r/zenpractice

Hi! I wanted to ask how consistent your home zazen practice is and what times of day work best for you.

During kyol che, it feels natural that you just sit no matter what - regardless of how you feel or whether you’re in the mood. It’s the same with my weekly meditation at the temple. Unfortunately, I notice that at home I start making excuses even though sitting is super important for me.

My house is quite chaotic (attention-seeking pets, including a reactive dog), and my work hours (also from home) are pretty irregular, so it’s hard for me to find one optimal time slot. Morning zazen would seem best, but I end up fighting sleepiness and I’m getting these weird dream-like sensations. Can I work on this though? Maybe I can? My focus is best around 8 PM, but that’s when a ton of daily life stuff and chores happen.

I believe (and my teachers agree) that it’s best to sit every day for at least 10 minutes (10 thousand years…) to maintain consistency, but I’m finding it difficult to stay organized. I wanted to ask how you plan your zazen sessions. Especially those who have kids, lots of responsibilities, or generally dynamic households. Thank you!

So, the above, lol. Sometimes it's nice and funny, something reminds me of a song and then of course I will think about the lyrics and melody. But it's getting out of hand 😂🤦‍♂️

I am using my own personal "basics" for this issue but I am interested if anyone in this community has dealt with what I will call "this thought form" and had any experiences that aided them in getting the "song out of the head" haha.

One idea is to do so literally and just sing that shit if you have the time but that's not always possible. Anyone dealt with this before? Like, as in, beyond ordinary "oh that annoying song is stuck in my head here and there"

meow(: ​one of Suzuki's books ends with the poetic text of a Japanese monk describing his attainment of enlightenment.

The text says, “Now that I'm enlightened, I'm just as miserable as ever.”

As a ordinary nobody ​I’ve been sitting with this quote recently and wanted to open it up to the community for reflection.

​It raises a fascinating paradox about what we actually expect from practice versus the reality of realization.

Does awakening/enlightenment change the nature of human suffering, or does it simply strip away our resistance to it?

As a ordinary nobody my direct realization is that, it is easy to fall into the trap of viewing enlightenment as a spiritual bypass to escape raw discomfort, yet this monk seems to suggest that ordinary human experience remains completely intact.

​How do you interpret this line in light of your own reading and practice?

What does it say to you about the relationship between realization, emotion, and the everyday mind?

meow,

🙏