KZfaq is the best thing ever! Do you know how awesome it is to be able to access this kind of stuff from my living room? I mean really think about it! We are all fortunate!

TRANSCRIPT: "At the beginning when we practice Zazen, we bow down to our own seat. This salutation means, the salutation for two men, on the right side and on the left side. Then turn around and bow down again, and second salutation means the salutation for all members in the room. Then we sit on the cushion at the center like this. If we wear socks or such things, we take them off. First, there are two postures of the legs. The one is half lotus posture and the other is the full lotus posture. In the half lotus posture, we place our legs like this, this part of leg should touch the cushion, and then put the left leg like this. In this case, both the knees should touch the floor, or the zafuton. This cushion is called Zafuton. Both knees should touch the Zafuton. In the full-lotus posture, first place left leg like this, then put the right leg like this, and then put the left leg like this.. This is called the full-lotus posture. Both the half-lotus posture and the full-lotus postures are traditional. So if people are not so accustomed to the full lotus posture, to have the half lotus is also permissible. The most important matter in Zazen is to keep the spine straight vertically. Therefore first we straighten our lower spine straight vertically. It is a very important point. Then the back bone and neck bone should be also be kept straight vertically. This is very important point. Therefore master Dogen says in Fukanzagenzi, the spine shouldn't reclined forward or backward, right side or left side. Keep the spine straight vertically is the most important matter. If we put the spine straight along the line of gravity, we can identify ourselves with the universe. In such situation, we can know what the universe is by keeping our spine vertically. Therefore in such meaning, the most important matter in Zazen is to keep the spine straight vertically and identify our spine with the line of gravity. The hands should also be kept also in the traditional method. In the case of half lotus posture and full lotus posture, the left leg is upper. Therefore first we put right hand like this in front of our body, then put the left hand on the right and put the top of thumbs like this. Because of such posture, we can make the shoulders relaxed. So keeping the elbow a little separate from the body and to keep the arms like this is the posture of arms. Mouth should be closed and eyes should open naturally. In some sects, they insist that the eyes should be half closed, but according to master Dogen's instructions, he said, eyes should be open naturally. Not too wide, not too narrow. This is the criteria for eyes. Our shoulders should be kept on the horizontal line and the two ears also kept on the horizontal line. Our shoulder should not be like this, should not be like this. Ears should not be like this, should not be like this. To keep the shoulder in the horiontal line and ears in the horizontal line is a very important point. Master Kotosaki, who taught me Buddhism, instructed that our spine should be pierced through the ceiling. It is just a figurative expression, so in Zazen, we should set our spine vertically as if the spine pierces the ceiling. When we degrade our posture, we have depressed breath. Then swing the body right and left and stop the spine at the center and begin Zazen. During Zazen, we need not think about anything. We need not feel anything. Just keep the spine straight vertically is Zazen. Therefore Zazen is not thinking. Zazen is not feeling. Just keeping spine vertically is Zazen. Therefore we can think thta Zazen is a kind of gymnastic without motion. Such attitude can be called "Act". Not thought. Not perception. Zazen is action. Buddhist philosophy is based on the philosophy of action. Therefore when we want to study Buddhism, first we should practice Zazen. By practicing Zazen, we can experience the universe itself in our body and mind. We can study what universe is. We can study what reality is. We can study what this world is. We can what our life is. Those studies are not intellectual. but practical research and the reason why Buddhism needs such practice comes from that. Buddhism is philosophy of act. Philosophy of reality. Buddhism is just reality. This idea is very important to study Buddhism."

"To keep the spine straight vertically is zazen, a kind of gymnastics without motion" Thanks Gudo.

Holy shit, I just finished reading Hardcore Zen and wanted to look up a guide to make sure I do Zazen correctly, and *this is the guy that taught the author of that book*! Gudo Nishijima! Much respect.

"Zazen is gymnastics without motion." I love this line... amusing yet true. "Zazen attitude can be called act. Not thought, not perception - but Zazen is action. [...] By practicing Zazen we can experience the universe itself in our body and mind; we can study what the universe is; we can study what reality is; we can study what this world is;, we can study what our life is.

@bodhidarma1 When you practice zazen, you practice zazen. You don't practice zazen to have some profound experience, you practice it to practice it. When you eat, you eat. When you sleep, you sleep. When you cook, you cook.

"zazen is gymnastics without motion" I like it.

this man is adorable

A cushion is not necessary - you can meditate anywhere in any posture. However, zazen is traditionally done with a cushion because it is more comfortable and supports longer sustained zazen practice.

