Silent Illumination as Subtle Activity

By: Bob Zeglovitch

Today, we began our Practice Period on Silent Illumination: The Method of No Method at the Root of Soto Zen Practice. This practice—of just sitting without any particular object of meditation and without any sense of moving ourself toward a goal—is subtle. As a result, it can be easy to slide off and to forget the practice—to fall into a sleepy or trance state, to become entangled in and captured by thoughts and emotions, to become confused about our practice, or to reflexively crave particular states of mind and body.

While Silent Illumination practice is subtle, it does involve dynamic and alive activity within the relative stillness of the seated (or other) posture. I’d like to suggest approaching the practice as a verb, or series of verbs. This can help shift us away from becoming attached to particular states of mind (adjectives like calm, peaceful, concentrated, etc.) and remind us that there is a method of sorts within this “no method” practice. We are not without guidance in this empty field with no apparent handholds! Hopefully the following list of verbs will serve as a helpful touchstone from which to begin, teasing out different aspects of the practice. As you play with the practice, there may be times when one or the other of these subtle activities is most prominent, or feels like it needs the most attention. And, in some ways one might say that each of the verbs is encompassed within or expresses the others.

Sitting (or other posture): The beginning, middle and end. Taking our time to establish our posture, to find alignment and resilience. The whole body, expressing itself right now in this position, just as it is, right here in the middle of everything, moment to moment, upright and balanced, relatively still and yet dynamically alive and moving subtly with breath.

Relaxing: Noticing areas of tension and clinging and inviting the body (and mind) to relax its literal grip. Returning and repeating to this as things change and tension and clinging resurface and are known. Nothing to force here—we are not at war with the sensations of our body (see “Allowing” below).

Opening: Expanding awareness to take in body, and mind, and environment. Noticing when we have restricted our awareness to one of those domains and opening up to the others. It is like adjusting a camera lens to wide angle.

Allowing: No objects of our senses, including thoughts or emotions, are prohibited or have to be prevented. Thoughts and emotions will come and need not be resisted. Lay out the welcome mat to the whole works—see if there ease in not picking and choosing? This gets to the essence of the practice, which is nonreactivity rather than the character of the particular objects arising in our awareness.

Investigating: A spirit of direct inquiry, beyond categories, names and analysis. Embodying the question, “what is this?” without expecting or conjuring up an answer. No need to speak the question, although a soft inner voice from time to time to keep the spark lit may help. The Chan master Hongzhi said: “With thoughts clear, sitting silently, wander into the circle of wonder.”

Experiencing: Being fully with whatever is in your mind and body, all the way from the moment it emerges to the moment it fades to nothing. Allowing the texture and particularity of the moment to be felt and known without labelling.

Releasing and Letting Go: The companion to allowing. We don’t have to block things or make them go away, but neither do we have to hang on or become entangled. Releasing and letting go is simply leaving the objects of our awareness to be as they are—dynamically appearing, staying for a while, and then vanishing without our having to do anything. This is the moment to moment enactment of non-craving and non-aversion.

Remembering: As with any practice, when we find ourselves getting lost, we remember that we are practicing this method of no-method, and return to sitting, relaxing, opening, allowing, investigating, experiencing and letting go. The is the functioning of mindfulness.

Over time, as familiarity with the various dimensions of the practice grows, one might collapse the list into fewer words, or even a single word. In Rebecca Li’s Illumination she emphasizes “nonreactivity.” She also quotes her teachers Simon Child and John Crook’s “mantra” of “let through, let be, let go.” One of our sangha members this morning expressed that “allowing” was the essence of the practice for him. Something simple like this can serve as our reminder to return to the “method.”

Aspects of Just Sitting: Relaxation!

By: Bob Zeglovitch

I’m getting back to this series of planned posts on “just sitting” after a hiatus due to various demands on my attention. I’ll try to keep these coming a bit more regularly. The last post addressed coming to proper alignment. This post introduces the importance of relaxation.

If you align the body and forget to relax, the resulting tension will make sitting more difficult. This tension will also constrict the range of what can be experienced and known in the body/mind. Will Johnson, in his book The Posture of Meditation, uses the wonderful image of a soldier standing tensely at attention at boot camp to represent what it is like to be aligned without relaxation. The soldier, by bringing tension into the body, lessens awareness of sensations and feelings—and thus becomes more compliant. I find this to be a particularly apt image for our consideration, since we may carry an internal picture of a Zen practitioner as intense, rigid, almost militaristic. This in turn could lead to a conscious or unconscious approach to sitting that is striving, tight and tense.

Some teachers and communities can also foster this kind of rigid practice by overemphasizing outer forms and appearances. I previously practiced in a setting like this, for many years. While I developed concentration and a certain amount of equanimity from this style of practice, there was also considerable physical and emotional pain. This style of practice also contributed to some bypassing of emotional and psychological dimensions, for myself and also others.

While alignment without relaxation is problematic, alignment can help you to relax. If your body is not vertically aligned, you will rely on muscular tension to support yourself against the forces of gravity. This makes relaxation more difficult. With alignment, you can surrender the weight of the body to gravity. This enables you to expend less energy and to let go, without resistance, in the upright container of your body. Relaxation does not mean going slack or becoming a wet noodle. It is not synonymous with laziness.

