“In short, zazen is seeing this world from the casket, without me.” LifeDeathMeditationImpermanenceZen BuddhismTransienceZazenContemplative Prayer Book:The Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo Source: The Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo
“If he hadn’t become a Buddhist monk, Sawaki Roshi would have been successful in a worldly sense in business, politics, or the military. Instead, he devoted his life to wholeheartedly practicing Dogen Zenji’s just sitting, or shikantaza, which according to him was good for nothing. For him, social climbing in pursuit of fame and profit was meaningless. The Japanese expression for “waste” is bonifuru, which means “sacrifice,” “lose all,” or “ruin.” So when we say he wasted his life, we use the expression in a paradoxical way—like saying that zazen is good for nothing.” MeditationZen BuddhismZazenContemplative PrayerShikantaza Book:The Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo Source: The Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo