The ZEN-Way to enlightment

This text is an excerpt from my book The Secret Book of Zen.

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CHAPTER 2: Practical aspects

After the necessary theoretical foundations were explained in the first chapter, this chapter will focus exclusively on the practical aspects of Zen practice. You will learn all the necessities in this chapter for progressing from the monkey mind state to nirvana. You will find many detailed practical instructions, including, among others, how you can avoid the biggest mistakes in Zen and thereby achieve success faster. Along your Zen path, you will have typical Zen experiences. These are as follows:

- the kensho
- the great death
- satori (awakening)
- enlightenment
- nirvana

These experiences will each be explained in a special section at the appropriate part of this book. At the end of each stage of practice, you will in addition read about the features of the respective practice phase, as they are typically found among Zen students.

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The method contained in this book consists of a combination of the breath-counting exercise and the koan work of the Rinzai school. This koan work as described is performed not in the traditional Rinzai way, but in the form of a mantra practice. For the breath-counting exercise, the practice of mindfulness of the body was taken from the Soto school. The resulting effect is not comparable with that of any particular school, because it is a mixture of many different Zen techniques. The practice of these exercises will lead you, as is the case with Soto Zen, to deeper levels of absolute samadhi.

Before such a practice can be done in a way that is at all effective, you must first perform the breath counting exercise, and in this way build the necessary concentration and mindfulness. By doing so, you can penetrate the uppermost layer of consciousness and enter the second level. Only at this second level is true Zen practice possible, because it is here that the first jhānas begin.

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Characteristics of the 2nd Phase

After the student has replaced the breathing from the 1st Phase with the MU practice, he will find himself on the direct path to satori. The initial goal is, while in absolute samadhi, to get in touch with the state of no-mind more often. In this way the student can gradually enter into a state of inner calm; however, it is only with effort that he can let go of thoughts and feelings initially. Perhaps the student has experienced a kensho while abiding in this tranquility, and is pleased about this new experience. At the same time, however, he is brought back again to the level of reality, because he quickly realizes that he cannot yet control his mind the way he wishes. He simply cannot calm his mind again, no matter how hard he tries.

With consistent practice, however, peace and quiet return to the student's mind. He realizes that he can access the state of no-mind when he is in a state of pure awareness without any intention. Although his monkey mind still flares up sometimes, he can now control it without any effort. The student recognizes that his monkey mind is the cause of the distortion of true reality. While in the state of no-mind, he must repeatedly purify his consciousness of the monkey mind. In this way he goes deeper and deeper into the state of no-mind, and truly recognizes for the first time where the path leads.

At some point, the student can enter the deeper jhānas quickly. However, he still feels that he should be achieving something. Only when he lets go of this barrier, too, does he one day, while in deep samadhi, pass through the state of the Great Death to achieve satori. The student has forgotten all the efforts he had to make during his quest, and he has the feeling of finally being home. No matter where or how, he can always enter into absolute samadhi, whether sitting or lying down. The student is no longer tied to any particular postures or breathing techniques. However, once the student begins again to think or act consciously and in an ego-based manner, he distances himself yet again from the emptiness of satori.

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