Shikantaza
Shikantaza, often translated as "just sitting," is a form of meditation practiced in Zen Buddhism, particularly in the Sōtō school. It emphasizes a non-thinking, present-moment awareness without focusing on any specific object or thought.
In shikantaza, practitioners sit in a stable posture, observing their thoughts, feelings, and sensations as they arise, without attachment or distraction. The goal is to cultivate a deep sense of presence and to realize the nature of mind and reality. It is a practice of total immersion in the act of sitting, allowing for a direct experience of being without the interference of conceptual thought.
Shikantaza (只管打坐) is Dōgen's Japanese translation of the Chinese phrase zhǐguǎn dǎzuò (只管打坐 / 祇管打坐), "focus on meditative practice alone," although many modern Western practitioners have interpreted it very differently. The phrase was used by Dōgen's teacher Rújìng, a monk of the Cáodòng school of Chan Buddhism, to refer to the meditation-practice called "silent illumination" (Chinese: 默照禅), or "serene reflection," taught by the Cáodòng master Hóngzhì Zhēngjué (1091–1157). In Japan, it is associated with the Zen Sōtō school, Dōgen's offshoot of Cáodòng. Some practitioners teach that shikantaza means that one should not focus attention on a specific object (such as the breath), instead "just sitting" in a state of conscious awareness; however, the 13th-century origin of the expression indicates a general emphasis on meditation in any form as sufficient for spiritual enlightenment. The original teaching was meant to criticize the complicated ceremony, abstruse study, endless tracing of spiritual lineage, and other aspects of Buddhism that even by the 12th century had been identified as excessive.
"Silent illumination" or "silent reflection" was the hallmark of the Chinese Cáodòng school of Chan. The first Chan teacher to articulate silent illumination was the Cáodòng master Hóngzhì Zhēngjué (1091–1157), who wrote an inscription entitled "silent illumination meditation" (Mokushō zen 默照禅 or Mòzhào chán 默照禪). Sheng-yen explains that:
In silent illumination, "just sitting" is only the first step. While you maintain the sitting posture, you should also try to establish the "silent" state of the mind. Eventually you reach a point where the mind does not move and yet is very clear. That unmoving mind is "silent," and that clarity of mind is "illumination." This is the meaning of "silent illumination."
With the phrase shikantaza, Dōgen means "doing only zazen whole-heartedly" or "single-minded sitting." According to Merv Fowler, shikantaza is described best as "quiet sitting in open awareness, reflecting directly the reality of life." According to James Austin, shikantaza is "an alert condition, performed erect, with no trace of sluggishness or drowsiness." Fred Reinhard Dallmayr writes:
Regarding practice, Dōgen 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."
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