..续本文上一页tal philosophies and arts. The ultimate purpose of Zen practice is to reach the same enlightened state of mind, SATORI. as Buddha did, and to be able to give a clear answer to the question "What is self". Buddhist philosophy holds that human agony rises from being restrained to the the twelve-fold links of the chain of causation. SATORI is reached by cutting off this chain of restraint and preventing reincarnation from taking place. To accomplish this feat there are basic Buddist Practices such as "sila. samadhi and prajna" (precepts, meditation and wisdom ). These are designed to prevent the mind from scattering and perplexities, achieve wisdom and ultimately reach SATORI.
In addition to previously explained terms, enlightenment is also often referred to as SHOGYO-MUJYO (all conditioned things are impermanent), SHOHO-MUGA (phenomenal things are in existence only by conditionals; thus they have no substance) or NEHAN-JAKUJO (The state reached by extinguishing all illusions and destroying all Karma, which are the causes of reincarnation). Although in different words. these concepts all teach one fundamental lesson ; that one should leave behind any clinging or striving toward extinguishable things. and instead live every moment in a free, natural and fulfilling manner. The formation of this kind of personality is the purpose of Zen practice, and it”s attainment can be gained through all daily activities including Zazen performed in a Zen monastery.
Active Zen (Daily Activities)
Zen Buddhism is said to be the religion of our daily life. Daily activities are regulated by the regulations for the Zen monastic life. A practitioner believes and performs daily activities in Zen monastic life to be the Buddha”s Way itself and devote himself wholeheartedly to his activities. Through this kind of concentration, an acting self as a subject unite with an action as an object and then a consciousness of self disappears and only the action remains. By concentrating on his action, his way of experiencing may unconsciously change little by little. Accumulation of these changes will bring about a religious awareness.
Walking, cross-legged sitting, cooking, having breakfast. chanting sutras, prostrating oneself to the Buddhas, bathing, going to the toilet, etc. are all done according to extremely detailed regulations. Also, although not regulated in detail, fatigue work of a temple. like sweeping the ground or gathering the firewood. is one of important practices. These activities all included in the Active Zen. Listed below with brief explanations are several practices of Active Zen, which are designed to effect psychological changes :
(1) Repetition of actions : many actions can be pided into two types. that is. simple and monotonous actions like standing, sitting, walking, lying and rhythmic actions such as chanting sutras and prostrating oneself three times and nine times, devoting oneself to these simple, monotonous and rhythmic actions can cause Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) to be brought about and it makes a practitioner become aware of a new way of experiencing.
(2) Walking Meditation : This is a basic training for learning how to abdominally breathe while performing all actions. In this exercise. a walking action is performed with an abdominal breath taken every half step. Correct abdominal breathing brings about a balancing of the autonomic system.
(3) Bathing, going to the toilet and fatigue work of temple: Our daily activities are performed automatically and unconsciously. But in Zen monastery, a practitioner”s activities are not automatic nor unconscious. He concentrates his attention upon these trifling but immediate daily works and performs these works thoroughly one by one. It could change his way of experiencing or s…
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