Yesterday (Feb. 25) I had the distinct pleasure of participating in a workshop
lead by Issho Fujita, the current head of the Soto Zen International
office here in San Francisco and a sometimes resident of SFZC City
Center. He gave a workshop about practicing with the six senses, a
foundational teaching in Zen, and one which can be elusive for new and
mature practitioners alike. I really enjoyed his talk, as it echoed many
of the teachings I've received from my ordination Master Sekkei Harada.
Fujita Sensei spoke about zazen as a form of sitting in which we
endeavor to rest in an awareness of seeing, hearing, tasting, touching
and thinking, without attempting to focus on any one thing. His examples
were quite interesting, and we did some fun exercises like tugging on
our ears.
- tugging ears
Still,
one of the most interesting parts of the day came at the end, when a
participant raised her hand and offered a comment. She said that, for
her, much of what she had heard during the workshop sounded like a new
branch of science called Affect Theory. In brief, it's a field in which
psychoanalysts study the way that our most basic feelings are influenced
by our bodily functions. So it turns out that, for this woman and for
many people, Affect Theory is one of many areas of modern scientific
study that seem to be offering "proof" of Buddhist teachings. It's
fascinating because this area of science did not develop as a result of
Buddhism, yet it seems clearly in accord with it. And I have no doubt
that more and more areas of science will turn out to be like that,
demonstrating the truth of the teachings, even while starting from a
completely different approach to understanding.
This makes sense
because one way to think about practice is as an experiment. Using the
mind of inquiry and study of the teachings, we develop an idea about how
life and the greater universe really are. Then, we sit and we go about
our daily lives, and we see whether our actual experience is in accord
with our understanding. This is radically different from most religious
traditions which are based on faith.
Don't get me wrong. There's
nothing wrong with faith; it's simply that Zen doesn't rely on it. Zen
relies on actual experience and the study of the true self within the
mundane world of body/heart/mind. And zazen, the practice of Zen
sitting "meditation," is a way in which things are simplified, stopping
activity so that the study of experience is nearly unavoidable.
Sitting down or not, it seems the world is catching up to the Buddha!
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