Dogen Zen Belfast

Although Nisijima Roshi didn't see science as providing all the answers to our human condition, he valued scientific/materialistic advancements and explanations of our reality. In this second of the '4 aspects of zazen' which he highlighted he draws our attention to the physiological effect of sitting zazen, its innate balancing function. Experientially speaking, we might notice that sitting zazen after a while tends to bring us into a state of balanced clarity, regardless of what our thoughts or our intentions about it are. Zazen is a physical action in the real world that addresses our tendency to 'live in our heads', in our churning concoctions of habitual thoughts and daydreams and feelings...  2. Making the Body Right - A Balanced Autonomic Nervous System. In Zazen we sit on a cushion on the floor with both legs crossed,  and with our lower spine, upper spine, and head held straight vertically. Keeping the spine straight has a direct and immediate  effect on th...

  "Whenever we gain some clear insight into our real situation in life, it is a kind of enlightenment. Such insights are very important, but they are not the fundamental enlightenment of Buddhism. Enlightenment, in the Buddhist tradition, is not an intellectual discovery but a state of being or a state of body and mind. It is a state of momentary oneness with the world, a state in which dualistic interpretations fall away and the real qualities of all things are exposed. It is, in other words, the state in zazen." -- Gudo Nishijima Roshi