Shikan taza

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shikan taza (C. zhiguan dazuo; K. chigwan t’ajwa 祇/只管打坐) is a Japanese term translated as "just sitting", which refers to the style of meditation prominent in the Sōtō Zen tradition.[1] In this style of meditation "the act of sitting itself is thought to be the manifestation of enlightenment."[1]

The Sōtō school attributes the introduction of this style of practice to Dogen, who claimed to have learned it from Tiantong Rujing, his Chinese Caodong zong teacher.[1]

According to the Sōtō tradition, in this degenerate age of the dharma (J. mappō), a radical simplification of practice was necessary.[1]

Hence, rather than attempting to master the full range of meditative techniques techniques used for concentrating the mind, such as counting the breaths (J. susokukan) or investigating a Zen question (J. kanna Zen; C. kanhua chan), Dōgen is claimed to have advocated “just sitting” in the posture that had been used by the buddhas (e.g., Shakyamuni’s seven days beneath the Bodhi Tree) and the patriarchs of Zen (e.g., Bodhidharma’s “wall contemplation,” C. biguan).
As the later Sōtō school interprets shikan taza, by maintaining this posture of “just sitting,” the mind would also become stabilized and concentrated in a state of full clarity and alertness, free from any specific content (i.e., “with body and mind sloughed off,” J. shinjin datsuraku). By adopting this posture of the buddhas and patriarchs, the student’s own body and mind would thus become identical to the body and mind of his spiritual ancestors.[1]

Hence, according to the Sōtō tradition, shikan taza is the most genuine form of meditation in which a Buddhist adept can engage.[1]

The later Sōtō tradition emphasized the distinction between shikan taza and the use of kōans (C. gong'an) in the rival Rinzai Zen school, portraying the use of kōans in meditation training as an inferior, expedient attempt at concentration.[1]

According to the Princeton Dictionary, however, in Dōgen’s own writings,

there is little of this later Sōtō portrayal of the psychological dimensions of “just sitting”; instead, Dōgen uses shikan taza simply as a synonym of “sitting in meditation” (zazen, C. zuochan), and may have spent most of his time while “just sitting” in the contemplation of kōans.[1]

The practice of shikan taza

James Ishmael Ford states:

The term shikan taza describes a practice that happens not only as we sit, but also as we stand, walk, and engage in all of our waking activities. It sometimes even infuses our sleep, becoming the content of our dreams. This practice is sometimes called "silent illumination," or "serene contemplation." While "just sitting" is really just a simple way of saying "being present," people often have trouble grasping what it really means. Shikan taza reveals the ancient nature of our human minds.
[...] Consider the following words of the great master Yaoshan Weiyan, who lived from the first half of the eighth century through the first quarter of the ninth century. When asked what he thought while sitting in meditation, he replied, "I think of not-thinking." When asked how he did that, he replied, "beyond-thinking."
[...]
"Just sitting" shouldn't be understood as mere quietism; nor is it a way to dwell in states of bliss, suppress our thoughts, or cultivate any kind of blankness. Shikan taza invites us to intimately be within the spaciousness that includes thought, as well as the space outside the thoughts, and the very thoughts themselves. We are invited to simply experience the natural expansiveness of our mind, and whatever it may reveal – even if what it reveals is an experience of contraction![2]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. shikan taza.
  2. ↑ Ford 2006, p. 29-30.

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