#zazen sounds

[deathstench]

Formed ten years ago, DEATHSTENCH released three albums and many eps.. The "Massed in Black Shadow" album was a great obscure and dangerous one..The crown of their sacrifice was their collaboration with Bon Masters Phurpa. John Paul Whetzel and Darea Plantin spells behind this interview.

“Blood Moon Divination” was your latest release. It was released in a limited amount of copies and only in Tape format. Why this choice?

We have always preferred analog releases. We view physical copies as something that should be appreciated.. Let's face it, it's the 21st century, and people do most of their listening through some sort of streaming service. If they like it, they most likely pirate it. We understand this; Our physical releases are intentionally designed for coveting.

We put a great deal of energy into each release. In our past special editions, we have included ritual accouterments that correspond with each album, such as shards of human bone and incense we made specifically for the intent to conjure with the dead.

You have released three albums. Please tell us the concept behind each one and the process of the recordings…Each release turns out to more noisy and dark forms..

To be precise it's four albums, and numerous collaborations and splits. Our releases are not in any sort of chronological order, from conception to the final product takes its own time dependant upon the haste of that particular record label. We record basically the same for each album, building upon a structured theme. Our music is built on layers of sounds from instruments, traditional and otherwise, that we record with either handheld devices or microphones connected to an audio interface which we use to record our percussion and amps.

Each track on "Blood Moon Divination" is an audial ritual recorded and released during each specific Blood Moon in the tetrad cycle of blood moon eclipses of 2014-2015. Through that span of time, these celestial vibrations were available as they were being released on several streaming platforms, including Black Metal and Brews and Repartiseraren. A tetrad of lunar eclipses is extremely uncommon. This was only the eighth of such cycles in over two thousand years. We compiled them together for a physical album that we chose to release during the first exclusive total solar eclipse the United States had seen in over two hundred years. Eclipses, both solar and lunar, are considered to be very inauspicious events throughout the world. As an omen of war, the Talmud regards "If the face of the moon is as red as blood it is a sign that the sword is coming to the world."

"N.O.X." is a transcendent four track journey that starts out violently with the lo-fi black metal track OXEX DAZIS SIATRIS, Enochian for "Vomiting The Head of Scorpions" and slowly transforms itself into a less chaotic discord that concludes with the meditative piece "Mysterivm Tremendvm". N.O.X. or "The Night of Pan", is a mystical state that represents the stage of ego-death in the process of spiritual attainment. The Greek word Pan also translates as All, as he is a symbol of the Universal, a personification of Nature; both Pangenetor, "all-begetter," and Panphage, "all-devourer". Pan is both the giver and the taker of life, and his Night is that time of symbolic death where the adept experiences unification with the All through the ecstatic destruction of the ego-self. In a more general sense, it is the state where one transcends all limitations and experiences oneness with the universe.

"Nekro Blood Ritual", our second album, was designed specifically for its cassette release and is broken into two sections: Conjuration Rites and Burial Evocation. This album focuses on conjuring the dead and the desecration of human remains. This is by far our most atmospheric album; most of the tracks are rely heavily on field recordings and stygian synthesizers to evoke the abject darkness. These songs are reminiscent to the "Incantations in Dead Tongues" era of our work. There are only two conventional (for use of a better term) songs on this album, "Nekrobloodritual" and "Desecrating The Host" the latter being a harsh black funeral doom dirge for the departed.

In our debut album, "Massed in Black Shadow" we utilize all of our influences through the years. Incorporating elements of death industrial, dark ambient, doom, and black metal, and hideously transforming and conjoining them into a writhing mass of absolute filth, a sound truly all our own. The final track, titled “Bastards of the Black Flame” can be considered a motto to us, as it is exactly who we are. The byproducts of an unholy union between some of the most violent forms of music, in both sound and ideologies.

DEATHSTENCH collaborated with Phurpa. How did this Union take form? Are you interested in the theory of empiricism in Bon Religion?

In 2012 Alexei Tegin had discovered our music from our debut album and contacted us. Both Phurpa and ourselves operate with the same meditative qualities regarding our music. Although our sound derives from different spectrums, they coalesce quite vividly. "Evoking Shadows of Death" fuses our ultrasonic vibrations and harsh atmospheres with the harmonious chants and deep, droning reverberations of their tantric voice. These two tracks are designed to help the chod practitioner tap the power of fear. This transformation does not fall spontaneously, as grace, upon the listener: the practitioner must engage in the process. One must take steps to transmute through the aural plane and, through a process in which they must actively participate, requiring utmost concentration and mental stamina. This mystical experience is achieved, not bestowed.

