Notes on Home Practice

The Environment of Your Sitting
by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho

Originally published in the eMirror, Volume 5, issue 9


            A student recently asked if I could write something about the forms used for home practice. This is a big subject, so I will write about it in a series of three short articles, which I hope will clarify some misunderstandings.

            When practicing alone, it is extremely important to maintain dignity in your sittings. If you are sitting first thing in the morning, please have a shower and dress in practice clothing to do your sitting rather than sitting in pajamas or a bathrobe or shorts. If these seem more comfortable, it is because you need practice clothing that is loose enough to allow you to sit comfortably. The clothing you use should be as presentable as the clothing you would wear to attend a sitting at the monastery and I have yet to see anyone appear wearing a bathrobe. If you are not dressing as you would if you were at a sitting in the monastery, you are being too casual about your sittings.

            Although there is no one watching you to see what you do, you need to do no less than you would if you were attending a formal sitting along with the Teacher and 20 other students. So do not break your posture to scratch, don’t sniff, don’t do stretching exercises while sitting on your zafu, and don’t cut your sitting round short. Time your round with a clock and stay in posture without any unnecessary movement for the full half hour.

            When you finish sitting, end the round by bowing forward and exhaling. keeping your hands in the mudra. After that, take care of your cushion mindfully. The tendency, at the end of a sitting round is to continue to sit there, thinking about what will happen at work, what tasks need to be done, what one will have for breakfast and so on. Sometimes, without realizing it, we can shift into a different posture, perhaps with elbows on knees, chin cupped in hands to have a good think about things. This would be completely forgetting that the transition between practice and other activities should be very clear. You are sitting. Then you stop. You take care of things. Then take care of your zafu mindfully and tidy the space you have been sitting in. Place the clock where it will be ready for you for your next sitting round.

    If you intend to do a round of kinhin, before starting another round of zazen, you can adjust this to the amount of time you have. We normally do 12-minute kinhin rounds at Dainen-ji (which is how long it takes for one round around the Hatto), but if your schedule allows you only five minutes, then make full use of the time you have to continue your practice while walking. Kinhin is not a break from sitting, nor is it about stretching your legs. It isn’t even about walking, though it does make use of the step. Kinhin is about seeing how our attention is. So the transition between sitting and kinhin should be made mindfully. If you are going to sit a half-hour round and wish to do a few minutes of kinhin, go back to your zafu and sit for a couple of minutes and end in a formal manner rather than just exiting the room in speeded-up kinhin.

          I have also been asked about Butsudan (altars), robes, incense, candles, gongs, kaishaku, rupas (statuary), sho (calligraphies), chanting, and an assortment of other items associated with practice. In the next few issues of the Mirror, I will provide some information about all of these, as it will be useful for branch students, public students, and those who sit at home during the week

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The next article in this series is entitled "Beginning A Sitting Round".

 

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