Shikantaza
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese
term for zazen
introduced by Rujing
and associated most with the Soto school of Zen
Buddhism
. Ford cites on p. 224 an opinion that it is "the base of all Zen disciplines." Some people claim that according to Dōgen Zenji, shikantaza i.e. resting in a state of brightly alert attention that is free of thoughts, directed to no object, and attached to no particular content—is the highest or purest form of zazen, zazen as it was practiced by all the buddhas of the past. Others quote Dōgen Zenji as saying "In this moment of sitting look into what sitting in itself is. Is it turning a somersault? Is it a state of vigorous activity? Is it thinking? Is it not thinking? Is it doing something? Is it not doing anything? Is there sitting inside of sitting? Is sitting inside of the bodymind? Is sitting free of 'sitting inside' and 'inside of the bodymind'? And so on. You should investigate thousands, tens of thousands, of points such as these." Therefore using Dōgen Zenji to support a quietist and an anti-intellectual idea of shikantaza is a controversial tactic that relies on selective quoting of Dōgen Zenji.
The modern Japanese Zen master, Hakuun Ryōko Yasutani says: "Shikantaza is the mind of someone facing death. Let us imagine that you are engaged in a duel of swordsmanship of the kind that used to take place in ancient Japan. As you face your opponent you are unceasingly watchful, set, ready. Were you to relax your vigilance even momentarily, you would be cut down instantly. A crowd gathers to see the fight. Since you are not blind you see them from the corner of your eye, and since you are not deaf you hear them. But not for an instant is your mind captured by these impressions." (Introductory Lectures on Zen Training, Kapleau)
In contrast to this opinion, some of the Zen masters in Loori's book } deride Yasutani's description, giving their own version as the right or correct way to do shikantaza.
The term is believed to have been first used by Dōgen
's teacher Tiantong Rujing, and it literally means, "nothing but (shikan) precisely (da) sitting (za)." In other words Dōgen means by this, "doing only zazen whole-heartedly" or "single-minded sitting." Shikantaza implies "just sitting", and according to author James Ishmael Ford
, "Some trace the root of this word to the pronunciation of the Pāli
vipassana
, though this is far from certain."
A translation of "shikantaza" offered by Kobun Chino Otogawa (1938-2002) provides some additional insight into the literal meaning of the components of the Japanese word: "Shikan means pure, one, only for it. Ta is a very strong word. It shows moving activity. When you hit, that movement is called ta, so strike is ta. Za is the same as in the word zazen, sitting." ("Shikan taza", from "Kobun's Teachings" on the Jikoji Temple (Santa Cruz, California) website).
master Hongzhi Zhengjue
(1091—1157), who wrote on "silent illumination" (默照禪; Chinese
: Mòzhào chán Japanese
: Mokusho Zen). Additionally, the practice of silent illumination is said to be traced back to at least Bodhidharma
.
Later in the thirteenth century, Dōgen Zenji
(the founder of the Soto school) used much of Hongzhis' writings on silent illumination to help shed light on what he termed shikantaza. From thereafter the practice of shikantaza has been primarily associated with the Soto school. While silent illumination is in theory a "methodless method"—it is also important to realize that, "his (Dogen) practice of shikantaza took a somewhat different approach." Even still, Ch'an Master Shengyan feels comfortable in stating that shikantaza is in fact quite similar to silent illumination. Silent illumination comes from the integrated practice of shamatha (calming the mind) and vipashyana
(insightful contemplation) called yuganaddha (union), and was the hallmark of the Chinese
Caodong
school of Ch'an. It therefore means one is practicing with both a calm mind and "questioning observation."
In Japan, vipassana and shamatha are sometimes used in addition to shikantaza as complementary practices.
, John Daido Loori
writes, "..[A]fter students finish koan study, they then take up the practice of shikantaza." Haku'un Yasutani
agrees, stating, "The Rinzai and Obaku Schools emphasize koan study; the Soto school emphasizes shikantaza. But even when koan study is stressed, shikantaza is not abandoned. All of the great masters of these three schools emphasize the importance of shikantaza." According to Merv Fowler, shikantaza is described best as, "quiet sitting in open awareness, reflecting directly the reality of life." Shikantaza is often termed a goalless meditation in quiet awareness, "not working on any koan, or counting the breath. It is an alert condition, performed erect, with no trace of sluggishness or drowsiness. Fred Reinhard Dallmayr writes, "Regarding practice, Dogen counseled a distinctly nonattached or nonclinging kind of action, that is, an activity completely unconcerned with benefits or the accomplishment of ulterior goals: the activity of 'just sitting' or 'nothing-but-sitting' (shikantaza) whereby self-seeking is set aside in a manner resembling a resolute 'dropping off of body and mind.'"
