This blog will officially move to its new domain in a few days. The logo has been updated along with the header image. The website, www.senzingzen.com has the following meaning: The sensing and feeling of the energy and dynamism of Zen.
In my recent studies of various philosophies and schools of thought, I keep coming back and returning to the Soto school of Zen in Japan. Specifically I am reading and learning from these Zen Masters:
- Eihei Dogen
- Hongzai Zhengjue
- Ryokan
Emphasis and ideals I am most interested in (with my current understanding and interpretation):
Zazen: Sitting meditation, where awareness is directed inward or on the breath, as a way to regulate and empty the mind.
Mindfulness: Also an awareness, of the reality of things, and your role in and reaction to what is going on around you. It is being aware of your feelings, your thoughts, negativity, and choosing to deal with them before reacting, and discarding them from the mind. Mindfulness is realizing we have a choice in how we react to ourselves and the reality where exit within.
Cultivation: This concept has been the most challenging to understand, and put into practice. Although it is similar to mindfulness in becoming aware of things, and letting them go, I feel this is beyond just this one life / existence / reality. If we think about the field that needs cultivating, who defines what that field consists of? One idea is that everyone is given one field when they come into a physical existence. When you are reincarnated, do you receive the same field, or a chance to start over?
These are some of the subjects and philosophies that I will be exploring and writing about on this website as I continue my own path of growth and coming into the being I am supposed to be.
Links:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness_(Buddhism)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sōtō
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eihei-ji
- http://mnzencenter.org/index.php
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Zen
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dōgen
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryōkan
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hongzhi_Zhengjue
