Draft Talk On Zazen, Part I

Many inner practices are called "meditation." I will speak only about zazen, just sitting meditation. I will not give instruction in the practice of zazen because I am not qualified to do that but, if anyone would like to receive instruction, then I can tell them where to go for it. You will pick up some idea of what zazen is about from what I am going to say. 

Zazen is not trance, concentration, visualization, mantra or koan. It is a normal state of consciousness. We are aware of our surroundings while we meditate. If the fire alarm goes off while we are sitting for zazen, then we hear it and respond. We do not sit in a trance and burn to death. So, if zazen is ordinary consciousness, then why do we call it a meditation practice? That is the central question, to which I will return.

In every waking moment, a conscious mind receives inputs from the external world and outputs from the unconscious mind and thinks about them so here are three processes: inputs, outputs and thought. However, we must complicate the description slightly in order to differentiate between two kinds of thought. 

Inputs are what we see and hear. Outputs are natural thoughts, arising spontaneously, becoming conscious, entering consciousness from unconscious memories and mental processes. When we think about inputs or outputs, that is deliberate thought. Thus, we are making a three-fold distinction not between inputs, outputs and thoughts but between inputs, outputs (which are natural thoughts) and deliberate thoughts.

In zazen, we address all three processes. We minimize inputs, practice nonattachment to outputs and temporarily suspend deliberate thought.