Think about your breath, sounds you hear around you, really just acknowledge them as present. If you find yourself drifting, return your attention to your environment and your breath!

Do nothing and see things as they are. Life is just the way it is. "You see water when you see a river. You see trees when you see a forest.Thats how it is. "

i am looking for the way, and simplicity of my life, thank you for your time and patience in helping me learn the zen way,

Very concise explaination of Buddhism. Buddhism is just reality. This is a valuable video.

A great venerable teacher! What a fantastic, clear instruction.

Thank you, Master. Due to a serious back problem (I can not move my head). I was never able to adopt the lotus or half lotus positions so I have used a chair with legs slightly spread and feet flat on the floor. Back straight, eyes open, breath, no mind. The benefits of meditation appear to be: Enlightenment, insight, emotional composure or balance. I am all things, all things I am. Namaste _/\_

Well done, Roshi!

Zen has improved my outlook on life. I am going to continue to learn.

Thank you so much for this! I will be doing my best to share your teachings with my World Religions class tomorrow.

This is an amazing video. Thanks for posting this. His explanation is wonderful!

Thank you. This is beautiful. I am grateful for it.

I am among those people. I will probably never sit in full lotus again...

It's strange that he doesn't talk about focusing the mind on the navel, or anything about how to observe the mind. All he says is 'keep you spine straight'

Motionless gymnastics... that's one I haven't heard before... very good instructions

did anyone else notice his body is straight but the background is weirdly slanted...

full or even half lotus will destroy your knees if your hips aren't already very flexible. Do not sit through pain in your knees. Your knees do not stretch.

If you are in serious pain please don't do the lotus posture until you are more flexible. My zen teacher can not sit in lotus and that is fine. You do not want to permanently damage your knees. Most people in the west grew up sitting in chairs which has shortened our muscles and ligaments. There is a difference between discomfort and extreme pain. I have seen people ruin their knees by trying to force themselves into lotus.

Thank you very much for this post. It was very helpful as I am beginning the Zen practice.

@yupiie I am about to embark on a journey to the local temple here in Chicago and look forward to meditating everyday. It's a matter of quieting the mind...and that is my challenge. Good luck to you.

cooldangeneva, i wouldn't have been able to have said it better myself, this man is doing all of us a big favor, we should be grateful! I know i am, ive been meditating and believing in buddhism/taoism for almost a year now, im 14, freshman in high school, and since 13 ive been with these sort of beliefs, and

@shoshenkis I stand by my statement,but thanks for the reply. I started meditating 13 yrs ago.In the beginning I closed my eyes. I 'saw' many things.Remote viewing, 2 reincarnations, but no OBE, because I stopped with 'black magic', I realized I would wind up like the 'Scorcres Apprentice' and that is not the purpose of meditation. Searching for answers about what I 'saw', I read insights from a zen monk and he gave a great explaination of the 'minds' creations. He recommended eyes open

Very good stuff. Even with limited knowledge of the english language he manages to thoroughly convey the points he's trying to make. I do think the conflicts in the comments about buddhism and such should stop though. We all have our own ideals and philosophies which resonate with ourselves, and if we can find our own way then i belive that's all a religion can ask for. Your own interpretation of life and its purpose, not strict guidelines of preconcieved ideas, let's all just better ourselves

The great irony of enlightenment is that the enlightened are too enlightened to admit it, while the unenlightened are so eager for enlightenment, they will invent it. As far as I know, only the Buddha has struck the balance.

mis respetos para este admirable anciano, realmente a su edad quisiera preservar toda su energia y vigor, gracias por este video.

Thanks to Nishijima-san for taking time out to explain zazen meditation. Much appreciated

@bodhidarma1 One thought on this is that by closing your eyes you close one of your senses to the outside world, and the idea in zazen is to incorporate all of reality. On the more practical side, closing your eyes increases the chance of dozing off or day dreaming. By keeping your eyes partially open you have something visual that helps prevent the mind from wandering. Thus why in most temples you face a wall to prevent distraction. Just one take on the subject anyway.

Thank you!!!

@colloredbrothers Yes...OBE=Out of Body Experience I understand that OBE/AP are not important for enlightenment but because AP happens during meditation, I thought Buddhism should discuss this topic. When you meditate right way and go deeper enough, AP always happens to me. That is the end of the road unless I continue to meditate in my astral body during OBE. Buddhism is all about meditation and Astral experience happens during meditation, this should be one of the key topics in Buddhism.

