The varnish of the world crack under the repeated blows of their attention blade,
Their courage is boundless,
Homage to them,
They map the reliefs of the soul, again and again,
They pierce planets and ignite comets,
They project to all directions of the universe
A gaze of tenderness.
Notes & Silence 
« The sitting practice »…
How does that differ from a walking practice? A lying down practice? A standing still and gazing at the wind practice? An absently sipping coffee practice?
There are more warriors of the void than your terminology suggests. Their shield is perception, and their sword is silence.
J’aimeAimé par 1 personne
I guess it doesn’t.
Mindfulness is a cross-practice.
Still, there is a difference, if we consider the potential energy that can be unleashed.
Or, the potential of energy liberation.
There is something to it : the posture.
There is a reason people have been sitting this way for thousands of years.
I see it as an equation looking very complicated and reserved for well versed mathematicians.
For ages, no one dared to touch this equation lest they ruin the formula and make it inefficient.
Until one day a scientist went rogue comes along and starts cancelling out terms and leaves it as something very simple and much closer to a natural expression of the underlying mathematical reality it pointed to initially.
This is how I see this just sitting practice.
Why sitting is better ?
I think that you can grow a plant in a pot, in a bowl water, by sprinkling droplets on it every hour,
you can grow it thousands of ways,
Still, at the end of the day, a patch of soil in the garden is how a plant is supposed to be grown.
I’m sorry, I don’t know if this can but approach any element of answer to your comment.
I’m running short of inspiration this morning.
(which is a sure sign I should sit longer –instead of running short)
I’m pretty sure that if I come back to this argument of higher relevance for sitting in a few hours,
I’d say that eventually, it all boils down to just being there, whatever the position…But at this precise moment, I see it differently.)
Have a very nice Sunday, Simon…
Thanks for checking in so often.
J’aimeAimé par 1 personne
I’m never sure what « energy » means in this sort of context. Nor am I sure that any one approach will have a similar « across the board » result.
Whilst I can and do « just sit », I very much doubt it involves any physical posture or practice that would find approval amongst orthodox meditators (whatever they may be). « Be comfortable » is my only criterion. And I am more likely to muse whilst walking or sipping my coffee. Not so much lying down, due to the tendency to fall asleep…!
I look forward to the fruits of your greater inspiration.
And thanks for posting these things. It’s a far more arduous task than my commenting.
J’aimeAimé par 1 personne
Just sitting is highly comfortable.
That is the first purpose of zazen…allowing a posture which can be maintained for a long time without moving (as opposed to
sitting on a chair e.g.)
I’ll finish this comment whenever possible.. Hopefully.
J’aimeAimé par 1 personne
Whenever you are « comfortable »…!
J’aimeAimé par 1 personne
Orthodox meditators, as you name them, are certainly heretics without knowing it.
Seriously, I’d say that the major difference between the practice of Zazen and other meditation postures is that the posture is active. It does something to you.
There is something which is done, even if you’re not aware of it. (esp. if you’re not aware of it).
Now, before anything else, what zazen really is, is a matter of debate.
The posture, like a piece written by a genius composer, is interpreted in various manner.
Some advocate a more flexible form, while others project their angst and frustrations into a steel- rigid shape where every inch of spine is suffering.
Like a genius composition, yet, the posture, remains efficient throughout all experimental and more of less gifted interpreters.
Keeping it simple (the meaning of ‘zazen’ ) is what’s at stake.
There is nothing to be built upon the simple posture.
Therefore it, can be brought wherever we go, be it walking in the street or sipping coffee.
Being so simple, it can never be appropriated by anyone, really.
Like Nestle and ground water : if a person walks up and claims it belongs to him, we can be sure he’s stolen something from you and is now trying to sell it back.
(another–recent example : our Constitutional Freedoms (!))
Zazen the sitting posture, is part of the Commons,
like ground water, sunlight, Oxygen.
J’aimeAimé par 1 personne
« Whatever works for you » is pretty well the only response I can think of.
Sometimes my armchair, sometimes my morning walk, sometimes gazing out of the window.
For you, on a cushion (I presume).
Perhaps this requires a period of comparison – which may prove surprisingly exhausting.
J’aimeAimé par 1 personne
There is also something going on at this precise moment of a nanosecond before I think I have something in mind worth jotting down.
Comparison always comes prior to ranking.
And ranking is the door to delusion.
Sitting is also the occasion of a fixed appointement with oneself.
Maybe this solutions better suits people who have a tendency to escape such appointments.
The cushion can then be a physical reminder, like a dot on the clock of life.
Sitting on this dot. this is what I do,
While you pick it up, and take it for a walk.
J’aimeAimé par 1 personne