The heart of the matter -Does It Work?

The question we are often asking ourselves, but one that is rarely spoken aloud, is addressed simply and directly here by Sensei Janet Jiryu Abel in this excerpt from a talk. In the Soto school of Zen, which is the predominant sect in Japan, the practice consists almost entirely of Shikintaza or “just sitting”. Shikintaza is literally to take the posture of Zazen and just sit there with no goals, no aspirations, no good, no bad, just sit. There are no cookies or trophies. You don’t necessarily get up from sitting feeling great that you did it. You may rise from your noble posture only to ask yourself why the hell would anybody just sit there like a dumbass.

Practice and a dream

I had a dream just now that was quite interesting. Zen doesn’t seem to put a lot of stock in dreams. I’ve heard it’s the result of too much sleep (not the case for this one however). I think the ancients paid more attention to them. I’ve belonged to some dream groups and had Jungian analysis, which often uses dreams. To me dreams are a message from myself to myself. A letter maybe telling me what is happening in my life.

This dream had a lot of repeathing themes. It was set in a huge home that seemed to have endless new wings.