Thanks. This is brilliant. I am really fascinated by all this. I'm drawn to the sitting and doing nothing more than the philosophy and poetry stuff and your talking openly and plain Englishly about all of these things seems illuminating to me (although isnit all just makyo?). It seems like just a really bizarre hobby, on some level, sitting still for some period of time every day and feeling a bit irritable. Glad to find theres others a bit like me.
When I was younger, I always wanted to have a psychedelic experience. I wanted to turn on and have a breakthrough moment. My head was filled with the writings of Timothy Leary and Arthur Janov. Later in life, I discovered the writings of Roshi Kapleau and the Rochester Zen Centre. I’ve come and gone with Zazen. If I’m honest, I’m still struggling with wanting something transcendent to happen.
Thanks Brad, needed to hear this again. Struggling with this all the time, I go from sitting zazen in the morning, as difficult and frustrating that can be...then it's time to get the kids up for school...frustration overload 😂 it's easy to beat yourself up when you feel this way. Take care, Glen.
Excellent video, Brad. Thanks! I was talking about this with a friend a few months ago. It was on my birthday, oddly. I mentioned that I do (or try to do) zen style meditation everyday and she replied that "meditation is soooo boring" and she does a kind of meditation called Human Design that is an "active meditation". I listened and it sounded very strange to me, more of a walking mindfullness practice than anything, but I suppose if it works for her it's good. Anyway, I used that exact line in our conversation that you were trying to think of, "being bored in meditation is a feature not a bug"
eckhart tolle has one of those impossible questions, "what is my next thought going to be" they are good at silencing the mind. having ADHD feels like the monkey mind is super powered sometimes.
yes ADHD is my constant struggle within Zazen. A technique that has helped me is telling myself "I am a part of the universe allowing itself to do this thing and it's OK." I know that itself is also a distraction but it helps me come back to the point. I often struggle with feelings of "why am I even trying this, what do I think of myself" and it's OK to feel that way because that is the essence of the practice itself lol
Have you read, "Approach to Zen: The Reality of Zazen/Modern Civilization and Zen" by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi (Author)? I bought mine copy at Half Price Books.
You say that zazen is about "watching the frustration arise and, instead of doing something about the frustration, ... you keep doing this frustrating practice, watching over and over as the frustration arises," and "just keep letting it happen." Isn't that also setting up an expectation you can be legitimately frustrated about? Isn't something "wrong" about zazen if this watching thoughts/feeling arise isn't occurring, and wouldn't any frustration about that be legitimate? I'm writing this because this is my experience, and the reason this "watching" doesn't happen is obsessive thinking and aggressive daydreaming. I don't seem to have any choice whether I get caught up in thoughts or not. Currently I feel it's accurate to describe this as having the ability to watch thoughts go, but not having any ability to watch thoughts arrive/arise. The "arising" part seems to be entirely unconscious for me. And my awareness of arising thoughts doesn't seem to be improving after 14 years of daily practice. I've worked with other teachers on this, and they either seem to kind of shrug their shoulders or tell me some variation on "count your breaths", which doesn't work. Is this something that I just need to allow myself to feel frustrated about? Kodo Sawaki said zazen has no purpose. Does that mean it's reasonable to expect you can sit zazen every day for your entire life and experience no increased awareness of your inner experience, just having a 20 - 30 minute session of obsessive thinking and daydreaming? I feel like no zen teachers admit to that, and "zazen is meaningless" is more a metaphor meant to intentionally frustrate only a certain type of expectation, not all expectations. It's meant to frustrate people trying to have a particular experience and/or achieve power. I've never heard anyone say "You might commit to zazen and not experience any increased awareness of your internal process whatsoever your entire life." But, if zazen were truly meaningless, wouldn't that be a very real possibility, that not even awareness would improve? Why would anyone commit to that? I hope I'm not coming across as a smartass; these are sincere questions for me. Thanks for your channel!
