Free Samples From God 

Great video. I think you hit the nail on the head. There's a lot to be said on this topic, very very little of which can find its way into a RU-vid comment (!!), but suffice to say that in my experience whatever it is that is keeping you from being "enlightened" when you haven't "gone up the mountain," follows you up the mountain and onto the cushion there. And then, whatever you were "running away from" when you went up the mountain is there waiting for you when you come down off the mountain at the end of your training. There would be a lot lot lot more people heading up mountains to get enlightened if it were as 1-2-3 as Johnny Samadhi is making it seem. And yet nobody would be heading up any mountains for monastic practice at all if there weren't some kind of truth to the statement. Yeah, we need to have a dicussion on this Brad!!

I forget the source for this, but I read somewhere that "enlightenment is an accident, and zazen just makes one more accident prone."

Much appreciated! I started my practice in the late 1970's, when materials on Zen were highly targeted on kensho/satori as "the purpose". Making this a bit worse, my first teacher was completely focused on satori (it later drove him to depression). It took me years, with some pretty inappropriate mis-steps, before I came to a practice of greater balance.

I have been practising Metta meditation for a few years now (I also do shikantaza). I always had a hard time actually feeling loving kindness because I did not know what it was. Recently, I have begun simply softening my heart and I think that is all it is. I work at a grocery store and have some free time when I am stocking shelves etc. and can sink into that soft feeling. I occasionally bring up a friendly feeling for everything that is there in that moment and wish good things for the universe (god maybe?). There is no better way to see your own greed, hatred and delusion than to take a few seconds to soften your heart and pray to god then immediately have a costumer accuse you of not doing you job properly and trying to screw them on purpose. Monasteries are great for meditation, but you also have to be prepared for it. I have often thought about being a monk; but the reason (beyond meditation) is because it would be easier than working. In my understanding of buddhism, non attachment is nirvana. It is all about complete non-attachment. You can meditate for 20 hours a day for 10 years and if that means something to you then you are not enlightened. It seems to me that a lot of meditation in the west is based on mental insights and not clear seeing.

Love that I’ve found a Prisoner reference in a Zen talk! Be seeing you! Hope Ziggy is well.

I remember Nakagawa Soen roshi (1907-1984) once said to us how do you even know what it is to be ‘enlightened’? You may not like it…or something to that effect.

Very good one! And yes, please do a video together with Jack Haubner! He seems to be such a great guy!

My mirror is so dusty! Dusty dusty dusty!!!

Wow. Lot of good points. Thanks. Nothing more to add except, yeah, sit without expecting anything, then get up and be a good person. A clear conscience is the softest pillow, yes?

Your words on discipline and imprisonment by undiscipline resonated with me a lot today. Being a new practitioner, the discipline over mind I've noticed developing is really making a difference for me. Thanks for putting this out there Brad!

For me, the goal of exercise is to continue exercising. Well, I guess the bigger goal is to enjoy how the practice makes me feel. Maybe the goal of meditation should be to continue meditation. And how the practice makes me feel. Trying self discipline is a waste of time for me. It's better if i guide and nudge myself. If i get pushy on myself, i shut down.

every time someone mentions Jhanny Samadhi, countless blades of grass are liberated

"Who is Number 1?" "You are Number 6" or "You are, Number 6."

The only reason anything can be said about this subject is because we imagine problems and ideals. Discipline is good until it becomes harmful. Freedom feels good until it we’re drowning in chaos. Some people need more discipline, some need less. It seems so obvious!

I joined a gym. I lost 30 pounds a month.

There’s a tile around here ‘could use some polishing…

People think enlightenment is a muscle to be trained and after 20 years of trying to enlighten themselves wonder what they got wrong. That why I eventually settled on zazen if I’m honest.

The Quakers invented the first penitentiary, Eastern State in Philly. It's a tourist site, and Halloween horror house. Sadly, isolated prisoners tended to go crazy, similar to solitary Super Max prisoners do now.

Penitentary- What I remember it was the Pennsylvania Quakers. Went along with panopticon style prison looking like spokes off a hub with wings of cells with a few guards in the hub able to see down each spoke. Originally it was solitary confinement with a Bible. Now this would be cruel and unusual, and anyway the prisons are over crowded.