@yupiie It doesn't turn you into a zombie. It does the opposite. It makes your mind much sharper but less prone to stress and emotional distress. It allows you to see things (with the mind's eye) that you could never see before. I am personally just starting to meditate, so I haven't felt the benefits yet.

Uh, you're wrong. "The most important matter in zazen is to keep the spine straight vertically." Nishijima Roshi said it himself. The goal of zazen is NOT DISCOMFORT. full lotus is the optimum position for it's STABILITY, not because its uncomfortable. you can sit in half lotus, burmese position, seiza, in a chair, whatever, as long as you're sitting erect with the spine straight. Maintaining your balanced posture and keeping your mind on the present moment is the goal, NOT discomfort.

Every person who meditates is a mystic to some degree. It is based on introspection and the relation between oneself and the world, if you say that is anything but mystical you are the one who misunderstands the notion of meditation

Arigato Gosaimasu.

@SPRINGS02 You may feel calm, or you may not feel calm; you may feel anything. You shouldn't think you're "doing it wrong" if you don't feel calm afterwards.

Master Nishijima is great, I have his book "To Meet The Real Dragon", it's brilliant.

@kanshiketsu1 Thanks ...Lennon wrote a lot of things and said a lot of things that he didn't mean to and that were contradictory. He also said that if he had to take up a religion that would be Buddhism. Regarding the sitting position, I'm able to stick for 25 min, after that I have to let the blood come back to my legs. I also use a Nada Chair, which has been a blessing to cope with that position and back pain.

It is healthy- the reason is it relieves stress, which blocks your immune system.

and yet does it so well!

Thank you Master. Indeed, Buddhism is the philosophy of reality.

Wonderful! Thank you!

sit as you feel comfy but not too comfy as to fall asleep

Zen master Hsu-yun writes: "Ch'an [Zen] does not mean sitting (in meditation). The so-called Ch'an hall and the so-called Ch'an sitting are only provided for people (who encounter) insurmountable obstructions (of their own) and who are of shallow wisdom in this period of decadence (of the Dharma)."

Thank you 🙏

For anyone who's interested in Dogen Zenji: Gudo Nishijima has translated Shobogenzo in a four volume, full 95 fascicle form. Check it out!

much love and respect to Nishijima ive heard all about you.

i'm surprised his legs haven't cracked from bending them like that.

hard to understand.... but happy to see it!

thinking gets in the way of experience.... you dont think an experience, it actually happens in reality

yes, this is all normal. don't worry, lots of things will happen during your practice, but remember it's all a part of your mind and you should keep practicing.

I love his robes.

OH, thank you :D I was very unclear on their afterlife. I appreciate the answers. His accent can be very heavy at times.

thank you for the video i've learned a lot from it :) i plan on doing this forever

Wow. Amazing!!

Great video! Thank you.

i have 2 weeks that i started zazening ...and its amazing what is happening to my self ....but its really dificult if u don't know that exacly have to do ....u have also have some knowledge .....u also need osho ,,,,he he

a way to do to not do by desir but by energie in the creativity

doing nothing doesn't emplies that you have preset mentality of what should or shouldn't be happen in the very next moment. just take an example if earthquake arrives at the next moment you will not have the thought that whatever will come to the next moment i will sit still and do nothing. Doing nothing implies deep down you are empty , you have no thoughts, and when earthquake comes and if you are really in the state of nothingness then you will do what will be necessary things you must do.

big greeting from hungary magyarország thank you from budakeszi butsu kesa deep breath out from kakushin mokusho

such a beautiful person...

@colloredbrothers thank you my friend. I am searching your sources. So far i found some very useful information. Thanks again for your help....

heheh, socks can become uncomfortable while sitting zazen. They can roll up, create cuffs, slide around and become uncomfortable, and potentially cause your feet to go to sleep.

