Is shikantaza meant to spontaneously relax you, unlike ch'an meditation?
score:2
Shikantaza in original usage means ~'only sit', and the term was introduced into fairly standard usage by Dogen Daishi c.1250AD. This is in the context of Original Traditional Authentic Soto Zen, where the term is fairly similar to zazen, which means ~'sit & contemplate' etc, and so, within context, the two terms authentically mean about the same thing: sasaru means to sit/squat, & is pronounced 'za' in that sort of word construction, and zen means ~think/contemplate. In the term shikantaza, the 'zen' part is inferred from context, and shiken in this context means ~only.
Traditionally, in Soto Zen, shikantaza & zazen aren't directly about concentrating on breathing or on the nose or on relaxing, etc, and shikantaza more explicitly indicates that with the 'shi' meaning ~'only' part. So maybe the Asker was participating in something that was was similar but might have differences in meaning and of what's meant by the terms zen & shikantaza!
This answer is from the context of The Traditional Soto Zen instructed c.1250AD by Dogen Daishi. There may be other places that use the term shikantaza and the term zazen differently. Nice interesting question.
Upvote:3
To sit in zazen is to sit facing emptiness. M H's answer is absolutely correct, but like most things in Zen there is more to the story once your practice deepens. Relaxation and concentration on a focal point have their place, but really what zazen is after is the arousal of mushin or "no-mind". In early Zen, and later in Soto, they sat in pi-kuan or wall gazing. You'd literally just sit facing a wall. No fancy techniques, no mantras, kasinas, or even the breath. Just you, your cushion, and a surface staring back at you. As you advanced in your sitting, little by little, things began to fall away. (In fact, if you don't allow them to, you will drive yourself batty doing this practice.) As that is happening, concurrently, you'll also begin to internalize that blank wall. This happens through no effort of your own. As you let go of you, emptiness is revealed. Eventually you become the blankness - mushin - itself. The wall becomes secondary if not entirely ancillary.
So don't worry about your thoughts, don't worry about the tip of your nose, and certainly don't worry about spontaneity. Just sit and don't move. Stare at the wall and see what happens.
More post
- 📝 If each person's mind creates "reality" then why do we need to eat?
- 📝 Is allowing or seeking detachment a bad karmic influence vis a vis rebirth?
- 📝 MN 36 parallels for section where Buddha as a 9 year old boy has first jhana
- 📝 Does there exist a Pali Canon sutta that claims that a Bodhisattva can only be a male Brahmin or Kshatriya? If yes, is it possibly apocryphal?
- 📝 The Bodhisattva ideal in practice (and its relation to the Arhat ideal)
- 📝 Why did Buddha use the 'Raft Simile'?
- 📝 Conditions to break a precept
- 📝 In the trisvabhava theory, is the consummate nature inflected by past present and future conditions?
- 📝 What's the difference between Samma Sambuddho and Buddho
- 📝 Electric blood, electric breathe, electric ball and one beam
- 📝 Death and nibbana
- 📝 Where does it say "in-between worlds"?
- 📝 What happens to grasping at 'self' after termination of life?
- 📝 Does Buddhism claim that our World is an illusion? In other words is it a Matrix? Any proof for this?
- 📝 Amisa pooja for Buddha
- 📝 Buddhism after death
- 📝 is jhana required to realize the four supramundane paths?
- 📝 Would an advanced practitioner ever stop meditating?
- 📝 Vipassana retreat while in post acute withdrawal?
- 📝 Do monks HAVE to accept anything offered to them?
- 📝 How can fiction writing be best used for achieving enlightenment?
- 📝 Do thoughts create karma?
- 📝 The pali word for this concept
- 📝 Is there a major translation error in MN 10?
- 📝 Who is experiencing the non self?
- 📝 Looking for a Sutta wherein the Buddha talks about dreams
- 📝 Proper meditation at hard times ( to be kind, open mind and enjoy hard times )
- 📝 Theories and Doctrines
- 📝 Family feuds... is there a path that walks through the fire without burning oneself?
- 📝 What is the goal of Meditation- is it increasing the gap?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Is shikantaza meant to spontaneously relax you, unlike ch'an meditation?
- 📝 Can meditation cause you to sleep less?
- 📝 Is the 'best meditation you do' the meditation you do?
- 📝 Does meditation giving you 'joy' because there is lack of suffering, or does it give something positive?
- 📝 Is there any meditation technique to be aware of what you hear?
- 📝 Where is the Buddha quoted as saying do not believe anything I say until you can prove it by yourself?
- 📝 How to determine the end of a meditation session without a clock?
- 📝 How do you tell a 4-year-old who the Buddha was?
- 📝 What is the next meditation type after Mindfulness of Breathing meditation?
- 📝 Do you have to follow a monastic lifestyle to attain enlightenment?
- 📝 Purpose of touching tongue to roof of mouth during meditation
- 📝 As a Buddhist with a Muslim family, community, and background... how do you integrate/cope?
- 📝 Can you attain stream entry without meditation?
- 📝 If anatta is a reality, then how do you explain Volition or Will?
- 📝 Meditation and 'not trying to change anything'
- 📝 Strange feelings after meditation and mindfulness practice?
- 📝 Why is meditation making me more angry?
- 📝 Is Buddhism "opposed" to striving, or working towards a goal that you really want
- 📝 How to disambiguate between various meditation practices?
- 📝 Overwhelming states of being reached through meditation
- 📝 Can one learn meditation on their own?
- 📝 Can one practice meditation to gain knowledge about the universe?
- 📝 Does meditation increase productivity for software developers and related professions?
- 📝 When meditation goes wrong
- 📝 What could I say to someone when they ask me "why do you meditate?"
- 📝 The object of meditation
- 📝 Meditation, compassion: How to handle people who dominate you in the office?
- 📝 Problem concentrating during Vipassana meditation
- 📝 Details for Kasina Meditation
- 📝 What is the minimum amount of time needed for a productive meditation sit?