The teaching of the Buddha has been perpetuated through a lineage of teachers, from India to China, from China to Japan, from Japan to Europe and Spain. This is true Zen.
What is the fundamental point in the practice of the true Way transmitted? The answer is fair practice. The fair practice of zazen does not refer only to the posture of zazen considered as a meditation or relaxation technique.
At “Fukanzazengi”, “The Universal Principles of Zazen”, It is said that: “Zazen has absolutely nothing to do with sitting or lying down.”. Namely, true zazen does not stick to one body posture, but it influences each and every one of our thoughts, emotions, sensations, gestures and acts of our life. It is a mistake to think that zazen is a meditation technique that we practice with our body and mind two or three times a week..
True zazen must be practiced with all phenomena throughout life. And to learn how to do it, there is no other way than to study Zen under the direction of a master of Transmission.. So it has been until now and so it will continue to be.. This is the Zen that interests us. There is no other real way to approach Zen.
As interesting as Zen art or aesthetics may seem to us, Christian mysticism applied to Zen or vice versa, Zen taken as a therapy or Zen philosophy and thought itself, we must clearly understand that all these approaches have arisen as partial interpretations of the true Zen transmitted.
In the same way that it is true that every question contains in itself the answer, It is also true that the depth, the quality and authenticity of our zazen practice depend on the depth of our aspiration and our expectations.
A road of a thousand miles begins with one step. If this first step is taken in the wrong direction, we can never go the thousand miles in the right direction. As they say in the art of archery: “An error of a tenth of a millimeter at the moment of the arrow's departure is transformed into several meters when it reaches its target.”
Zen is the essence of Buddhism, but nevertheless, the practice of zazen is beyond any religion, of any philosophy or ideology. The practice of zazen benefits everyone who engages in it with a serious attitude., deep and honest, whatever your personal beliefs.
In the practice of zazen we find an objective fact: regulation of bodily processes, mental and emotional. Anyone can experience it without the need to have a specific faith in the Buddha.. Nevertheless, zazen transmitted by the Buddhas and Patriarchs is not a meditative technique that can be applied independently of our attitude towards life, before ourselves or before others.
Practicing zazen in a deep sense implies a rethinking of our way of being. a key question: why do we approach zen?
Each person has a different attitude. Of all attitudes there are some stereotypes, for example those who come out of curiosity, with a great interest but without being willing to make any effort, without even being clear about what Zen is. There are also those who want to learn a technique to relax, To be better… because they don't really want to question anything about their own life. There are others who just want to belong to a group, feel sheltered, be part of a group, be loved and heard, have friends and get out of the anonymity of the city. Those who are looking for something but without knowing what in particular also come.; they feel a certain discomfort in their life and a certain spiritual dissatisfaction but they do not have their search defined yet.
These types of people turn to Zen just as they might turn to any other spiritual stream., therapeutic or humanist. These people who arrive with this attitude, if they don't transform it, they tend to abandon the practice of zazen sooner or later, since they have the feeling of not getting any benefit since their aspiration is insufficient.
There are also those who have read books on Zen, who are intellectually attracted to the Buddha's teaching and wish to practice it, but from theory to practice there is a gulf that only those with strong determination can bridge. There are many who read and few who actually practice.
Then there are those who, whether or not they read books on Zen, what they seek is a deep inner revolution to life or death, who need it as a breath of fresh air to be able to continue living, and not as a hobby or a way to fill your leisure time. For these people, reading a phrase or a word from the master is enough for their intuition to awaken like a sun at midnight, illuminating their clear determination to dedicate themselves body and soul to the study and practice of Zen..
jamb (oral teaching) taught by the zen master Dokushô Villalba in Valencia, 1-3-89.