Empirical reasoning has no place in esoteric practices and the occult. These objects are neither phenomena (empiricism) nor human constructs imposed upon the phenomena (idealism), but real structures which endure and operate independently of our knowledge, our experience and the conditions which allow us access to them. Some things cannot be reduced down to empirical measurements.

Thanatology and satanism are your basic influences. How do you define satanism and how death in your personal path?

Deathlore has always intrigued the both of us. There is absolutely nothing more final than Death. Every single one of us will die, as Death does not discriminate. Dying, death and how human beings respond to the inevitability of their mortality and cope with the reality of loss can be viewed from a wide range of perspectives. Our intent has never been to elaborate on our practices or rituals to any audience. Even the altars we allow you to see are set up specifically for public viewing. While they are still symbolic of what we would normally produce for our own rituals, the intent isn't there. It's merely superficial. Our personal altars and rituals will always remain clandestine, as all witchcraft should be.

“Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.” ― Lao Tzu

I would like to hear your thoughts and if you are into the systems of O.N.A & Temple of the Black Light in theory and praxis as Traditional satanic approach you unveil through your works . Satanism is such an elaborate construct; Atheistic, LaVeyan, theistic, there are so many paths. Satan has always been symbolic with the quest for Knowledge, of opposition to arbitrary authority, forever defending personal sovereignty even in the face of insurmountable odds. Our path cannot be defined by one simple ideology.

We have absolutely no affiliation with these groups.

Does DEATHSTENCH ever perform live?

We are very selective in our live performances. The last show was in Portland, Oregon way back in 2015 when we opened up for MGLA, Weregoat, and Sempiternal Dusk. Alan Dubin (of Gnaw, Khanate) and Billy Anderson, whom we have long collaborated with, did a sort of dueling vocals approach to our fifteen-minute audial assault on an beyond-capacity crowd. This show was recorded by Mateo from Greysun Records who also released it on his label in 2018.

Necromancy is an Old Art Like Time.Ancient Greece had deep roots also in this Subject. Are you familiar with the Ancient Greek Mysteries?

Yes, we are familiar with some of the Chthonic mysteries highlighting mortality and the briefness of life, and the spirits of the blessed dead. Though, like most true paths of esoteric knowledge, not much is truly known about the intricacies of these rituals, having been sworn to secrecy and then lost to the Sands of Time. It has been suggested that communicants would drink Kykeon infused with the psychotropic fungus ergot which helped the initiate to reach a fuller understanding of their purpose in life and to shed their fear of death and this, then, heightened the experience and helped transform the initiate. The same can be said of the Huichol in Mexico, who eat peyote at the completion of long arduous pilgrimages in order that they may experience in the journey of the soul of the dead to the underworld. Death worship and eschatology are celebrated by all cultures throughout time, most with the use of hallucinogens.

I would like to hear your thoughts on these words: “This being true for the ordinary Universe, that all sense-impressions are dependent on changes in the brain we must include illusions, which are after all sense-impressions as much as “realities” are, in the class of “phenomena dependent on brain-changes.”  ― S.L. MacGregor Mathers,��Goetia the Lesser Key of Solomon the King: Lemegeton, Book 1 Clavicula Salomonis Regis

In contemporary education, the emphasis has been on the psychomotor and the cognitive, namely reading, writing, and arithmetic, at the expense of the affective, namely, the emotions, the sensual, the intuitive, and the imaginative. Priority has been assigned to the verbal-intellectual skills. Anything else tends to be shelved or boxed and put away as ephemeral, esoteric, or mystical, each of these terms being used in a pejorative sense.

Consider for a moment the human sensory system. To the scientific mind, the senses are perceived to act as a kind of data-reduction system. The problem with this concept of the senses is that we do not respond to all that is potential sensory input. Perception is quite a selective process, attending to only a small fraction of so-called reality.

To some extent, scientist or artist, everything we perceive is "illusory," since to perceive anything at all we must use our imaginative capacity for fantasy.

What can we expect from DEATHSTENCH in the near future?

We have a few albums waiting in the shadows including collaborations with Sektor 304 and LINEKRAFT, as well as another full-length album incorporating both Billy Anderson and Alan Dubin. Time is relative, and there are no promises as to when any of these releases will see the light of day.

[gargarismo-blog1]

Zazen Sounds New Releases out now!