A question and two comments. Firstly, it seems from his writings that Nishijima Roshi was, at best, pretty ambivalent to the idea of monastic living (although I imagine he deeply respected Rempo Niwa) and was also keen to break down the differences between monastics and ordained householders (for want of a better phrase). Would you concur with that? Secondly, you may have already discovered this in your European travels, monk beer is pretty darned good! Belgian monk beer doubly so (and strong also!). Thirdly, you might enjoy part of the the poem 'Roshi Said' by Leonard Cohen: Roshi said: Jikan san, there's something I want you to know yes, Roshi you are the worst student I've ever had

Curious to know if you are familiar with Adyashanti? In one of his satsangs he comments on the desire for enlightenment. So basically, according to Adya, most folks are addicted to opening doors instead of actually exploring the room. Like, they want that initial rush but don't want to allow the experience to become merged into their lives. They prefer to keep reopening the door.

Ramana Maharshi never meditated at all and his awakening/enlightenment more or less just happened simply by contemplating the nature of deaths. Granted, he’s maybe 1 out of 100 million that actually happens to and you can say perhaps he was predisposed based on prior sadhana in previous lives. Most I would argue need to work REALLY hard to realize the Truth. Personally, my gripe with Soto Zen people that want to espouse goalless practice prior to realizing who/what they are is that it’s the same traps the Neo Advaita people fall into when they say there’s nobody home and nothing to do. Sure, but saying that without the clarity of your true nature just makes those empty words (and not the Emptiness that all the great Zen patriarchs talk about). There is no merit to it. To me I’ve always framed it like this, I want to know directly who and what I am and when the truth has been realized you can call that enlightenment or satori. So to me, dismissing enlightenment is like dismissing inquiry into one’s true nature because someone just wants to realize what’s true. It’s just a dumb thing to do in my view.

Hi Brad. Interestingly, I was really thinking about this topic these days because I listened to an interview of a famous Zen teacher from England, and then I found on his website that he is now conducting intensive enlightenments according to Charles Berner's method....not that I support that approach, but on the contrary, your answer gave me a good perspective🙏👊

does anyone in current Zen even follow the "gradual enlightenment" ethos the questioner prescribes? at least follow in theory, I know most think sitting more brings faster enlightenment, which defeats the whole purpose of the goalless practice we sit for in the first place.

I think the benefit of living in a temple is that you have more time to see things clearly, it is not about having special experiences.

I struggle with Dogen to be sure (many thanks Brad for making him much more accessible over the years!) but find the quote about 'not noticing your own enlightenment' a useful one. It reminds me of the lines (Dogen again?) about being 'deluded by enlightenment and enlightened by delusion'.....I just looked it up and it's Genjokoan 'Those who are greatly enlightened about delusion are Buddhas. Those who have great delusions about enlightenment are sentient beings or deluded beings. Moreover there are those who continue awakening beyond awakening, and those who are in delusion throughout delusion' oh and a big 'yay' to hearing you two guys having a chat about this stuff! 🙂👍

What you say about not being able to cause "samples from God" through your own efforts is right out of the Pure Land playbook of Other Power vs Self Power as a practice style

Monasticism and meditation can be a huge part of Advaita Vedanta. I grew up in the Ramakrishna tradition, which has an entire order of monks and nuns, which was started by a discipline of Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda. Meditation is very important to Advaita Vedanta, because it is the most powerful tool to gain mastery over the mind.

Attachment is attachment and is samsara … whether inside or outside of monastic practice!

Jocko Willink says Dicipline=Freedom

My two cents: - In the Tripitaka we can see the society envisioned by the Buddha, or at least the earliest Sangha, and things are very clear: there are supposed to be both monastics who meditate and spread the Dharma, and laypeople who nurture monastics and ascertain they behave (with a pretty powerful tool, i.e. the alms); - In Mahayana, the Vimalakirti Sutra is, well, a thing.

Ziggy really made my day today.

Well, I’d say that Jonny Samadhi has a few obstacles to his enlightenment. And, that’s okay. That’s his practice. Good luck, Jonny Samadhi. Viva Ziggy!