My cat Dexter would not have run away. He would have instead put Ziggy in check. Dexter would protect the yard and our other cat Sylvester. So many trips to the veterinarian. He was an awesome cat. Frustration…. yup,…… frustration My frustration still has not presented itself in pain or inflexibility but with this stupid, piece of hamburger, folded-flesh piece we call the mind. Yup….
i can't sing in tune either, but on the other hand, i don't try ! i think you have to find mediation interesting and in my observation , most people don't
People get frustrated with sitting meditation for two reasons primarily. 1. Lack of flexibility around the hips and back of the thighs. 2. Lack of strength in the back...from the base of the spine to the back of the head. Lack of flexibility will make it impossible to sit upright. Lack of strength will cause your head and torso to fall forward. Are you supposed to experience something that could be called BLISS? Yes of course...both the Pali and Mahayana texts speak of it endlessly. Are you supposed to experience insight and awakening? Yes of course....without insight and awakening Buddhism is meaningless.
A BUG! A BUG! The opposite of a feature is a bug. Now I know how a ghost must feel. LOL
omg me too 😜 (injecting a little frustration into this talk to illustrate the point? 😂)
Thanks, Brad. Extremely helpful. And comforting. Glad it's not just me.
"Look out for the cats of the mind!"
You should write a book with that title.
Fun surprise - The Concept! Such a rad song.
Thanks. This is brilliant. I am really fascinated by all this. I'm drawn to the sitting and doing nothing more than the philosophy and poetry stuff and your talking openly and plain Englishly about all of these things seems illuminating to me (although isnit all just makyo?). It seems like just a really bizarre hobby, on some level, sitting still for some period of time every day and feeling a bit irritable. Glad to find theres others a bit like me.
When I was younger, I always wanted to have a psychedelic experience. I wanted to turn on and have a breakthrough moment. My head was filled with the writings of Timothy Leary and Arthur Janov. Later in life, I discovered the writings of Roshi Kapleau and the Rochester Zen Centre. I’ve come and gone with Zazen. If I’m honest, I’m still struggling with wanting something transcendent to happen.
Thanks Brad, needed to hear this again. Struggling with this all the time, I go from sitting zazen in the morning, as difficult and frustrating that can be...then it's time to get the kids up for school...frustration overload 😂 it's easy to beat yourself up when you feel this way. Take care, Glen.
the straight forward answer to snapping your fingers is a pretty good one. Arising and passing away.
"it's a feature, not a bug"
That's what I was trying to think of! Thanks!
"That's the contents of your zazen".....
Excellent video, Brad. Thanks! I was talking about this with a friend a few months ago. It was on my birthday, oddly. I mentioned that I do (or try to do) zen style meditation everyday and she replied that "meditation is soooo boring" and she does a kind of meditation called Human Design that is an "active meditation". I listened and it sounded very strange to me, more of a walking mindfullness practice than anything, but I suppose if it works for her it's good. Anyway, I used that exact line in our conversation that you were trying to think of, "being bored in meditation is a feature not a bug"
Just make sure you don't expect frustration. If it comes, that's what you've expected so no frustration. If it doesn't come, then you're frustrated.
eckhart tolle has one of those impossible questions, "what is my next thought going to be" they are good at silencing the mind. having ADHD feels like the monkey mind is super powered sometimes.
yes ADHD is my constant struggle within Zazen.
A technique that has helped me is telling myself "I am a part of the universe allowing itself to do this thing and it's OK."
I know that itself is also a distraction but it helps me come back to the point. I often struggle with feelings of "why am I even trying this, what do I think of myself" and it's OK to feel that way because that is the essence of the practice itself lol
Maybe you should give Ziggy a koan to practice when you leave the house.
What is the sound of no cat meowing?
Muf! Muf!
Have you read, "Approach to Zen: The Reality of Zazen/Modern Civilization and Zen"
by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi (Author)? I bought mine copy at Half Price Books.