According to Master Shengyen, "While you are practicing just sitting, be clear about everything going on in your mind. Whatever you feel, be aware of it, but never abandon the awareness of your whole body sitting there. Shikantaza is not sitting with nothing to do; it is a very demanding practice, requiring diligence as well as alertness. If your practice goes well, you will experience the 'dropping off' of sensations and thoughts. You need to stay with it and begin to take the whole environment as your body. Whatever enters the door of your senses becomes one totality, extending from your body to the whole environment. This is silent illumination." In his work Fukanzazenji, Dogen writes of, "finding a clean, dry place, if possible cool in summer and warm in winter. He goes on to describe the use of a zafu
, or small round pillow one sits upon, and the zabuton
, or larger square, flat cushion under the zafu, which supports the ankles and knees. He then describes the basic posture—sitting erect, with hands in the lap, eyes cast downward—as 'the method used by all Buddha ancestors of Zen.'"
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
term for zazen
Zazen
In Zen Buddhism, zazen is a meditative discipline practitioners perform to calm the body and the mind, and be able to concentrate enough to experience insight into the nature of existence and thereby gain enlightenment .- Significance :Zazen is considered the heart of Zen Buddhist practice...
introduced by Rujing
Rujing
Tiāntóng Rújìng was a Caodong Buddhist monk living in Qìngdé Temple on Tiāntóng Mountain in Yinzhou District, Ningbo...
and associated most with the Soto school of Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. Ford cites on p. 224 an opinion that it is "the base of all Zen disciplines." Some people claim that according to Dōgen Zenji, shikantaza i.e. resting in a state of brightly alert attention that is free of thoughts, directed to no object, and attached to no particular content—is the highest or purest form of zazen, zazen as it was practiced by all the buddhas of the past. Others quote Dōgen Zenji as saying "In this moment of sitting look into what sitting in itself is. Is it turning a somersault? Is it a state of vigorous activity? Is it thinking? Is it not thinking? Is it doing something? Is it not doing anything? Is there sitting inside of sitting? Is sitting inside of the bodymind? Is sitting free of 'sitting inside' and 'inside of the bodymind'? And so on. You should investigate thousands, tens of thousands, of points such as these." Therefore using Dōgen Zenji to support a quietist and an anti-intellectual idea of shikantaza is a controversial tactic that relies on selective quoting of Dōgen Zenji.
The modern Japanese Zen master, Hakuun Ryōko Yasutani says: "Shikantaza is the mind of someone facing death. Let us imagine that you are engaged in a duel of swordsmanship of the kind that used to take place in ancient Japan. As you face your opponent you are unceasingly watchful, set, ready. Were you to relax your vigilance even momentarily, you would be cut down instantly. A crowd gathers to see the fight. Since you are not blind you see them from the corner of your eye, and since you are not deaf you hear them. But not for an instant is your mind captured by these impressions." (Introductory Lectures on Zen Training, Kapleau)
In contrast to this opinion, some of the Zen masters in Loori's book } deride Yasutani's description, giving their own version as the right or correct way to do shikantaza.
The term is believed to have been first used by Dōgen
Dogen
Dōgen Zenji was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher born in Kyōto, and the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan after travelling to China and training under the Chinese Caodong lineage there...
's teacher Tiantong Rujing, and it literally means, "nothing but (shikan) precisely (da) sitting (za)." In other words Dōgen means by this, "doing only zazen whole-heartedly" or "single-minded sitting." Shikantaza implies "just sitting", and according to author James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford is an American Zen Buddhist priest and Unitarian Universalist minister. He was born in Oakland, California on July 17, 1948...
, "Some trace the root of this word to the pronunciation of the Pāli
Páli
- External links :* *...
vipassana
Vipassana
Vipassanā or vipaśyanā in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the true nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi . Vipassana is one of the world's most ancient techniques of meditation, the inception of which is attributed to Gautama Buddha...
, though this is far from certain."
A translation of "shikantaza" offered by Kobun Chino Otogawa (1938-2002) provides some additional insight into the literal meaning of the components of the Japanese word: "Shikan means pure, one, only for it. Ta is a very strong word. It shows moving activity. When you hit, that movement is called ta, so strike is ta. Za is the same as in the word zazen, sitting." ("Shikan taza", from "Kobun's Teachings" on the Jikoji Temple (Santa Cruz, California) website).
Silent illumination
Shikantaza's origins can be traced to early Daoist meditations known as "sitting forgetfulness" which was mentioned in the Zhuang Zi. In the book, it was stated that a man named Yan Hui described to Confucius how he forgot and cast aside knowledge. The concept of meditating on everyday chores to attain the Dao is also described in the story of the butcher in Zhuang Zi. The first Chan master to write about what is more or less termed shikantaza was the CaodongCaodong
Cáodòng is a Chinese Zen Buddhist sect founded by Dongshan Liangjie and his Dharma-heirs in the 9th century. Some attribute the name "Cáodòng" as a union of "Dongshan" and "Caoshan" from one of his Dharma-heirs, Caoshan Benji; however, the "Cao" much more likely came from Cáoxī , the...
master Hongzhi Zhengjue
Hongzhi Zhengjue
Hongzhi Zhengjue was a Chinese Chán Buddhist monk who authored or compiled several influential Buddhist texts. Hongzhi's conception of "silent illumination" is of particular importance to the Chinese Caodong and Japanese Sōtō Zen schools; however, Hongzhi was also the author of an important...