I don’t believe that enlightenment is hidden behind a monastic paywall. Those of us that fix things have the same level of access as a monk. These are just different paths to the same areas of enlightenment

One of your best videos Brad. Like it or not, you have been my teacher for 20 years. But don't give me dharma transmission! If you did, then I would have to start doing sleezy sexy things like the famous Zen teachers and that just doesn't fit my vibe! IMHO, Nishijima Roshi fixed Dogen's cult dynamics and put Zen in the hands of commoners where it belongs. When I was researching Buddhism in early 2000s I thought that an enlightenment where a monk could happily not suffer under skilled torture to be impossible, therefore true enlightenment was not actually possible. Then I read in Barnes and Noble your chapter "Enlightenment is for Sissies" and I went, "Yup". I've listened to your version of Shoaku-Makusa over 200 times. To me, that is the one teaching that must be penetrated. Two sits a day + Shoaku-Makusa seems to me to be enough to live an enlightenment that one may actually do, but never see. Except for those "Free Samples from God" that you DO SEE next to the free cheese samples at Costco.

thank and thank.... thank's in other words

I get all "The Prisoner" refs. One of my favorite shows back then. Eerie as. Especially when that giant spacehopper was let loose to recapture him. Interesting story behind the villiage too. It was built in Wales and is a direct copy of a village in Italy which was a favorite holiday place of the guy who built it. Took decades to construct of course. So the village is still there.

Great post.

In India meditation as well as devotion is usually practiced alongside advaita. The idea that it isn’t is a purely Neo-advaita fabrication.

You can't ever leave the prison, the bubble will catch you. And you'll always wake back up in your prison...

samadhi johnny is in effect making a claim to be "enlightened" why not ask him to say then, what "enlightenment" is ? if you are reading this S. J. you can reply to this if you dare and are not full of the usual crap

it is possible that a person that never practice zazen , can reach enlightenment ? 100% Yes.

My teacher says that when he teaches meditation and students feel like they already get it, some ask: "ok, I know it and now what?"

Enlightenment is free and always available like God's grace. No need to be at a specific place or to establish elaborate practices to receive it. Accepting everything as is including faults and mishaps.... Sometimes one can receive it like a gift through someones prayer or blessing. Practicing love, watching your own mind, forgiving yourself, enjoying life as is. No need to be a monk.

I got enlightened with 30 min twice a day in jail after reading everyday zen by joko beck. It took 10 months. There's lots beyond nirvana, 10 years later shits gotten weird af😂

Gassho!

Intrinsic motivation for external discipline

Spot on !

A 250 lbs bench press is a very respectable bench for everyone but the most dedicated lifters.

I'm confused about what "enlightenment" (as a concept of something to be gained or is not inherent) is even meant to be. I thought one of the core defining concepts of Zen was an emphasis on Buddha-nature or inherent enlightenment, that all phenomena are already enlightened. When people say "He's enlightened, this is how you get enlightened, this won't get you enlightened" I'm curious what they're even talking about. Yeah, I understand that nature can be clouded and illuminated, but nobody ever even seems to talk about it that way, instead it's a separate thing from you that you have to gain. I guess the way I see "enlightenment" is like pooping. Everyone poops. Some people poop more than others, so if someone points it out, all I can say is "yeah, wow, good for them." As for me, I don't have a concept of "more" or "better" enlightenment, it's just a task that only one person can do entirely for themselves at their own pace with their own methods, you can't make a "buddha factory" out of a monastery.

An unearned gift from God is called Grace in the Christian tradition.

Very cool video

Man that dude couldn't be further from the truth. "What are you going to do, keep working, scrolling, and playing guitar?" Yeah ideally, because that's life for an enlightened person and a lay person. What does he think happens when you gain enlightenment, that you evaporate? 😹 I'm willing to bet fistful of dollar over fistful of dollar that this guy meditated for an hour once and got some holier than thou from it and made that comment. Boy oh boy.

i really would like to know, how monks in ancient times counted their minutes of sazen. how did they know, when to stop? nowadays my Smartphone rings the bell after exactly 20 minutes.is it known, how the monks or the buddha did it?

This might amuse you, Brad. After I watched this video and went back to the youtube homepage, so many of my suggestions were sermons from christian churches. haha. I clicked "don't recommend this" a few times, but then got tired and gave up. Anyway, good video here. I feel like I have something to say but I'm still chewing on your words. If you can get that other guy for a conversation video, that sounds really great!

