SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: September Zazenkai

Please 'sit-a-long' with our September "Zazenkai" (running time: approx. 4 hours) ...

The sitting schedule is as follows:

00:00 – 00:50 CEREMONY (HEART SUTRA English Only / SANDOKAI) & ZAZEN
00:50 – 01:00 KINHIN
01:00 – 01:40 ZAZEN
01:40 – 01:50 KINHIN
01:50 – 02:30 DHARMA TALK & ZAZEN
02:30 – 02:40 KINHIN
02:40 – 03:20 ZAZEN
03:20 – 03:30 KINHIN
03:30 – 04:00 FUKANZAZENGI & ZAZEN, VERSE OF ATONEMENT, FOUR VOWS, & CLOSING

I SUGGEST THAT YOU POSITION YOUR ZAFU ON THE FLOOR IN A PLACE WHERE YOU ARE NOT STARING DIRECTLY AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN, BUT CAN GLANCE OVER AND SEE THE SCREEN WHEN NECESSARY. YOUR ZAFU SHOULD ALSO BE IN A POSITION WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE COMPUTER SCREEN WHILE STANDING IN FRONT OF THE ZAFU FOR THE CEREMONIES.

ALSO, REMEMBER TO SET YOUR COMPUTER (& SCREEN SAVER) SO THAT IT DOES NOT SHUT OFF DURING THE 4 HOURS.

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NOTE: IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE TO SEE THE SCREEN OR START BUTTON,
PLEASE UPDATE FLASH. SEE HERE

SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Four Noble Truths III

REMINDER: OUR 4 HOUR MONTHLY ZAZENKAI IS TOMORROW, SATURDAY, FROM 9PM JAPAN TIME ... BE THERE OR JUST BE.

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An alternative wording of the Four Noble Truths is [emphasis added] ...

1. Suffering exists
2. Suffering arises from attachment to desires

3. Suffering ceases when attachment to desires ceases

4. Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path

Quiz: The 'self' strongly desires X, but the world gives Y instead (e.g., a 'failure' when 'success' was desired). Great dissatisfaction, disappointment, fear, grief and/or frustration are the result. In such cases, which of the following are an effective 'medicine' to desire and suffering, and a fruit of our 'Just Sitting' Zazen Practice? (Note: several answers will overlap):

A. For the 'self' to learn to redirect its desire from X toward Y or Q (a third, available object).
B. For the 'self' to soften or drop its attachment toward X.
C. For the 'self' to develop equanimity and acceptance toward any and all outcomes.
D. For the inner desires, drives and cravings to be calmed and, thus, to lose their force.
E. For the inner desires, drives and cravings to be, when needed, forcibly restrained by willpower.
F. For the 'self' to drop all thought of both 'X' and 'Y' from mind.
G. For the sense of 'self' to soften, or fully drop away.
H. All of the above -- simultaneously or in various combinations at different times.

ANSWER: H
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My point: Practice provides a whole bag of available tricks.

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Four Noble Truths II

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In life, there's sickness, old age, death and loss ... other very hard times ...

But that's not why 'Life is Suffering'. Not at all, said the Buddha.

Instead, it's sickness, but only when we refuse the condition ...
...old age, if we long for youth ...
... death, because we cling to life ...
... loss , when we cannot let go ...
... violated expectations, because we wished otherwise ...

Our 'dissatisfaction', 'disappointment', 'unease' and 'frustration' ... Dukkha ... arises as a state of mind, as our demands and wishes for how things 'should be' or 'if only would be for life to be happy' differ from 'the way things are'. The gap is the source of Dukkha. Our Practice closes the gap

What's more, even happiness can be a source of Dukkha if we cling to the happy state, demand that it stay, are attached to good news, material successes, pleasures and the like ... refusing the way life may otherwise go.

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Heart Sutra XX (Four Noble Truths I)

The next words of the Heart Sutra are shorthand for The Four Noble Truths ...

No/ suf/fer/ing/, nor/ cause/ or/ end/ to/ suf/fer/ing/

... So, let's take a few days to talk about those Truths ...

...at the very heart of the Buddha's Teachings.

So elegant and direct, thus the very simplicity of the teaching can be lost ...

Life is Dukkha,
there is a cause for Dukkha,
there is a way to the cessation of Dukkha,
that way is the Noble Eightfold Path

So, what is 'Dukkha'?

No one English word captures the full depth and range of the Pali term Dukkha. It is sometimes rendered as 'suffering', as in 'life is suffering'. But perhaps it's better expressed as 'dissatisfaction', 'anxiety', 'disappointment' 'unease at imperfection' or 'frustration', terms that wonderfully convey a subtlety of meaning.

Your 'self' wishes this world to be X, yet this world is not X. The mental state that may result to the 'self' from this disparity is Dukkha.

Shakyamuni Buddha gave many examples ... sickness (when we do not wish to be sick), old age (when we long for youth), death (if we cling to life), loss of a loved one (as we cannot let go), violated expectations, the failure of happy moments to last (though we wish them to last). Even joyous moments ... such as happiness and good news, treasure or pleasant times ... can be a source of suffering if we cling to them, are attached to those things.

In ancient stories, Dukkha is often compared to a chariot's or potter's wheel that will not turn smoothly as it revolves. The opposite, Sukkha, is a wheel that spins smoothly and noiselessly, without resistance as it goes.

(THE FOLLOWING IS PART OF A SERIES OF TALKS & SITTINGS FROM LAST YEAR)

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: LATE!!?

I'm late, I'm late ... for a very important date (and sitting) ...

But can we truly be "late" for anything?

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NOTE: IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE TO SEE THE SCREEN OR START BUTTON,
PLEASE UPDATE FLASH. SEE HERE

SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Silent Sitting

a silent sitting ...

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NOTE: IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE TO SEE THE SCREEN OR START BUTTON,
PLEASE UPDATE FLASH. SEE HERE

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Insta-Zazen© - At the Speed of Light

Today's Zazen is only an instant (and I mean "INSTANT") ...

We are visiting the world's third largest sub-atomic particle collider, which happens to be located just 15 minutes by bicycle from Treeleaf Tsukuba. (Seen here, with Mt. Tsukuba in the background). So close, that Jundo and family will be some of the first matter sucked into the inevitable "Black Hole" ...

Our Zazen today is faster than an electron and positron will collide, hurtling at nearly the speed of light. In fact, as some of the scientists there are happy to explain, by some Heisenberg models our Zazen actually ends before it begins, while by other models it both begins and ends simultaneously, depending on the observor ... Jundo sitting Zazen endlessly in some extra dimension or parallel alternative universe ...

So, while our Zazen today will be faster than the blink of Buddha's eye ... it never ceases

Click on Picture to Play
Sitting Time: About 1 Minute