Article, "The Power of Shikantaza Compared to the Jhanas"

[Mark Foote]

Quote

 

I came across this article I had bookmarked whilst looking for something else and thought of you.

 

https://zenfields.org/shikantaza-jhanas/

 

It really does a nice job of talking about the similarities and differences of the jhanas/early Buddhism approach and the later Ch'an/Zen approach to meditation.
 

 

Stirling messaged me the above, and I'm grateful to him for thinking of me and for suggesting the article.

We thought maybe others might be interested in the comparison between the concentrations Gautama outlined and Soto Zen's shikantaza (although I know that Dao Bums is more about the writing for most of us and less about following links to some reading, oh well!).

I'll start...

 

Daishin McCabe, the author of the article, has a thorough grounding in the Soto Zen teachings and, no doubt, the practice of the school. His Zen biography is included under the "About" tab. In the article, he is clearly hoping to establish a difference between the teachings on concentration in the Pali Canon and the teachings of the Mahayana/Soto school of Zen on shikantaza.

 

It's a complicated issue, not least because McCabe is also concerned with enlightenment, and he frames the discussion in terms of a difference he perceives between enlightenment in the Pali sermons and enlightenment through the Mahayana/Soto Zen lens.

 

In the last year, my eyes have been opened to the fact that Gautama did not equate the attainment of any of the concentrations with enlightenment. As it turns out, even the attainment of the final concentration doesn't necessarily result in the "intuitive wisdom" that guarantees the total destruction of the three cankers (the three “cankers” were said to be three cravings:  “craving for the life of sense”, “craving for becoming”, and “craving for not-becoming” [DN 22; Pali Text Society vol. ii p 340]). According to Gautama, only the total destruction of the three cankers amounted to enlightenment (MN 70).

Gautama stated that he himself acquired gnosis, "profound knowledge", or "intuitive wisdom" while abiding in the fourth of the initial concentrations, when he turned his mind to various psychic phenomena, including his own "past abidings and future habitations" (past and future lives). His cankers were completely destroyed, like palm trees cut down at the root never to grow again.

 

At the same time, Gautama recommended a particular was of living as "a thing perfect in itself, and a pleasant way of living besides". He declared that way of living to have been his own, both before and after enlightenment (SN 54.8 & 54.11). It's the mindfulness of Anapanasati sermon (MN 118), for anyone who is interested.

My understanding is that Gautama's way of living required the attainment of the concentration that he characterized as "the cessation of inbreathing and outbreathing", meaning the cessation of willful or intentional activity in the body in the activity of inhalation and exhalation.

Here's where it gets interesting. From a post I'm writing now:

 

Shunryu Suzuki described shikantaza, or “just sitting”, as “not so easy”:
 

So most teacher may say shikantaza is not so easy, you know. It is not possible to continue more than one hour, because it is intense practice to take hold of all our mind and body by the practice which include everything. So in shikantaza, our mind should pervade every parts of our physical being. That is not so easy.

(I have nothing in my mind, Shunryu Suzuki, July 15, 1969)
 

Gautama spoke similarly about the mind pervading the body:
 

… seated, (one) suffuses (one’s) body with purity by the pureness of (one’s) mind so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded with purity by the pureness of (one’s) mind.

(AN 5.28, tr. PTS vol. III pp 18-19, see also MN 119 PTS vol. III pp 132-134)

 

“The pureness of mind” Gautama referred to is the pureness of the mind without any will or intent with regard to the activity of the body.

In Gautama’s teaching, the extension of “purity by the pureness of mind” belonged to the last of four concentrations. The initial concentration is induced, said Gautama, by “making self-surrender the object of thought”:

 

… the (noble) disciple, making self-surrender the object of (their) thought, lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness.  (The disciple), aloof from sensuality, aloof from evil conditions, enters on the first trance, which is accompanied by thought initial and sustained, which is born of solitude, easeful and zestful, and abides therein.
 

(SN 48.10, tr. PTS vol V p 174; parentheticals paraphrase original; “initial” for “directed”, as at SN 36.11, tr. PTS vol IV p 146)
 

 
In my experience, “one-pointedness” occurs when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a singular location in the body, and a person “lays hold of one-pointedness” when they remain awake as the singular location shifts.
 