ZAZEN SOUNDS PROUDLY PRESENTS: (ZZS 131)  Zazen Sounds Esoteric Publication Issue 22 (Musical Art/Philosophy/Traditionalism/Sacred Science) This is the new Issue by Zazen Sounds Esoteric Publication. 56 pages dedicated to the Art and Esotericism. We are a free thinking society and welcome all the Individuals that is free by Dogma-Fanatism and Blindness. True Spirituality means Liberation from the Bounds and all kinds of Drugs that society offers & enslave the Individual in Mind and flesh and alter his mind's perspective to transformation and enlightment through empiricism.Spirit Above Matter! Subscribe for updates at: https://zazensoundspublishings.bandcamp.com/

The Price including postages worldwide is 18 Euro. Registered shipping Worldwide 20.00 Euro with Tracking Number. For orders in Greece the price including registered shipping is 16 euro. Send as a gift at: acherontasvp9@gmail.com If this option is not available at your Paypal account then you add the fees. PLEASE WRITE YOUR COMPLETE ORDER AND ADDRESS AT PAYPAL NOTES!     ------------------------------------------------------

(ZZS 132) Arkhaeth "Profound Lore of the Ashen Specters" (90s Black metal in the vein of early Emperor & Gorgoroth) Kzanhagr and Kunstdood on 2014 down the name of Mørknatt and reborn on 2021 as Arkhaeth. Members of Beyond Death’s Throne, Necroracle, Cauldron, Cvltist and other related projects. An Album comprised of seven tracks on a total of 44 minutes of powerful wrath and pure melancholic essence. "Profound Lore Of The Ashen Specters" was inspired in the Luciferian ethos and leaning intellectual and spiritual left hand path doctrines. Serving as the lore written in old forgotten ashen scriptures that lead to ilumination of the self and enacting as a roadmap into the fierce path to attain the final knowledge of the overman.

Digital Purchase and subscription at: https://zazensoundspublishings.bandcamp.com/

The Price including postages worldwide is 18 Euro. Registered shipping Worldwide 20.00 Euro with Tracking Number. For orders in Greece the price including registered shipping is 16 euro. Send as a gift at: acherontasvp9@gmail.com If this option is not available at your Paypal account then you add the fees. PLEASE WRITE YOUR COMPLETE ORDER AND ADDRESS AT PAYPAL NOTES!  

------------------------------------------------------

(ZZS 133) Purba"Roma Aeterna" (Ritualistic Bon Noise experimental ambient Art in the vein of Zero Kama and Vishudha Kali )

A Deep Ritualistic Recording related to the atmosphere before civilization emerged or after its destruction.The original idea of this Work was to fix not the eternity of existence, but the eternity of destruction. Shiva is always there. Looking at the sky we see a lot of non-existent stars. Our memory disappears from the wind of time and leaves only eternal ruins.

Official Video Teaser

Digital Purchase and subscription at: https://zazensoundspublishings.bandcamp.com/ The Price including postages worldwide is 18 Euro. Registered shipping Worldwide 20.00 Euro with Tracking Number. For orders in Greece the price including registered shipping is 16 euro. Send as a gift at: acherontasvp9@gmail.com If this option is not available at your Paypal account then you add the fees. PLEASE WRITE YOUR COMPLETE ORDER AND ADDRESS AT PAYPAL NOTES!     ------------------------------------------------------ BUNDLE OPTION DISCOUNT  FOR THE THREE NEW RELEASES INCLUDING REGISTERED SHIPPING WITH TRACKING NUMBER: The Price including Registered shipping worldwide with tracking number is 45 Euro. For orders in Greece including Registered shipping the price is 40 Euro. Send as a gift at: acherontasvp9@gmail.com If not this option available at your Paypal account then you add the fees. PLEASE WRITE YOUR COMPLETE ORDER AND YOUR ADDRESS AT PAYPAL NOTES! ALL ORDERS WILL BE SHIPPED 16th of May! Subscribe for updates at: https://www.zazensounds.com/ Feel free to contact us for any question and assistance at: acherontasvp9@gmail.com We Recommend always Registered shipping Option!