You say that zazen is about "watching the frustration arise and, instead of doing something about the frustration, ... you keep doing this frustrating practice, watching over and over as the frustration arises," and "just keep letting it happen."
Isn't that also setting up an expectation you can be legitimately frustrated about? Isn't something "wrong" about zazen if this watching thoughts/feeling arise isn't occurring, and wouldn't any frustration about that be legitimate?
I'm writing this because this is my experience, and the reason this "watching" doesn't happen is obsessive thinking and aggressive daydreaming. I don't seem to have any choice whether I get caught up in thoughts or not. Currently I feel it's accurate to describe this as having the ability to watch thoughts go, but not having any ability to watch thoughts arrive/arise. The "arising" part seems to be entirely unconscious for me. And my awareness of arising thoughts doesn't seem to be improving after 14 years of daily practice. I've worked with other teachers on this, and they either seem to kind of shrug their shoulders or tell me some variation on "count your breaths", which doesn't work. Is this something that I just need to allow myself to feel frustrated about? Kodo Sawaki said zazen has no purpose. Does that mean it's reasonable to expect you can sit zazen every day for your entire life and experience no increased awareness of your inner experience, just having a 20 - 30 minute session of obsessive thinking and daydreaming? I feel like no zen teachers admit to that, and "zazen is meaningless" is more a metaphor meant to intentionally frustrate only a certain type of expectation, not all expectations. It's meant to frustrate people trying to have a particular experience and/or achieve power. I've never heard anyone say "You might commit to zazen and not experience any increased awareness of your internal process whatsoever your entire life." But, if zazen were truly meaningless, wouldn't that be a very real possibility, that not even awareness would improve? Why would anyone commit to that?
I hope I'm not coming across as a smartass; these are sincere questions for me. Thanks for your channel!
Cats of the Mind. 😊
I don’t get frustrated when sitting with the sangha. Sometimes at home I get frustrated or whatever.
brad xzen your xen is throuwing your tv-remote control on the floor
throwing it up may be a comment of Ziggy
you never looked up your refridgerator. you know. artist is here. love now
In Rinzai, they will SMASH you in the back of the head with a wooden stick.
Yeah, I find the sounds of the stick being used on people’s backs while sitting in Zazen in the Zendo really triggering sometimes.
Soooooooo- four noble truths? 😎
Teenage Fanclub! You know Bandwagonesque was rated album of the year 1991 by Spin Magazine ahead of Nevermind?
I know!
So, when are you coming to Costa Rica?
My cat Dexter would not have run away. He would have instead put Ziggy in check. Dexter would protect the yard and our other cat Sylvester. So many trips to the veterinarian. He was an awesome cat.
Frustration…. yup,…… frustration
My frustration still has not presented itself in pain or inflexibility but with this stupid, piece of hamburger, folded-flesh piece we call the mind. Yup….
i can't sing in tune either, but on the other hand, i don't try ! i think you have to find mediation interesting and in my observation , most people don't
What if I don't get frustrated? I really enjoy the practice as it is. Does that mean that I'm doing zazen wrong?
I can't get frustrated. Is there a way to experience it? Or do I do zazen wrong?
You sound frustrated over your lack of frustration.
It's a feature not a bug, that's how the kids say it these days.
When you sing weird harmonies, is that a feature or a bug?
Ha ha. Go pound sand...
People get frustrated with sitting meditation for two reasons primarily.
1. Lack of flexibility around the hips and back of the thighs.
2. Lack of strength in the back...from the base of the spine to the back of the head.
Lack of flexibility will make it impossible to sit upright.
Lack of strength will cause your head and torso to fall forward.
Are you supposed to experience something that could be called BLISS?
Yes of course...both the Pali and Mahayana texts speak of it endlessly.
Are you supposed to experience insight and awakening?
Yes of course....without insight and awakening Buddhism is meaningless.
Buddhism is meaningless.
@@HardcoreZen
How would you know?
dukkha
Gassho