... I would say the activity of the body in the fourth concentration is entirely “reflex movement” occasioned by the placement of attention. To remain awake as the placement of attention that occasions activity shifts is “just to sit”.
 

When a presence of mind is retained as the placement of attention shifts, then the natural tendency toward the free placement of attention draws out thoughts initial and sustained, and brings on the stages of concentration.

(Shunryu Suzuki on Shikantaza and the Theravadin Stages)

 

 

A long post to say, shikantaza is the practice necessary to the "thing perfect in itself" that was Gautama's way of living. As to why Zen schools regard the ability to practice shikantaza as certifiable evidence of enlightenment, rather than the complete destruction of the cankers, well--at least it's kept the practice of the essential element of Gautama's way of living alive all these centuries, even if certified Zen teachers haven't always demonstrated the most moral behavior by Western standards.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 24 by Mark Foote

[Cobie]

1 hour ago, Mark Foote said:

… shikantaza …

 

“shikantaza” the word comes from the pronunciation of

只 管 打 坐 (zhi1 guǎn dǎ zuò) only | a flute | do |  sit

 

Reminds me of Rumi, “We are as the flute, and the music in us is from thee;” 

https://allpoetry.com/We-Are-As-The-Flute  

 

Quote

… the "thing perfect in itself" …

 

That reminds me of the core of the 大 學 [(da4 xue2) ‘the Great Learning’]

格 物 (ge2 wu4) come to terms with | reality.

 

Edited September 24 by Cobie

[Mark Foote]

19 hours ago, Cobie said:

 

“shikantaza” the word comes from the pronunciation of

只 管 打 坐 (zhi1 guǎn dǎ zuò) only | a flute | do |  sit

 

Reminds me of Rumi, “We are as the flute, and the music in us is from thee;” 

https://allpoetry.com/We-Are-As-The-Flute  
 

 

 

 

 

Quote

 

That reminds me of the core of the 大 學 [(da4 xue2) ‘the Great Learning’]

格 物 (ge2 wu4) come to terms with | reality.
 

 

 

... An ancient worthy said, ‘Find the seat and put on the robe, and afterward see for yourself.’

(“Zen Letters”, tr. Cleary and Cleary, p 65)

 

 

 

 

Edited September 25 by Mark Foote

[stirling]

Thanks for putting this one up, Mark!

 

The lineage and practices of the Buddha (as described in the earliest documents we have, created some 500 years after his death) are not, on the surface, the same as those of later Buddhist traditions. Having said that, I think is important to see how they actually DO point to the same eventual illumination, and are much more similar than they may seem at a casual glance, or without deep practice. 

 

Before we start, there are a few things I wanted to clarify:

 

21 hours ago, Mark Foote said:

Daishin McCabe, the author of the article, has a thorough grounding in the Soto Zen teachings and, no doubt, the practice of the school. His Zen biography is included under the "About" tab. In the article, he is clearly hoping to establish a difference between the teachings on concentration in the Pali Canon and the teachings of the Mahayana/Soto school of Zen on shikantaza.

 

I think he is also intent on pointing out the similarities! 

 

Quote

In the last year, my eyes have been opened to the fact that Gautama did not equate the attainment of any of the concentrations with enlightenment. As it turns out, even the attainment of the final concentration doesn't necessarily result in the "intuitive wisdom" that guarantees the total destruction of the three cankers (the three “cankers” were said to be three cravings:  “craving for the life of sense”, “craving for becoming”, and “craving for not-becoming” [DN 22; Pali Text Society vol. ii p 340]).

 

Absolutely. The jhanas are "states" in that they are impermanent like anything else. What we are ultimately looking for is NOT impermanent, but always present. The jhanas ("concentrations") can be thought of as radio stations you can tune into in the experience of meditation. It is possible with some training to come across them as you meditate, and they DO have qualities that become increasingly similar to nirvana, but they don't really lead there - they just give you some idea of where the map leads. You CAN experience temporary absence of the "cravings" - but it isn't complete insight into them. They are an "introduction" to it. What we are looking for is direct experience and recognition of no-self/emptiness which NO practice precipitates.