Real question : Do you think obvious kensho experiences are due to a release from and insight into prolonged doubt experiences? Does there need to be a prolonged period of doubt, where no solutions seem acceptable, for there to be the gift of release (from self) and insight? I only ask because its been sooo long since I've come anywhere near kensho - and my excuse is its because I'm not getting caught up in enough self -centered confusion and doubt. 😬

Sorry Johnny... but more is not always better. This comment makes me think about accelerated learning techniques (check out the book "The First 20 Hours" by Josh Kaufman). It is interesting that Zazen is 25min and that is also the optimum study session time. Also doing something like Zazen in the morning and before bed for 25min may actually be the optimal time (both time of day and amount of time).

you know... I forget his name, but there is a story in ancient china where a government official/ zen master sat all night every night... also, monastics tend to be really skrewed up people that need all that sitting 😂

Maybe the other side of this is the people who found spontaneous enlightenment, but weren't part of a religious tradition. For example, Barbara Ehrenreich seems like an earnest thinker who describes the experience she had in some detail in one of her books. I guess then the problem crops up of self-proclaimed "ascended masters" or whatever...

practicing Zen religiously is only good when ya need to reset the mindset. After that it is a blockade to samsara. As it was said- "When you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha." BTW Patrick Mc Goohan was the original choice for the role of Gandalf! true story

I don't know what I would even consider meditation, in terms of sort of being intent on centering, and stuff all the time.

Yes

I don't know much about Buddhist monasticism, other than I think the Buddha encouraged monastics to be dependent on the laity (holy begging) so that the monastic community stays in touch with the laity (teaching dharma and meditation). I do know about Hindu monasticism. The purpose of monastic living is to not be (directly) useful to society. Society is "maya", and to be useful to society means participating in economic exchange. Hindu monastics either practice in isolation in the forest or form self-sufficient communities in ashrams. Nobody owns anything and all activity is for maintaining the community. The aim of spiritual life is to live a highly ordered life, so that you're never (mostly) doing what you want, but are always devoted to service. Spiritual life is basically communism, which sucks if imposed by a government (communist government is an oxymoron) because people want to have control over their lives and live their desires. Communism works in spiritual live because control is an illusion and desire is a snare.

The thing with meditation is during buddhas time or even upto early 20th century people had too much free time and the society was mostly agrarian.There was not much of fear of missing out on stuff. Men leaving families for monastic life was pretty easy to do. There was not much difference living in a village or in the forest. The yearn for finding enlightenment or god was genuine. There are too many distractions in modern world to get into a monastic order or even following monastic rules on their own. Meditation in buddhas time must have meant weaning off of stuff which stops you from Concentrating on the practice. We have too easy of a life at this point of humanity to abandon it and start a genuine search for enlightenment. Buddhism now is just a retreat more than a practice or a nominal religion. There are only lay buddhists not monks. In the end buddhism is just Concentration on one's own mind in isolation where there are less distractions but simple things are hardest to do.

Any "enlightenment" that requires you to sit in meditation for 5+ hours a day is beyond useless, if that's what you think might as well just keep it to yourself rather than propound the view in youtube comments. "Nowadays they sound a signal to sit and meditate. If you want a solemn scene, there you have it, but I don't believe you can sit to the point where you attain stability. People who hear this kind of talk often think I do not teach people to sit and meditate, but this is a misperception: they do not understand expedient technique. I just want you to be in Zen meditation whether you are working or sitting, to be essentially at peace whether you are speaking, silent, active or still." - Dahui, as quoted on pp xiii - xiv in "Instant Zen: Waking up in the Present" translated by Thomas Cleary. It seems to me the masters who founded Zen in China 1000+ years ago seem to have tried their best to smash this Buddhist tendency to fetishize monasticism, but all these years later here we are, still. Dogen's "flavor aid" pep talk to his young followers wasn't entirely helpful to the cause, perhaps.

Im on as awake as i am becouse i was able to find sme true teachers one was a german women in full nivana she was done living normal life allways happy super chill

What's enlightenment?

Yeah ego. It is not about you.

Well all thoses enlightend monks who meditate 24 7 have a bit of discipline for what? To be useful?