By: John Daido Loori
When you’re doing shikantaza you don’t try to focus on anything specifically, or to make thoughts go away. You simply allow everything to be just the way it is. Thoughts come, thoughts go, and you simply watch them; you keep your awareness on them. It takes a lot of energy and persistence to sit shikantaza, to not get caught up in daydreaming. But little by little, thoughts begin to slow down, and finally they cease to arise. When the thought disappears, the thinker disappears. This is the samadhi of falling away of body and mind.
Note: John Daido Loori (1931-2009) was the founder of Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper, New York and was a dharma heir of Taizan Maezumi Roshi. This quote is taken from an article in Lion’s Roar which can be found here.