Shikantaza Jap., lit. “nothing but (shikan) precisely (ta) sitting (za)”; a form of the practice of zazen in which there are no more supportive techniques of the type beginners use, such as counting the breath (susoku-kan) or a kōan. According to Dogen Zenji, shikantaza, i.e., resting in a state of brightly alert attention that is free of thoughts, directed to no object, and attached to no particular content is the highest or purest form of zazen, zazen as it was practiced by all the buddhas of the past.
The modern Japanese Zen master Hakuun Ryōko Yasutani says in his Introductory Lectures on Zen Training, “Shikantaza . . . is the mind of some body facing death. Let us imagine that you are engaged in a duel of swordsmanship of the kind that used to take place in ancient Japan. As you face your opponent you are unceasingly watchful, set, ready. Were you to relax your vigilance even momentarily, you would be cut down instantly. A crowd gathers to see the fight. Since you are not blind you see them from the corner of your eye, and since you are not deaf you hear them. But not for an instant is your mind captured by these impressions” (Kapleau 1980).
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Books on Shikantaza
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