Kusen extracted from the book Flowing in the Eternal present by the Zen master Dokushô Villalba. Recording made at the Kômyô Zen dojo in Alicante on 26/03/2021
When we sit in zazen, who sits on zazen? who does what? what does it mean zazen? Here is a good bunch of koans.
According to common sense we can think that we are an “I”, an entity distinct and separate from all other entities or phenomena. Following this reasoning we say: “I do zazen” and in this way we start a confrontation between the “yo” and the rest. But you must realize that such arguments are a product of illusion, they are unreal.
First of all, yo “Here and now” SOY zazen, zazen IT'S me. There is no zazen out of my self, nor any self outside zazen. my body is zazen, my breathing is zazen, my thoughts, memories or projects arise in zazen and they are zazen. If I asked you what do you do?, would you answer me: “zazen”. But, how do you know what you are doing zazen?. Because you feel it, we feel zazen, that is to say, we feel our buttocks pressed against the zafu, we feel our knees stuck to the ground, we feel the straightness of our spine, head position, the falling of the arms, thumb contact, you feel the breath.
But what does it mean to feel? It means having sensations.
We normally associate zazen or we identify it with a certain number of sensations, and yet during zazen, when we hear the noise of cars, the heat, the music from the upstairs neighbor's record player, are they or are they not? zazen? are they inside or outside zazen? We also usually identify zazen with certain mental states or sensations, but when hate appears, impatience or pain, Are these sensations or are they not? zazen? The vibration of a truck engine shaking our body from top to bottom, is it or not? zazen?
Says Master Dogen Zenji: “When we sat in zazen, the entire cosmos, all existences sit in zazen”. That's why the entire city, with its thousands of inhabitants and its feverish activity, are included in this zazen. life, death, love, hate, birth and old age, good and evil are contained in zazen, son zazen. And in the same way, when our spirit is blinded by anger due to Ignorance or greed, the entire cosmos is equally impregnated with anger, of ignorance or greed.
That's why, practice a zazen without creating duality between zazen and not zazen, practice a zazen beyond one's own zazen, beyond any idea about zazen. During the real zazen we must expand consciousness so that we encompass all the phenomena of the Universe. In this way the fight, the opposition and duality between us and the cosmos disappear. Zazen is to be uniquely and clearly aware.
When it is said: “do not lean to the right or to the left, we are not just talking about the spine, but a profound teaching is being given, that is to say, do not lean towards one sensation or another, do not identify zazen with a certain type of sensations, just sit, stretch your spine well and reach the silence of the dead.
practicing like this, only practicing like this, it is possible to wake up to true life.
Master Dogen says: “zazen It has nothing to do with the sitting position or the lying position or any position. The seated posture of zazen, nevertheless, It is the main door to reach this dimension.”
Teaching given by the teacher Doksuhô Villalba Roshi on September 13 1987