 

Quote

So most teacher may say shikantaza is not so easy, you know. It is not possible to continue more than one hour, because it is intense practice to take hold of all our mind and body by the practice which include everything. So in shikantaza, our mind should pervade every parts of our physical being. That is not so easy.

(I have nothing in my mind, Shunryu Suzuki, July 15, 1969)

 

I think the implication here is that Suzuki disagrees, and rightfully, I would say, with what most teachers say. Most meditators with even a few months of experience sitting at least 30 or so minutes at a time will have been through and past most of the jhanas and my have even experience cessation without realizing what they were looking at. Cessation is what you rest in, and continually reestablish in shikantaza. 

 

Quote

“The pureness of mind” Gautama referred to is the pureness of the mind without any will or intent with regard to the activity of the body.

 

...and SO much more... no time/space/self present when the mind is "pure". No-one to have will or intent, or control any phenomena. No body to control. 

 

Quote

A long post to say, shikantaza is the practice necessary to the "thing perfect in itself" that was Gautama's way of living. As to why Zen schools regard the ability to practice shikantaza as certifiable evidence of enlightenment, rather than the complete destruction of the cankers, well--at least it's kept the practice of the essential element of Gautama's way of living alive all these centuries, even if certified Zen teachers haven't always demonstrated the most moral behavior by Western standards.

 

The answer is that shikantaza is enlightenment in this moment. Where there is perfect being-ness shikantaza there are temporarily no cankers. This can be seen in your own practice. Ask yourself, when the mind is clear and still are there “craving for the life of sense”, “craving for becoming”, and “craving for not-becoming"? Cessation is possible in this moment, and so is insight into it.

[Cobie]

 

2 hours ago, Mark Foote said:

[#6 Riding the Bull Home]

Thanks, I had forgotten about that one having the flute. Could be that’s where the Rumi flute originated. Nice one.
“Creativity is taking someone else’s stuff and doing your own thing with it”. (forgot who said that).

 

 

[Mark Foote]

2 hours ago, Cobie said:

 

Thanks, I had forgotten about that one having the flute. Could be that’s where the Rumi flute originated. Nice one.
 

 

 

I think there are versions of the illustrations where no flute is present in that stage. 

The necessity of the particular movement of breath is actually calling the tune, in my estimation, so as Rumi said we're being played... ha ha.

 

 

2 hours ago, Cobie said:

“Creativity is taking someone else’s stuff and doing your own thing with it”. (forgot who said that).
 

 

 

From "hornwalker" on Reddit:
 

“Good artists borrow, great artists steal.”

 

The quote was a favorite of Steve Jobs but he was probably (mis)quoting Pablo Picasso who said “Lesser artists borrow; great artists steal” — who in turn might be rephrasing Igor Stravinsky, but both sayings may well originate in T. S. Eliot’s dictum: “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different than that from which it is torn.”

 

 

[Mark Foote]

5 hours ago, stirling said:

 

Quote

So most teacher may say shikantaza is not so easy, you know. It is not possible to continue more than one hour, because it is intense practice to take hold of all our mind and body by the practice which include everything. So in shikantaza, our mind should pervade every parts of our physical being. That is not so easy.

(I have nothing in my mind, Shunryu Suzuki, July 15, 1969)
 

I think the implication here is that Suzuki disagrees, and rightfully, I would say, with what most teachers say. Most meditators with even a few months of experience sitting at least 30 or so minutes at a time will have been through and past most of the jhanas and my have even experience cessation without realizing what they were looking at. Cessation is what you rest in, and continually reestablish in shikantaza. 

 

 

 

Reads to me like Suzuki is agreeing with most teachers, that "just sitting" is difficult. Certainly in the paragraph from another lecture about "following or counting breathing", he described shikantaza or "just to sit" as difficult:

 

… usually in counting breathing or following breathing, you feel as if you are doing something, you know– you are following breathing, and you are counting breathing. This is, you know, why counting breathing or following breathing practice is, you know, for us it is some preparation– preparatory practice for shikantaza because for most people it is rather difficult to sit, you know, just to sit.

(The Background of Shikantaza, Shunryu Suzuki; San Francisco, February 22, 1970)

 

 

Quote

 

 

...and SO much more... no time/space/self present when the mind is "pure". No-one to have will or intent, or control any phenomena. No body to control. 
 

