I’m about to take an intensive ‘Zen Meditation and Mindfulness’ teacher training course with a Zen Master called Daizan Roshi. He’s the first Englishman to go to Japan and become a Roshi (aka Zen Master) in the rigorous Rinzai tradition of Zen. About 20 years ago, he recognized that a rich life wasn’t just about climbing the corporate ladder and so he gave up a promising career as a scientist in the pharmaceuticals industry, sold his house and entered a Zen monastery. After many years of strict training in Japan, Daizan Roshi eventually received Dharma transmission (aka inka) from his teacher, Shinzan Miyamae Roshi of Gyokuryuji.
Daizan Roshi has also studied yoga with many teachers, including the world renowned Sri Pattabhi Jois, the Indian master who created Ashtanga Yoga. He now teaches Zen Meditation in London and has participated in scientific studies about meditation for Oxford University.
A true Zen teacher is simply a guide to help you live a more authentic life so that you learn to be a master rather than a slave to your mind. Through meditation, you can eventually start to experience sublime living; transcend the ordinary and live without any worries.
The whole idea of meditation is to incorporate it into your everyday life. It’s not about escaping from the so-called real world and sitting under a tree on a remote mountain. It’s about living life to the full by reducing your stress levels, increasing your productivity and creativity and learning to be a master rather than a slave to your mind.
Zen Meditation isn’t easy because it is a technique that requires you to sit still and to still the mind. It’s a test – are you really able to empty your head of thoughts? It’s practically impossible at the start. I remember my very first meditation session – I nearly fell sleep. I tried again and thought, “This isn’t for me, it’s too quiet, too boring!” My reaction is like many at the beginning – we live in a world of distraction and we are used to constant stimulation. We are slaves to our monkey minds and find it almost impossible to control our thought flow.
Sitting in silence and facing yourself is supposed to be uncomfortable initially. It’s the same when you first begin doing a yoga class. Meditating correctly so that you can reap the real benefits is an art that needs to be cultivated. And once you’re able to meditate properly, the initial pain is replaced something incredibly beautiful and all-encompassing.
As the Indian mystic, Osho, once said: “Remember, meditation will bring you more intelligence, infinite intelligence, a radial intelligence. Meditation will make you more alive and sensitive; your life will become richer.”
“A man (or woman!) of meditation is full of energy, at the maximum, optimum. He lives at the peak, he makes his abode at the peak. Certainly he has a warmth but it is not feverish, it only shows life. He is not hot, he is cool because he is not carried away by desires. He is so happy that he is no longer seeking any happiness. He is so at ease, he is so at home, he is not going anywhere, he is not running and chasing, he is very cool.”
Osho then went on to warn people about meditating correctly: “But the mind is very cunning. It can rationalize paralysis as meditation; it can rationalize dullness as transcendence: it can rationalize deadness as renunciation. Watch out. Always remember that if you are moving in the right direction, you will go on flowering.”
Besides reducing monkey-mind chatter, meditation helps you keep your ego in check and encourages you to live in the present, experience the moment instead of rushing through it. You learn not to worry about tomorrow or get stuck in the past. Through breathing, meditation slowly eliminates any fears you have so you become calmer and more confident. I can’t wait to sit in a half lotus position and start meditating!
Love,
