If by zazen you mean meditation… then yes, most do have some form of meditation. However, this meditation can greatly differ from zazen (on the surface at least, all meditation has the same goals, and usually transmits the same experiences when practiced regularly and seriously). Historically, Buddhism tended to be very adaptable and inobtrusive, and whatever the innate culture practiced at the time was typically adapted to Buddhism. Therefore you can have one sect practicing chanting, another sitting meditation, another qigong, etc. all with ultimately the same goal, and all claiming to be Buddhist.
IMHO, Buddha’s enlightenment came from meditation, so if there are Buddhist sects out there that don’t practice some form of meditation, it would be like a Christian sect that didn’t practice some form of prayer.
Without going outside, you may know the whole world.
Without looking through the window, you may see the ways of heaven.
The farther you go, the less you know.
–Lao Tsu
Hui-Neng, the 6th patriarch of Chinese Chan Buddhism, never practiced meditation and yet was considered a Buddhist. (He was enlightened after hearing a verse from a wandering boy that was chanting a sutra from the 5th patriarch.)
thanks, you’ve improved my meditation tenfold, and if there is any way i can help you, just ask. and if you don’t know what to ask for, i like to teach people of how to do stealth, chian kung, and sparring tips. thanks, brethren, and keep giving me info!
“Build from the past, live in the present, and ignore the future. What you do now determines what happens later” -Phoenix
Thanks for the great answers everyone… You totally answered what I was looking for =) Now I have alot to think about and practice. Thanks everyone, especially you DragonStudios.
I know this is straying, but my first question was answered so well.. I’d like to know about stealth, too =P I’ve always thought this.. an important aspect of martial arts is self defense.. But no matter how incredible you are, there will always be fights you can’t win.. I mean, even the BEST martial artist in the world in any style can’t take on 9 or 10 people at once. So how do you get away? Wouldn’t that be important?
-Scott
“You have to consider the possibility that god does not like you; he never wanted you. In all probability, he hates you. It is not until we have lost everything that we can do anything.”
stealth is stealth, it’s the way you’re able to get around without anyone noticing you, or being able to be detected less often, or making less sound, that’s stealth.
“Build from the past, live in the present, and ignore the future. What you do now determines what happens later” -Phoenix
There are two prominent schools of Zen thought and practice.
The sudden school, and the “not so sudden” school hahaha.
One prescribes to the idea that enlightenment is achieved in an epiphany and is not always sustainable.(sudden)
the other holds to the idea, that enlightenment will take place through the chanting of the buddhas name over and over again.
Both look to “empty” the mind to allow it to “fill” with certainty.
The “sudden” is closest to the originating practice of Ch’an which in turn was born of “pure Land” Buddhism brought to the Shaolin temple.
So much has been done to write about zen and ch’an and to categorize and pigeonhole concepts that are inherent to the practice. This is detrimental to the value of this type of meditation. The whole idea is to uncluster and undo all the dependency on explanation of what is occuring when the mind “clicks” on a truth of the self.
okay to achieve stealth, you must breathe out less evenly, inhale 2 seconds, exhale 3 seconds. also, breathe must match the speed of movement, like 2 steps, inhale quickly for 2 quick seconds, 3 steps after, inhale quickly for 3 quick seconds.
and one very missed concept is to KEEP YOUR WEIGHT DOWN after jumping, don’t keep it up, because that would be resisting, and resisting would only make things worse. when you keep your weight down, you land on the balls of your feet and imagine your weight going straight down.
training for stealth is to stand, then roll to the right, stand, roll to the left, etc. and find the best way to roll without making noise.
and finally, another training for stealth is to ask a friend to exit the room and enter in random seconds, and sense him coming, and then find a place to hide quickly, and blend in, and to do so, imagine yourself fitting in like a shadow.
“Build from the past, live in the present, and ignore the future. What you do now determines what happens later” -Phoenix
I have been taught a few anologies in my past. I just thought I might blurt them out here
Like the bubbles that arise from the bed of the river, they come unexpectedly and then pass away.
Like the emergence of the beautiful lotus flower from the dirtiest of waters.
To keep your mind as still as a candle flame in a room with no wind, one pointedness.
Few very simple methods I have been taught.
Relax and watch your thoguhts, without being attached or avert towards your thoughts, watch as thoughts come and watch as they disappear.
Sit in lotus, eyes slightly open n gazing at the tip of the nose, tongue on the roof of the mouth. Pay no attention to anything but the breath, in and out. As the thoughts quietens and sharpens, but keep your thoughts sharpened like a candle flame.
I personally recommend my favourite, makes you very happy. Breathe normally, anywhere you go. When you breathe in, imagine breathing in all the suffering in the environment around you, for all beings, visible or non-visible. When you exhale, exhale white positive energy to the environment around you.
