Wall Gazing

[bokki]

LOL!
that is just d best gif i saw! LOL! ever!
lol, i just love cats!
thnx Azaelis!
....
master and margarita,bulgakov
LOL
pure puer!

[dharmadhope]

and so who are you, after all?

I am part of the power which forever wills evil and
forever works good.

LO
L

[dharmadhope]

(goethe: faust)

[SunWuKong]

What I like about Zen is that everything can be summed up in its entirety precisely by saying nothing at all.

[MattiV]

When I started practicing zazen about two and a half years ago, I started with wall gazing right away. It felt like such a cool idea and I didn't have a teacher to tell me 'no, you can't do it'. I don't have elaborate philosophical reasons for this particular form of practice, I just practice it.

[Malcolm]

In Bodhidharma's case "wall gazing" likely meant not a physical posture but maintaining the mind like a wall, that is, without discrimination or attachment to emotions and ideas.

According to the Tibetan translation of Bodhidharma's account, the Chinese term "facing a wall" is translated as "Facing reality."

[clyde]

Malcolm; I remember you sharing the Tibetan translation of “facing a wall” (“facing reality”) many years ago and it’s stuck with me. Thank you.

[bokki]

oh, hi Clyde!
so good to see you!
ugh, have you been edited?
LOL
mods karma, my friend, lol

very , very happy to see you here.
thank you Clyde,
for much of the wisdom you share.
b

[Mantrik]

sirs, ill just chime in a bit here...
im from soto, but that does not mean i know something, or have a valid view..
of a wall, LOL

wall gazing is just another description of soto shikantaza..
4 example, just sitting...
just sit? do not breath? dont notice when the tanto is whacking you?

just sit? lol, ull be sensing what ur neighbor sitter is not only doing, but thinking..!
the left and right one!
and the whole zendo, too,
untill u samadhi out, and they have to wake u up..

just sit?
lol, ur liver, spine and lungs will not just sit!
they will help u 2 stay alive!
so.. so many strange words and ideas..lol

anyway, wall gazing, is not wall gazing ,
but resting the eyes on a particular spot on the wall,
...
i cant and will not go on.
samadhi is the reason, but methods are many.

i was severely reprimanded for holding my hands in a different
manner, not soto mudra, but a fist mudra.
what?
so touchy, full of tradition! many, many strange things, but well, thats how it is.

so, if u call it wall gazing, or just sitting, lol, i bow 2 u!

just don't think ill buy into such..w o r d s
...well.
4 me ""just sitting", ""wall gazing"" are just an unlucky choice of words.

just DO NOT listen 2 me, plz. thnx

I think I would notice if a TANTO was whacking me, yes. The ones we used were sharp enough to shave with. I would prefer to arise, disarm and settle back into seiza without disturbing my contemplation. Odd Zendo you attended.... did you also sit on a wakazashi cushion?

[Meido]

I think I would notice if a TANTO was whacking me, yes. The ones we used were sharp enough to shave with. I would prefer to arise, disarm and settle back into seiza without disturbing my contemplation. Odd Zendo you attended.... did you also sit on a wakazashi cushion?

Different tanto. He's referring to a role in the zendo, a senior practitioner.

I like your version better though.

[bokki]

Meido Roshi, so
very , very nice to see you!
i will always bow to you, please note that!


Mantrik, very good words.
well..
on my first seshin, the short kyosaku was brokken on my back..
why was that?
see, look,
after , we even bowed , to have a bit of kyosaku..
why was that?
sir, my zendo is non of ur business
i sat on a zafu and zabuton, at home i sat on all kinds of stuff

Sir, what do you sit on?.

i mean,
UGH, OK
ill try to be more silent..
hmm..if possible..lol