Zazen is not about creating some kind of state.
Zazen is being the way it actually is now.
Face forward, and there is the actual way it is that you are seeing.
There is nothing between the actual way it appears and yourself.
There is only the actual way it is.
Even while you read this sentence, there is nothing between the letters and yourself.
There is nothing between something you’re hearing and yourself.
There is only what you are hearing, itself.
When eating, there is nothing between the taste and yourself.
There’s only the taste itself.
When thinking, there is nothing between a thought and yourself.
There is only the content of thinking.
From the content above, I think you can see how it was a misunderstanding if you believed that you needed to create a good zazen state.
Zen began with the Buddha’s enlightenment—the shine of the morning star.
The Buddha awakened to the morning star’s shine itself as his true nature.
In the case of Zen Master Dōgen, his satori happened when his teacher, Nyojyō Zenji, noticed that the novice sitting next to Dōgen was dozing. Nyojyō Zenji took off his straw sandal and used it to whack the dozing novice’s shoulder, saying, “Napping is not zazen!” The whack! itself was Dogen’s satori, and he realized his true nature.
The actual way it is, manifesting now, is the way satori is. This is why there is no method to satori.
When sitting, sit just as seeing, hearing, and thinking happen on their own. In this way, because it is simply the actual way it is, there is no need to judge if you are doing zazen well or not. By “no need to judge,” it means there is no need to monitor how you are sitting. “No need to monitor” means there is no need to be aware of your sitting. This is why at some point cognition can naturally cease completely and true nature becomes clear.
By Jisho (Kenichi) Matsumoto
Translated by Madoka
