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Shikantaza
 
 
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is a Japanese
Japanese language

IPA: [n?iho?go] is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is related to the Ryukyuan languages....
 term for zazen
Zazen

Zazen is at the heart of Zen Buddhism practice. The aim of zazen is just sitting, "opening the hand of thought". This is done either through koans, Rinzai's primary method, or whole-hearted sitting , the Soto sect's method....
 introduced by Dogen Zenji and associated most with the Soto school of Zen Buddhism, but which also is "the base of all Zen disciplines." The term is believed to have been first used by Dogen's teacher Tiantong Rujing, and it literally means, "nothing but (shikan) precisely (ta) sitting (za)." In other words Dogen means by this, "doing only zazen whole-heartedly" or "single-minded sitting." Shikantaza implies "just sitting", and according to author James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford

James Ishmael Ford is an American Zen Buddhism and Unitarian Universalism. He was born in Oakland, California on July 17, 1948. He earned a BA in psychology from Sonoma State University, as well as an MDiv and an MA in the Philosophy of Religion, both from the Pacific School of Religion....
, "Some trace the root of this word to the pronunciation of the Pali
Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
 vipassana
Vipassana

Vipassana or vipasyana in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi ....
, though this is far from certain."

first master to write about what is more or less termed shikantaza was the Caodong
Caodong

C?od?ng is a China Zen Buddhism sect founded by Tung-shan and his Dharma-heirs in the 9th century. Some attribute the name "C?od?ng" as a union of "Dongshan" and "Caoshan" from one of his Dharma-heirs, Caoshan Benji; however, the "Cao" much more likely came from C?oxi , the "mountain-name" of Huineng, the Sixth Ancestor of Chan, as Caosh...
 master Hongzhi Zhengjue
Hongzhi Zhengjue

Hongzhi Zhengjue was a Chinese Zen Buddhist monk who authored or compiled several influential Buddhist texts. Hongzhi's conception of "silent illumination" is of particular importance to the Chinese Caodong and Japanese Soto Zen schools; however, Hongzhi was also the author of an important collection of koan, although koans are now usually...
 (1091—1157), who wrote on "silent illumination" (???; Chinese
Chinese language

Chinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of language mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan languages of languages....
: Mòzhào chán).






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Kodo Sawaki
is a Japanese
Japanese language

IPA: [n?iho?go] is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is related to the Ryukyuan languages....
 term for zazen
Zazen

Zazen is at the heart of Zen Buddhism practice. The aim of zazen is just sitting, "opening the hand of thought". This is done either through koans, Rinzai's primary method, or whole-hearted sitting , the Soto sect's method....
 introduced by Dogen Zenji and associated most with the Soto school of Zen Buddhism, but which also is "the base of all Zen disciplines." The term is believed to have been first used by Dogen's teacher Tiantong Rujing, and it literally means, "nothing but (shikan) precisely (ta) sitting (za)." In other words Dogen means by this, "doing only zazen whole-heartedly" or "single-minded sitting." Shikantaza implies "just sitting", and according to author James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford

James Ishmael Ford is an American Zen Buddhism and Unitarian Universalism. He was born in Oakland, California on July 17, 1948. He earned a BA in psychology from Sonoma State University, as well as an MDiv and an MA in the Philosophy of Religion, both from the Pacific School of Religion....
, "Some trace the root of this word to the pronunciation of the Pali
Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
 vipassana
Vipassana

Vipassana or vipasyana in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi ....
, though this is far from certain."

Silent illumination

The first master to write about what is more or less termed shikantaza was the Caodong
Caodong

C?od?ng is a China Zen Buddhism sect founded by Tung-shan and his Dharma-heirs in the 9th century. Some attribute the name "C?od?ng" as a union of "Dongshan" and "Caoshan" from one of his Dharma-heirs, Caoshan Benji; however, the "Cao" much more likely came from C?oxi , the "mountain-name" of Huineng, the Sixth Ancestor of Chan, as Caosh...
 master Hongzhi Zhengjue
Hongzhi Zhengjue

Hongzhi Zhengjue was a Chinese Zen Buddhist monk who authored or compiled several influential Buddhist texts. Hongzhi's conception of "silent illumination" is of particular importance to the Chinese Caodong and Japanese Soto Zen schools; however, Hongzhi was also the author of an important collection of koan, although koans are now usually...
 (1091—1157), who wrote on "silent illumination" (???; Chinese
Chinese language

Chinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of language mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan languages of languages....
: Mòzhào chán). Additionally, the practice of silent illumination is said to be traced back to at least Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma was the Buddhism Bhikkhu traditionally credited as the transmitter of Zen to China. Very little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend, but most accounts agree that he was a South Indian Pallava prince-turned-monk who journeyed to Southern China and subse...
. Later in the thirteenth century, Dogen Zenji (the founder of the Soto school) used much of Hongzhis' writings on silent illumination to help shed light on what he termed shikantaza. From thereafter the practice of shikantaza has been primarily associated with the Soto school. It should be noted that while silent illumination is in theory a "methodless method"—it is also important to realize that, "his (Dogen) practice of shikantaza took a somewhat different approach." Even still, Ch'an Master Shengyan feels comfortable in stating that shikantaza is in fact quite similar to silent illumination. Silent illumination comes from the integrated practice of shamatha (calming the mind) and vipassana
Vipassana

Vipassana or vipasyana in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi ....
 (insightful contemplation), and was the hallmark of the Chinese
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
 Caodong
Caodong

C?od?ng is a China Zen Buddhism sect founded by Tung-shan and his Dharma-heirs in the 9th century. Some attribute the name "C?od?ng" as a union of "Dongshan" and "Caoshan" from one of his Dharma-heirs, Caoshan Benji; however, the "Cao" much more likely came from C?oxi , the "mountain-name" of Huineng, the Sixth Ancestor of Chan, as Caosh...
 school of Ch'an. It therefore means one is practicing with both a calm mind and "questioning observation." In Japan, vipassana and shamatha are sometimes used in addition to shikantaza as complementary practices.

In practice

Concerning the Rinzai school
Rinzai school

The Rinzai school is one of the three Japanese :Category:Zen sects. Rinzai is the Japanese line of the China Linji school, which was founded during the Tang Dynasty by Linji ....
, John Daido Loori
John Daido Loori

John Daido Loori is the current abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery, founder of the Mountains and Rivers Order, and CEO of Dharma Communications. Daido Loori received shiho from Taizan Maezumi in 1986 and also received a dendokyoshi certificate formally from the Soto school of Japan in 1994....
 writes, "..[A]fter students finish koan
Koan

A koan is a narrative, dialogue, question, or statement in the history and lore of Ch?n Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rationality understanding, yet may be accessible to intuition ....
 study, they then take up the practice of shikantaza." Haku'un Yasutani
Haku'un Yasutani

Haku'un Yasutani was the first abbot of the Zen Buddhist lineage of Sanbo Kyodan . He was born in the Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan and ordained as a Zen monk at a Soto temple at the age of 13....
 agrees, stating, "The Rinzai and Obaku Schools emphasize koan
Koan

A koan is a narrative, dialogue, question, or statement in the history and lore of Ch?n Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rationality understanding, yet may be accessible to intuition ....
 study; the Soto school emphasizes shikantaza. But even when koan study is stressed, shikantaza is not abandoned. All of the great masters of these three schools emphasize the importance of shikantaza." According to Merv Fowler, shikantaza is described best as, "quiet sitting in open awareness, reflecting directly the reality of life." Shikantaza is often termed a goalless meditation in quiet awareness, "not working on any koan, or counting the breath. It is an alert condition, performed erect, with no trace of sluggishness or drowsiness. Fred Reinhard Dallmayr writes, "Regarding practice, Dogen counseled a distinctly nonattached or nonclinging kind of action, that is, an activity completely unconcerned with benefits or the accomplishment of ulterior goals: the activity of 'just sitting' or 'nothing-but-sitting' (shikantaza) whereby self-seeking is set aside in a manner resembling a resolute 'dropping off of body and mind.'"

According to Master Shengyen, "While you are practicing just sitting, be clear about everything going on in your mind. Whatever you feel, be aware of it, but never abandon the awareness of your whole body sitting there. Shikantaza is not sitting with nothing to do; it is a very demanding practice, requiring diligence as well as alertness. If your practice goes well, you will experience the 'dropping off' of sensations and thoughts. You need to stay with it and begin to take the whole environment as your body. Whatever enters the door of your senses becomes one totality, extending from your body to the whole environment. This is silent illumination." In his work Fukanzazenji, Dogen writes of, "finding a clean, dry place, if possible cool in summer and warm in winter. He goes on to describe the use of a zafu
Zafu

A zafu is a round cushion, about 35 cm in diameter, and often about 20 cm high, when fluffed. Although in U.S. English, zafu is often translated as "sewn seat", that is not the meaning of the Japanese kanji....
, or small round pillow one sits upon, and the zabuton
Zabuton

A zabuton is a Japanese cushion for sitting. The kanji characters ??? literally translated are "seat-cloth-sphere". The zabuton is the everyday cushion found in homes and used for eating, watching television, reading at the kotatsu, and other daily activities....
, or larger square, flat cushion under the zafu, which supports the ankles and knees. He then describes the basic posture—sitting erect, with hands in the lap, eyes cast downward—as 'the method used by all Buddha ancestors of Zen.'"

Bibliography



Further reading