Introduction into ZEN Meditation by P. Enomiya Lassalle SJ WHY ZEN MEDITATION To our ZEN courses come people from all social classes. There come artists, mathematicians, philosophes and simple people, politicians, all are coming from all walks of life. Especially people that cannot cope with themselfs for any reason - most likely because of a mental reason. Or they come because they do not have the power to cope with the envirionment they live in. And so come many people to meditations - not only ZEN but also Yoga or other stuff that might be objectionable - there are a lot of offers today. In my opinion - right now - a change in consciousness is looming for all mankind. And our current consciousness is affected by an extreme rational, one-sided thinking. And the rational thinking fizzles out and the human cannot cope with that. Reasons, logical reasons do not impress the human, one might say "its like that" - but that doesn't help - anyhow we are searching for something different. In my opinion, we are in this crisis - but on the other hand side, this is a good sign. Something new is coming. It's not like one could say that the evolution of mankind is already completed - many people thought that we are on top of human evolution, but now - suddenly - one recognizes that especially younger people don't believe this anymore. And here comes something new. And now it is essential that mankind does find a way to integrate what's coming up. In my opinion there will be a solution. If the human is really getting into that, it will be overcome. But this will be a completely different mankind. Many things that we think are important will disappear while other things will rather help us. THE EFFECT OF MEDITATION Meditation has many effects. First it's the so called meditation strength and that's a very farsighted thing. So, there are touching prayer styles -generally speaking- and meditation styles that can change the religious consciousness, the consciousness. Those meditation styles can cause extraordinary strength, also material strength, big strength - so that one can lift heavy things - that is depending on a ritual then. In ZEN, the meditation strength is only dedicated to the spirit - it could be defined as follow editation strength is the ability to stop the dispersal of the the spirit and to recover balance and peace of the spirit. When I talk about dispersal, I don't mean the dispersing thoughts, but everything that worries a human and what maybe lies very deep in the unconscious. For example fear and envy and things like that. That those things get resolved - that is the meditation strength. In addition ZEN helps that one could concentrate better. That's one of the reasons why statesmen and other professionals (in former times more often than today) were practising ZEN meditation - to concentrate better and therefore be better at work. POSTURE Here we have a round pillow that eases the posture we want to adopt during ZEN meditation, it can be a little bit more thick or higher, depending on what one finds comfortable. You sit down on it, take the left foot below and the right foot above and then -again- the left foot above the right. You call that the "full lotus posture". In opposite to that there is the "half lotus posture" where you put one foot on the other thigh or here or there. The full lotus posture is the mandatory posture. The right hand is held palm up holding the left hand, also palm up. The thumbs are lightly touching. It is said there is electricity in the body and that this is been added, the whole thing is unified here, hold together. And this helps to concentrate, also spiritually. The left side is the negative side or the female side and the right side is the positive side. During ZEN the positive side has to be pushed down. The left hand lies in the right hand and pushes down the male hand, the active. And it is very similar with the legs - the female side lies above and the right side lies below. That is probably the reason. Only the Buddha holds the positive sides above the negative - he does not have to suppress anything. The he eyes are open - but only half - by focusing a point at a distance of 30 cm (12 Inches) or 1 meter (3 Feet 3 Inches) on the floor. But you must not concentrate on this point - that is very important - in ZEN, the concentration always is directed towards the inside. You should only let your eyes rest silently on that point - as far as possible. For most people, that takes some time - to adjust this. But it is a fact that, if you let your eyes rest still, then the flood of thoughts stops - which is very important for ZEN - but this is not achievable quickly. Als he breathing. The breathing should be normal, however - it should be done by the diaphragm and not by the chest. But in addition there are no more regulations - you don't take too long breaks between inhaling and exhaling. You exhale as long as you feel that it is easy to do so and if you have the feeling that you better inhale - do so - naturally. ATTITUDE1 To put it very simpl o not think. "Not thinking" is not the same as dreaming or dozing and the like. It has to be a very clear status. To put it another wa :26"Not thinking" refers to the concrete or conceptual thinking - this thinking - we for example do during work - has to stop.1 So, "not thinking" means having no thoughts - as far as possible - and not getting involved with a thought. It does not mean there is no spiritual activity or wakefulness - the opposite is true.1 You can be completely awake without thinking.1 But - in the normal waking consciousness - you cannot turn off all thoughts by your will. And you should not try to do so. It's just like tha ou let the thoughts come and go without holding on to and without pushing them away. Thats the right attitude.1 Its like clouds passing by a mountain. The mountain doesn't move, is always still, while the clouds pass by or it rains or snows. Thats all the same - so you sit there.1 MEDITATION SESSIONS PER DAY1 Well, it depends. First, the question is, how long a session is. E.g. in Soto it takes 40 min, in Rinzai, it could be 30 or only 25 min. That is very diverse.1 In Soto we have 10 or 11 meditations per day dat last for 40 min.1 Between each meditation we have Kinhin (walking), we also showed that here and additionally a little spare time to relax.