[coven-of-genesis]

Types of meditation

1. Mindfulness meditation: Focus on your breath or a specific sensation, bringing your attention to the present moment.

2. Loving-kindness meditation: Cultivate feelings of love and compassion towards yourself and others.

3. Transcendental Meditation: Repeat a mantra to achieve a state of relaxed awareness.

4. Body scan meditation: Direct attention to different parts of your body, releasing tension and promoting relaxation.

5. Zen meditation (Zazen): Sit in a specific posture, focus on your breath, and observe thoughts without attachment.

6. Guided meditation: Follow a recorded or live guide's instructions for visualization and relaxation.

7. Vipassana meditation: Develop insight by observing bodily sensations and thoughts with non-reactive awareness.

8. Yoga nidra: A state of conscious relaxation achieved through guided meditation while lying down.

9. Chakra meditation: Focus on energy centers in the body, visualizing and balancing them.

10. Mantra meditation: Repeat a word, phrase, or sound to quiet the mind and enhance concentration.

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of Zen

The philosophy of Zen is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism that emphasizes direct experience, mindfulness, and the attainment of enlightenment through meditation and intuitive insight rather than through doctrinal study or ritualistic practices. Originating in China as Chan Buddhism and later flourishing in Japan as Zen, this philosophy seeks to transcend the dualities of ordinary thought and to awaken to the true nature of reality, which is seen as beyond conceptual understanding.

Key Concepts in the Philosophy of Zen:

Direct Experience and Enlightenment (Satori):

Immediate Awareness: Zen emphasizes direct, immediate experience as the path to enlightenment (satori). This means engaging with reality without the interference of conceptual thought or the ego, often through practices such as meditation (zazen) and mindful awareness.

Satori: Enlightenment in Zen, known as satori, is often described as a sudden, profound realization of the interconnectedness of all things and the emptiness (śūnyatā) that underlies reality. This insight transcends ordinary understanding and reveals the true nature of existence.

Meditation (Zazen):

Seated Meditation: Zazen, or seated meditation, is the core practice of Zen. It involves sitting in a specific posture, focusing on the breath, and observing thoughts without attachment. The aim is to quiet the mind, develop concentration, and eventually experience deep states of awareness and insight.

Beyond Techniques: While zazen is a formal practice, Zen teaches that meditation can extend into all aspects of life, encouraging practitioners to bring the same mindfulness and presence into everyday activities.

Koans and Paradoxes:

Koans: Koans are paradoxical statements or questions used in Zen practice to transcend logical thinking and provoke direct insight. A well-known example is, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" The purpose of a koan is not to find a logical answer but to break down the barriers of conventional thought and open the mind to a more profound reality.

Beyond Rationality: Zen often challenges the limits of rationality, using paradox and contradiction to point out that true understanding is beyond intellectual comprehension.

Non-Dualism and Emptiness (Śūnyatā):

Transcending Duality: Zen philosophy rejects the dualistic thinking that separates the self from the world, subject from object, and good from bad. Instead, it teaches that all distinctions are illusory and that true reality is non-dual.

Emptiness: The concept of emptiness (śūnyatā) is central to Zen. It refers to the idea that all things are interconnected and lack an independent, permanent essence. Understanding this emptiness is key to realizing the impermanent and interdependent nature of reality.

Mindfulness and Present-Moment Awareness:

Living in the Present: Zen encourages practitioners to live fully in the present moment, without attachment to the past or anxiety about the future. This mindfulness is cultivated in both formal meditation and daily activities.

Mindful Action: Zen teaches that any action, no matter how mundane, can be an opportunity for mindfulness and awareness. The concept of "being one with the task" is emphasized, where the distinction between the doer and the deed dissolves.

Simplicity and Naturalness:

Simplicity: Zen values simplicity in both thought and lifestyle. This is reflected in Zen art, architecture, and daily practices, which emphasize naturalness, austerity, and the beauty of the unadorned.

Natural Flow: Zen encourages a natural way of being, in harmony with the flow of life. This idea is often illustrated by metaphors of nature, such as the effortless way a tree grows or a river flows.

Compassion and Ethical Living:

Bodhisattva Ideal: Although Zen emphasizes direct personal experience, it also upholds the Mahayana Buddhist ideal of the bodhisattva—someone who seeks enlightenment not just for themselves but for the benefit of all beings. Compassion and ethical conduct are integral to this path.

Engaged Buddhism: In modern times, Zen has also inspired forms of engaged Buddhism, where mindfulness and ethical living are applied to social, environmental, and political issues.

Art, Aesthetics, and Expression:

Zen Arts: Zen has profoundly influenced Japanese arts, including tea ceremony, calligraphy, poetry (such as haiku), and gardening. These arts embody the principles of simplicity, mindfulness, and the transient nature of existence.

Expression of Enlightenment: In Zen, artistic expression is often seen as an extension of the meditative mind. The spontaneity and directness found in Zen arts reflect the same qualities valued in Zen practice.

