Sanshin Alexander, Rev.

Often in our practice it is helpful to go back to basics, to see what it is we are doing in meditation. The aspect I’d like to draw out is ‘deliberate thought’. I imagine that these words will remind you immediately of Dōgen’s Rules for Meditation. This is one of the three scriptures that we recite every day, which also include the Scripture of Great Wisdom and the Ancestral Line. It is that important, and it is the heart of our practice. We recite it to remind ourselves each day of what we are doing in zazen.

The particular sentence that this phrase comes from has been called (by Rev. Master Daishin) “probably the most important sentence in the whole work.”¹ It encapsulates what we are doing. It comes at the end of the description of our physical posture in meditation. So we are already grounded in what we are doing on a physical level. We are engaged in it with our bodies and minds. This is the foundation of our practice, which is ‘just being’:

“Sway the body left and right, then sit steadily, neither trying to think, nor trying not to think; just sitting, with no deliberate thought, is the important aspect of Serene Reflection Meditation.”²

What is important is that part of the sentence that says “Neither trying to think, nor trying not to think.” So, what is that? Some of you, or all of you, may be familiar with the analogy of sitting under a bridge that Rev. Master Jiyu used to describe the activity of meditation. We don’t wander off with the thought; we just sit. If there is traffic, we let it go by; if there are thoughts, we let them go by. If there is no traffic and no thought, we just sit:

“All that is required in meditation is that one sit with a positive attitude of mind, knowing that, if one does so, one will indeed find the True Buddha within oneself. I have often used the example of sitting under a bridge to illustrate the above. One sits beneath a bridge across which traffic is travelling in both directions. One does not climb upon the bridge to hitch a ride in one of the cars, nor does one chase after them; one also makes no attempt to push the cars off the bridge. One cannot ignore that the cars are there; one does not have to be bothered by them. If a person does get caught by his or her thoughts which, in the beginning, is quite likely, it is important not to worry about it. One merely accepts the fact that one was caught and continues to sit, without worrying about the fact that one was caught or being guilty about it. No matter what one does, one cannot change the fact that one was caught and, if one worries about it, one just does not become peaceful enough to return to meditation. One should avoid guilt at all costs concerning this; there is nothing so destructive as guilt in this regard.”³

It’s not something you can pin down. It’s not graspable because it’s something fluid. This strikes me as a reasonable description of meditation in that it’s not something that you can necessarily define, but you can say what it isn’t. We can say that it is letting natural thought pass by, so it does help us to be clear in our minds what is natural thought and what is deliberate thought. In Rev. Master Daishin’s Buddha Recognizes Buddha he describes natural thought as those ‘thoughts that seem to occur unbidden.’⁴ We don’t invite the thoughts; we’re not looking for them. They’re just there, like any other phenomenon. This is our life, and it is the natural flow of life. If we find ourselves wandering off with the traffic, what are we doing?

When we are not content to dwell in just being, to dwell in reality as it is, at some level, are we trying to figure out a way of making our lives OK, of dreaming up a scenario which is better than the one we are faced with? It is very important that we don’t judge ourselves, but when we notice we are wandering off, it is an opportunity to remind ourselves that meditation is living our life as it is now, and we can bring ourselves back to the physical reality of just sitting, of just being.

Deliberate thought is also referred to as volitional thought. There is an act of will in this; there is a choice to wander off in our thoughts. To bring ourselves back to just sitting and observing natural thought is also a choice; choosing to dwell in the reality that is here now.

There is a chapter in Rev. Master Daishin’s Buddha Recognizes Buddha entitled ‘Asking “What is This?”. When we notice what we are doing in meditation we can come back to this question. It is one that has been used traditionally in Zen practice to penetrate the reality of what we are doing, of what we are. When we notice that we are wandering off in our minds we can use that question as an inner sense, not necessarily as a formal verbal question, but as a way to see more deeply within. When we return to the deeper sense of what this is it may appear to be nothing, but we do need to spur ourselves on to look deeper. Rev. Master Daishin describes what we are doing when we are pursuing trains of deliberate thought:

“Essentially, fantasies, memories and projections that seem to be obstructions to meditation arise because we seek a refuge outside of ourselves. This becomes clearer when we see that our fantasies and wanderings are the product of either fear or desire. They arise through our aversion or attachment to those things we understand as other than ourselves. For example, maybe someone has ‘made’ you angry and, feeling slighted, you rehearse scenarios in your mind in which you get the upper hand. Your anger stems from the fear of rejection. You want the other person to give you respect so you can respect yourself. This is to see the refuge as outside of yourself.”⁵

So, deliberate thought can become a projection; it can be a way of looking for something that isn’t within us, to make things OK. This is not what we are trying to do in meditation. The refuge we are seeking is within ourselves; it is there already, and it is in opening up to our true being that we can find a true refuge.

If you read other translations of Fukanzazengi you won’t find any reference to deliberate thought. Other translators are still pointing to the same thing, and it is helpful to look at their translations to explore more deeply what we are doing in zazen. In Tanahashi’s version the sentence is as follows:

‘Having adjusted your body in this manner, take a breath and exhale fully, then sway your body to left and right. Now sit steadfastly and think not-thinking. How do you think not-thinking? Beyond thinking. This is the essential art of zazen.’⁶

Tanahashi is likewise drawing out the important aspect of Dōgen’s Rules for Meditation, which is the ungraspable; that which can’t be pinned down. Essentially it is the same teaching.