 

 

Actually, the space of the body is present, as "purity by the pureness of one's mind" is extended throughout the body:

 

… seated, (one) suffuses (one’s) body with purity by the pureness of (one’s) mind so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded with purity by the pureness of (one’s) mind.

(AN 5.28, tr. PTS vol. III pp 18-19, see also MN 119 PTS vol. III pp 132-134)

 

The cessation of the fourth concentration, the concentration Gautama was describing above, is the cessation of inhalation and exhalation. I agree with you, that he's referring to the cessation of will or intent in the activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation. 

You might like this, from the piece I'm writing now:

 Gautama described the “first trance” as having feelings of zest and ease, and he prescribed the extension of those feelings:
 

… (a person) steeps, drenches, fills, and suffuses this body with zest and ease, born of solitude, so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded by this lone-born zest and ease.

(AN 5.28, tr. Pali Text Society vol. III pp 18-19)

 

Words like “steeps” and “drenches” convey that the weight of the body accompanies the feelings of zest and ease.

The weight of the body sensed at a particular point in the body can shift the body’s center of gravity, and a shift in the body’s center of gravity can result in what Moshe Feldenkrais termed “reflex movement”. Feldenkrais described how “reflex movement” can be engaged in standing up from a chair:
 

…When the center of gravity has really moved forward over the feet a reflex movement will originate in the old nervous system and straighten the legs; this automatic movement will not be felt as an effort at all.

(“Awareness Through Movement”, Moshe Feldenkrais, p 78)

 

“Drenching” the body “so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded” with zest and ease allows the weight of the body and “one-pointedness” to effect “reflex movement” in the activity of the body.

In falling asleep, the mind can sometimes react to hypnagogic sleep paralysis with an attempt to reassert control over the muscles of the body, causing a “hypnic jerk”. The extension of a weighted zest and ease can pre-empt the tendency to reassert voluntary control in the induction of concentration, and make possible a conscious experience of “reflex movement” in inhalation and exhalation.

... I would say the activity of the body in the fourth concentration is entirely “reflex movement” occasioned by the ("one-pointed") placement of attention. To remain awake as the location of attention shifts and activity of the body takes place is “just to sit”.
 

 

That's also "the cessation of inhalation and exhalation".
 

 

Quote

 

Quote

A long post to say, shikantaza is the practice necessary to the "thing perfect in itself" that was Gautama's way of living. As to why Zen schools regard the ability to practice shikantaza as certifiable evidence of enlightenment, rather than the complete destruction of the cankers, well--at least it's kept the practice of the essential element of Gautama's way of living alive all these centuries, even if certified Zen teachers haven't always demonstrated the most moral behavior by Western standards.
 

 

The answer is that shikantaza is enlightenment in this moment. Where there is perfect being-ness shikantaza there are temporarily no cankers. This can be seen in your own practice. Ask yourself, when the mind is clear and still are there “craving for the life of sense”, “craving for becoming”, and “craving for not-becoming"? Cessation is possible in this moment, and so is insight into it.

 

Sure, except... most folks think that once enlightenment is attained, the cankers are cut off at the root, there is no return of the cankers. And that's how Gautama saw it, to the best of my knowledge.

Temporary enlightenment as the basis for inka?  Ok...

I am not saying that shikantaza is not a basis for transmission in the Soto Zen lineage (and one I'm grateful for), just that Gautama's enlightenment was not his regular attainment of the fourth concentration, but the gnosis he realized through psychic powers in the fourth concentration.

 

I do believe that shikantaza is vital to the mindfulness that was Gautama's way of living, and Gautama strongly recommended that way of living, saying everything else in his teaching could follow. 

 

 

Edited September 25 by Mark Foote

[Mark Foote]

On 9/25/2025 at 10:21 AM, stirling said:

 

The answer is that shikantaza is enlightenment in this moment. Where there is perfect being-ness shikantaza there are temporarily no cankers. This can be seen in your own practice. Ask yourself, when the mind is clear and still are there “craving for the life of sense”, “craving for becoming”, and “craving for not-becoming"? Cessation is possible in this moment, and so is insight into it.
 

I finished that post, if you're interested:  Just to Sit.
 

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 03:27 PM by Mark Foote