(1091—1157), who wrote on "silent illumination" (默照禪; Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: Mòzhào chán Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
: Mokusho Zen). Additionally, the practice of silent illumination is said to be traced back to at least Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th/6th century AD. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Ch'an to China, and regarded as the first Chinese patriarch...
.
Later in the thirteenth century, Dōgen Zenji
Dogen
Dōgen Zenji was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher born in Kyōto, and the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan after travelling to China and training under the Chinese Caodong lineage there...
(the founder of the Soto school) used much of Hongzhis' writings on silent illumination to help shed light on what he termed shikantaza. From thereafter the practice of shikantaza has been primarily associated with the Soto school. While silent illumination is in theory a "methodless method"—it is also important to realize that, "his (Dogen) practice of shikantaza took a somewhat different approach." Even still, Ch'an Master Shengyan feels comfortable in stating that shikantaza is in fact quite similar to silent illumination. Silent illumination comes from the integrated practice of shamatha (calming the mind) and vipashyana
Vipassana
Vipassanā or vipaśyanā in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the true nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi . Vipassana is one of the world's most ancient techniques of meditation, the inception of which is attributed to Gautama Buddha...
(insightful contemplation) called yuganaddha (union), and was the hallmark of the Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
Caodong
Caodong
Cáodòng is a Chinese Zen Buddhist sect founded by Dongshan Liangjie and his Dharma-heirs in the 9th century. Some attribute the name "Cáodòng" as a union of "Dongshan" and "Caoshan" from one of his Dharma-heirs, Caoshan Benji; however, the "Cao" much more likely came from Cáoxī , the...
school of Ch'an. It therefore means one is practicing with both a calm mind and "questioning observation."
In Japan, vipassana and shamatha are sometimes used in addition to shikantaza as complementary practices.
In practice
Concerning the Rinzai schoolRinzai school
The Rinzai school is , one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.Rinzai is the Japanese line of the Chinese Linji school, which was founded during the Tang Dynasty by Linji Yixuan...
, John Daido Loori
John Daido Loori
John Daido Loori was a Zen Buddhist rōshi who served as the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery and was the founder of the Mountains and Rivers Order and CEO of Dharma Communications. Daido Loori received shiho from Taizan Maezumi in 1986 and also received a dendokyoshi certificate formally from the...
writes, "..[A]fter students finish koan study, they then take up the practice of shikantaza." Haku'un Yasutani
Haku'un Yasutani
was a Sōtō Rōshi and the founder of the Sanbo Kyodan Zen Buddhist organization.-Biography:Ryōkō Yasutani was born in Japan in Shizuoka Prefecture....
agrees, stating, "The Rinzai and Obaku Schools emphasize koan study; the Soto school emphasizes shikantaza. But even when koan study is stressed, shikantaza is not abandoned. All of the great masters of these three schools emphasize the importance of shikantaza." According to Merv Fowler, shikantaza is described best as, "quiet sitting in open awareness, reflecting directly the reality of life." Shikantaza is often termed a goalless meditation in quiet awareness, "not working on any koan, or counting the breath. It is an alert condition, performed erect, with no trace of sluggishness or drowsiness. Fred Reinhard Dallmayr writes, "Regarding practice, Dogen counseled a distinctly nonattached or nonclinging kind of action, that is, an activity completely unconcerned with benefits or the accomplishment of ulterior goals: the activity of 'just sitting' or 'nothing-but-sitting' (shikantaza) whereby self-seeking is set aside in a manner resembling a resolute 'dropping off of body and mind.'"
According to Master Shengyen, "While you are practicing just sitting, be clear about everything going on in your mind. Whatever you feel, be aware of it, but never abandon the awareness of your whole body sitting there. Shikantaza is not sitting with nothing to do; it is a very demanding practice, requiring diligence as well as alertness. If your practice goes well, you will experience the 'dropping off' of sensations and thoughts. You need to stay with it and begin to take the whole environment as your body. Whatever enters the door of your senses becomes one totality, extending from your body to the whole environment. This is silent illumination." In his work Fukanzazenji, Dogen writes of, "finding a clean, dry place, if possible cool in summer and warm in winter. He goes on to describe the use of a zafu
Zafu
A zafu is a round cushion. Although also a utilitarian accessory, it is most well known for its use in zazen Zen meditation.-Name:...
, or small round pillow one sits upon, and the zabuton
Zabuton
A zabuton is a Japanese cushion for sitting. The zabuton is generally used when sitting on the floor, and may also be used when sitting on a chair. Ordinarily any place in Japan where seating is on the floor will be provided with zabuton, for sitting comfort...
, or larger square, flat cushion under the zafu, which supports the ankles and knees. He then describes the basic posture—sitting erect, with hands in the lap, eyes cast downward—as 'the method used by all Buddha ancestors of Zen.'"