Waddell and Abe’s translation is slightly different again; similar to Tanahashi’s:

‘Once you have adjusted yourself into this posture, take a deep breath, inhale, exhale, rock your body to the right and left, and settle into a steady, unmoving sitting position. Think of not-thinking. How do you think of not-thinking? Nonthinking. This in itself is the essential art of zazen.’⁷

There is a translation of that core sentence by Masunaga, and his version is:

‘Think the unthinkable. How do you think the unthinkable? Think beyond thinking and unthinking. This is the important aspect of sitting.’⁸

So we have these different translations of Dōgen’s original to describe the essential activity of zazen: ‘Just sitting, with no deliberate thought’, ‘Beyond thinking’ , ‘Nonthinking’, or ‘Think beyond thinking and unthinking.’You could probably find even more ways of expressing this, but it is clear from reading these translations that here we are not considering ordinary patterns of habitual thought. What we do in zazen is not deliberate thought; it is something that penetrates beyond these things, and certainly, letting go of deliberate thought is fundamental to it.

In Rev. Master Jiyu’s essay on ‘How to Sit’, contained in the volume entitled The Art of Just Sitting, and also in the booklet Serene Reflection Meditation she is very clear on this subject:

“One must not deliberately try to think, nor deliberately try not to think. Thoughts come and go in our heads, and we can either play with them, or just sit there and allow them to pass. Too many of us allow ourselves to be hijacked by our thoughts, while some try to deliberately push them away; both of these activities are completely incorrect. The Japanese distinguish between deliberate thought and natural thought. There is absolutely nothing wrong with natural thought. Because our ears are not plugged up during meditation, it is normal for us to hear cars passing on the roads and birds singing; because our eyes are not closed, it is only reasonable that we will notice patterns on the carpet, floor or wall. These things will only disturb us if we permit ourselves to discuss them in our own minds. If one merely notices that a car is going by, there will be no problem. However, if one notices that a car is going by and becomes annoyed or pleased about it, then meditation has already ceased. All that is required in meditation is that one sit with a positive attitude of mind, knowing that if one does so one will indeed find the true Buddha within oneself.”

So there is absolutely no doubt in her mind of the importance of letting go of deliberate thought. The importance of this is made more clear when we extend the activity of zazen into daily life. When we are driving a car or washing dishes or eating a meal and our thoughts are elsewhere, then what are we doing? Just to be, just to talk, just to walk, without following or fuelling the thoughts that arise and making them into a train of thought, is what we are trying to do. Otherwise we can be swimming around in distractions. This is a difficult challenge, and it is best not to get hung up on this question, but we can also catch a glimpse of the immeasurable depths of meditation when we rise to this challenge. In his Instructions on How to do Pure Meditation, Great Master Keizan speaks very powerfully and poetically of what meditation is at a deep level:

“Pure meditation opens us so that we may directly realize the Foundation of our minds and dwell content within our own Buddha Nature. This is called ‘displaying our Original Face’. It is also called ‘revealing the landscape of our Original Nature’. Body and Mind both drop off, with no clinging to sitting up or lying down. Hence, there are no discriminatory thoughts of ‘this is good’ or ‘this is bad’. You readily go beyond thoughts of ‘this is worldly’ or ‘this is saintly’. You penetrate into, and go on beyond, the multitude of notions and theories about delusion versus enlightenment. You leave far behind the boundary between ‘ordinary beings’ and ‘Buddhas’. Therefore, you cease to pant after the myriad phenomena and let go of all attachments to them.”⁹

Great Master Keizan is directly penetrating the deeper levels of what we are doing in meditation, which is ultimately to let go of everything, to go beyond deliberate thought and all notions, concepts and ideas of what that is. Deliberate thought is how we create the story of our separate self, wandering off in our minds and constructing ideas of how we think we are, how we think others are, how we think reality is or how we would like it to be. Keizan is referring to going beyond this completely. Letting go of deliberate thought is the starting point for letting go of all attachments.

Notes

• 1. Morgan, Rev. Master Daishin. Buddha Recognizes Buddha (Throssel Hole Press, 2010) p. 169.
• 2. Jiyu-Kennett, Rev. Master. Trans of Dōgen’s Fukanzazengi (Rules for Meditation) in Scriptures and Ceremonies booklet available at OBC temples and groups and online here https://www.shastaabbey.org/pdf/rules4md.pdf.
• 3. Jiyu-Kennett, Rev. Master. How to Sit in Serene Reflection Meditation (Mt. Shasta, CA: Shasta Abbey Press, 2016) p.11. and at https://shastaabbey.org/pdf/SRM.pdf
• 4. Buddha Recognizes Buddha, p. 169.
• Buddha Recognizes Buddha p. 72.
• 6. Great Master Dōgen. Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, Vol. II Kazuaki Tanahashi ed. (Boston and London: Shambhala, 2010) p.98.
• 7. Waddell, Norman and Abe, Masao. The Heart of Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō, (State University of New York, Albany, 2002) p.4.
• 8. Masunaga, Prof. Reiho., Sōtō Approach to Zen (Layman Buddhist Society Press, Tokyo, 1958) Chapter 7.
• 9. Buddhist Writings on Meditation and Daily Practice (Mt. Shasta, CA: Shasta Abbey Press, 1994)

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