So you have taken your seat and aligned the body—how to relax from there? You might begin by taking three deep breaths, allowing the exhalation to be longer than the inhalation, and having a sense of letting go of tension in your body with each exhalation. You might also do a modified and very brief body scan. Begin with the face, inviting relaxation and releasing tension in your forehead, the area around your eyes, and your your jaw. Then continue to your neck, your shoulders, your chest, the muscles of your abdomen, your back, your arms, hands, and legs. To take a simpler and more general approach, you could just remind yourself that your posture incorporates a gesture of relaxation, and allow a natural response to this suggestion. The modern Chan Master Sheng Yen also gives this important instruction to relax more than just the body: “Next, relax your attitude and your mood; make sure that your mental attitude, the tone of your approach, and your mood are also at ease.”

Your invitation to the body/mind to relax is not an attempt at controlling an outcome or attaining and maintaining a particular state. You may of course experience tension or holding in your sitting despite your intention. If that is the case, you can renew the invitation to relax and see what unfolds—and above all else be present with whatever is arising.

The classic Zen literature does not frequently refer to relaxation, to the best of my knowledge. There is, however, this wonderful practice instruction from Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage by the Eighth Century A.D. Chinese ancestor Shitou (author of The Harmony of Difference and Equality): “Let go of hundreds of years and relax completely. Open your hands and walk, innocent.” The full text of this poem is on the Chants/Foundational Texts page of this website.

Aspects of Just Sitting: Finding Alignment in Your Sitting Posture

By Bob Zeglovitch

In Soto Zen meditation, we place considerable emphasis on the details of posture. Think of this as helpful rather than fussy! In Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Suzuki Roshi commented: “These forms are not the means of obtaining the right state of mind. To take this posture is itself to have the right state of mind. There is no need to obtain some special state of mind.”

Playing close attention to your posture helps you to not be lost “in your head.” Zen meditation is not “what you think” (in more ways than one!). Instead, it is an integrated expression of body/mind. Suzuki Roshi captures this as follows: “Our body and mind are not two and not one. If you think your body and mind are two, that is wrong; if you think that they are one, that is also wrong. Our body and mind are both two and one. We usually think that if something is not one, it is more than one; if it is singular, it is plural. But in actual experience, our life is not only plural, but also singular.”

Where you sit—whether on a chair or in the various ways that one can sit on a meditation cushion or bench—does not matter. What is important is the proper alignment of your body. If you are not well-aligned, extra effort will be required to maintain your seated posture. You will be fighting against gravity and tension and holding will arise. This will cause pain and discomfort in the body as well as agitation in the mind. Here are some basic keys to proper alignment in your sitting posture:

• The pelvis should be elevated higher than the knees. This enables the pelvis to tilt forward slightly, which in turn places the upper body so that it can rest directly above or even a bit in front of the sitting bones of the pelvis. If you are on a chair, you may have to put some kind of pillow or cushion on the seat in order to elevate your pelvis. If you are on a cushion this will be natural, although you may need to experiment with the height of your cushion to find the right angle for your body and to have your knees resting on the flat cushion (zabuton).

• If you are on a chair, avoid sitting with your back resting against the back of the chair if you are able. Instead, come forward on the seat of the chair a bit and allow your spine to be supported by your upright posture. If you need some support, try putting a small pillow or bolster at your lower back and then keep the rest of your back off the chair back. If your feet do not reach the floor, rest them on a cushion or small bench that is the right height.

• Locate your sits bones at the base of your pelvis. You may want to reach down and find them with your hands. Feel yourself planted firmly on your cushion or chair on your sits bones. This is your foundation.

• Sit upright, without leaning right or left or forward or backward. Let your spine settle into its natural S-curve. Find this upright and straight position by rocking your body left and right, and forward and backward, in gradually smaller movements, until you land at your center point.

• Arrange your body so that your pelvis, belly and lower back, chest and upper back, neck and head are stacked vertically, like a set of building blocks. Imagine that your head is suspended from the ceiling by a string that is connected to the top of your skull. Tilt your chin down just a bit to elongate the spine at the back of your neck. Pay particular attention to resting your head at the top of your neck so that it is not tilting forward or backward. Your head weighs about 12 pounds—but if it is tilted forward it can add up to 30 pounds of abnormal leverage on the cervical spine. This can pull the entire spine out of alignment, and can also result in a significant reduction in vital lung capacity.

• Relax your shoulders, imagining that the back of your shoulder blades are dropping into your back pockets. Lift and open your chest a bit, without straining.

Each time you take your seat to meditate, attend to these basic principles of alignment deliberately and with care. You are taking your seat and sitting in a dignified posture, like the Buddha. During your meditation, you can remain aware of your alignment and make subtle corrections from time to time as appropriate. Over time, you will begin to notice that your body and your mind are, as Suzuki Roshi observed, not two and yet not one.

Additional Resources:

I cannot recommend highly enough a slim volume called The Posture of Meditation: A Practical Manual for Meditators of All Traditions, by Will Johnson. I wish I had discovered this book decades ago. Johnson is an experienced meditator with training in various Buddhist traditions and a practitioner of Rolfing, so he is intimately familiar with the structure of the human body. The next couple of blog posts will be drawn from his work.

For a wonderful discussion of how just sitting, or zazen, is different from other forms of meditation because it emphasizes the holistic body/mind instead of a psychological process that seems to occur in the head, see the article “Zazen is Not the Same as Meditation” by Rev. Issho Fujita. Reverend Fujita was the Resident Teacher of the Pioneer Valley Zendo in western Massachusetts for many years. I’ve also included an excerpt from the article on the Readings page of the Just Show Up website.