If you can't get both feet on your thighs, try one on your thigh and one on the floor. If you are uncomfortable with that, try both feet on the floor. But in every case, keep your feet tucked in and pointed straight. You want to keep your feet inside the tripod of knees and bottom, so the standard "indian style" of crossed legs isn't appropriate. You can rock and sway and your legs will fall asleep. Google image zazen positions. Look into Half lotus and Burmese positions.

carl77777 That is extremely difficulty! This is the reason why most of the buddhist monks preferred somewhere in the mountain...far away from the other people. Watch the clip about the Napal Buddha Boy. He was meditating for 6 months, then he moved to another place because there were too many tourists.

non-doing is harder than any doing. when a motion arises in being (whether body or mind), it takes great awareness not to be further budged by it

i practice zazen, in a messy room, the floor is uneven, but i am nondual, it bends to become balanced dream shapes the matter, theres a blanket and books, the empty pipe that i smoke pot from is like my mind, burning away thoughts all things fill with a miraculous light and disappear into the deepest compassion life as a river the meaning of the word Spirit forest growing soul growing wanti

its a big thing when your mom (my mom) and dad believe in christ. but they aren't THAT religious, they support of course, it's just a break through for me. but thanks to this video, i found out that i wasn't doing the full lotus all the way! i WAS just having my feet on lower legs, but i didn't know i had to have it on the upper legs, that i have to work on.

@DevDeathRay I have to disagree.... Having no expectations on my practice other than relaxing my mind, I suddenly entered a state of complete bliss that lasted several seconds, it was quite an experience.... Perhaps many people relate this to new age mysticism since it does help achieve things such as OBEs... furthermore the practice of zazen alone is said to lead to spiritual enlightenment...so I dont think it is "just sitting", it is quite awesome....

Well said

He looks like my grand father.

@DevDeathRay Except when entering satori, what is more Zazen is Buddhism Zen. Zen originates in Taoism which is mystical or magic in its own way and in buddhism which aknowledges some mysticism.

Great video.

In any case, it sure beats sitting around and doing nothing.

When you sit,sit. When you eat,eat. When you sleep,sleep.When you're quiet, you're quiet inside and outside. Thats zen. It is very simple yet very difficult. The point in zen is no point. You got to experience it because whatever i say may sound irrational to you.

@TheCloudXTraining In my experience iv seen that the mudra resting on your legs is not a problem it has nothing to do with energy. don't mix zazen with those belief systems zazen and zen is just being with noting special.

Think about these postures: 1) Is it truly left palm over the right? If so, why? Does it correspond with the legs? 2) If mudra is indeed near to abdomen, near to belly suspending in mid-air, isn't it creating a 'traffic jam' on the 'Chi' energy? And the spine is painful because it's not straight. 3) Shouldn't be it more natural resting the mudra on the laps? The position of mudra (which palm on top) ought to depend on the dominant hand? Can anyone give a proper instruction here?

Dana's blessing, kundalini awakening

gratitude

Insane in the "wow" sense, not literally.

not to work on u re own belly button, not to work on your own self conscience ,not to think over your own thought, and not to give yourself airs; the own arrogant persecution of the self leave the important aside. to amass money ,to amass knowledge, to amass philosophie, or to amass spirituality are the problems of the ego. to give yourself to the needy, to work denouncing power abuse,to condem de injustice ,this is real zen.and with this and a few stretching exercices .....

Thank you

This is what Jiren does 🙂

Wow a very educational video, I appreciate being able to view this. I have a few questions if anyone can answer em. 1) what is it he called the pillow? 2) when he says all you must think about is the vertacle line of the spine, then says you can experience the universe itself, does he mean after the meditation, because to study during it wouldn't be clearing the mine. 3) He says Buddism is realism, what is the afterlife like for them? Thank you. Holly

thanks for your comment, very interesting im gonna try it, must be a very special moment for the brain and im sure he shows some weird things, sorry my english is really bad. Hugs.

I was taught by no one, and actually Found out that I was doing zen inadvertantly by learning what it was fairly recently. I've meditated since I was ten or so, and gotten better at it over the years, I can do it anywhere, and at any time. What you want is languageless consciousness. Here's a Kohn of mine: if you had mirrors behind your eyelids, when you closed them, what would you see? My 2 cents: This video is kinda silly because of the traditionalism, He's zen but subjective.

@blazeryin excellent

Greetings from Mexico City!

Thank you master

Fizzy, we are all single cubes. My understanding is NOT superior to another's, just different--like one bobbing head among a row of bobbing heads-- is different from the next. The great joy is in engaging in just bobbing! What more could the mind want!

@MultiTheTyler Ah! Thank you!

It's mentioned in the information about the video: "Gudo Nishijima, an 80+ year old Japanese Zen teacher describes how to practice zazen." Great video too, BTW...

@85mariapatricia yes, but you don't DEAL with them...just let them come and go. Maybe later, you can deal with them...THE WORK of Byron Katie may be a better way to deal directly with thinking problems.

@websoull no not at all.