Non-Attachment and Letting Go:

Letting Go of Ego: Zen teaches the importance of letting go of the ego, desires, and attachments that create suffering. By relinquishing these attachments, one can experience a deeper, more peaceful state of being.

Non-Striving: Paradoxically, Zen teaches that enlightenment cannot be attained through effort alone; it requires a state of non-striving, where one lets go of the desire for enlightenment and simply allows it to arise naturally.

Silence and the Ineffable:

Beyond Words: Zen often emphasizes the limitations of language in capturing the essence of reality. Many Zen teachings are conveyed through silence or direct, non-verbal actions, highlighting that the deepest truths cannot be fully expressed in words.

Ineffability of Truth: Zen suggests that true understanding comes from direct experience, not from intellectual discussion or analysis. This is reflected in the Zen saying, "The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon," indicating that teachings are merely pointers to the truth, not the truth itself.

The philosophy of Zen offers a unique approach to understanding the nature of reality and the self, emphasizing direct experience, mindfulness, and the transcendence of dualistic thinking. By cultivating a deep awareness of the present moment and embracing the simplicity and natural flow of life, Zen practitioners seek to realize the interconnectedness of all things and attain enlightenment. This philosophy has had a profound influence on both Eastern and Western thought, inspiring not only spiritual practice but also art, literature, and approaches to everyday living.

[radical-revolution]

If you want to obtain perfect calmness in your zazen, you should not be bothered by the various images you find in your mind. Let them come, and let them go. Then they will be under control. But this policy is not so easy. It sounds easy, but it requires some special effort.

Shunryu Suzuki

[odayakajanai]

Vocaloid Songs You Might Have Missed - December 2023

Welcome back to my blog. Just like that, it's the last post for the year... never mind that it's already 2024. But for this longtime fan, 2023 was the best year in ages for Vocaloid music.

Something I mentioned in an earlier entry is that so much Vocaloid music over the past few years has felt like bait for singers to cover. (And to paste their avatars over in the videos... I'm far from the first person to notice this!) I don't mention this entirely to be a hater, but to contrast with the type and quality of release I've seen this year. Many of the 'vtuber bait' songs I poke fun at are truly great and destined to live on forever in Vocaloid history, but I've always felt a difference between songs that use vocal synths in the absence of a human singer and those that lean into the synthetic nature of the voices and the characters that represent them.

Over the past few years, a renewed interest in idiosyncratic voicebanks like Adachi Rei, Utane Uta (entirely synthetic), and the MAIDLOIDs (derived from a h-game moan synthesis engine) has coincided with technological advancement: the entry of SynthV, Neutrino, and CeVIO voicebanks have been fuel for an explosion in new music -- a genuine Vocaloid renaissance.

SynthV Teto has been particularly instrumental in all this since her release in April. In mere months, SV Teto has catapulted at least one producer into online superstardom, and an associated reevaluation of UTAU Teto has seen her behind some of the biggest songs this year. Nostalgia was part of the reason 2023 was the Year of Teto, but the SynthV voicebank, which totally maintained Teto's character while shaking off the computer-y crunchiness, is an achievement well worth the fanfare it received. With December's release of SynthV GUMI, are we in for a similar treat in 2024?

Anyways, last month's post is here, and this month's is under the break.

P.S. Speaking of nostalgia... did you know that Dixie Flatline is back?

Full playlist here, individual tracks below.

心酔 / あすわど feat. 重音テト Standard voca-pop rock, but something about the stuttering drums and a finely tuned Teto is *chef's kiss* more than enough for me.

死んだっぽいぜ / クソ犬 feat. 知声 I'd never heard a Vocaloid producer take on this kind of rock, somewhat reminiscent of pre-Warner Devo and a dead ringer for ZAZEN BOYS at their best. I also never expected to hear a Maki cover of "Lithium," so this producer is my current king of breaking new ground.

アサルト / いおぎりょう feat. 知声 Ryo Iogi's Teto hyperpop from September is one of my favorite tracks of the year, and I've been anxious to hear something new from him. Like the last song on this list, Chis-A's voice lends itself well to a good grungy guitar riff.

かくほ / よかど feat. 足立レイ Like Chis-A, Rei's voice pairs naturally with a certain kind of music... usually the skittery electronic dance-pop kind, so it's refreshing to hear a Coaltar of the Deepers-esque song featuring her.

sh*ellll;gar~ey / あずきねこp feat. カゼヒキβ, 初音ミク Finally, Kazehiki Beta hyperpop!

エビチャーハン! (You’re Telling Me A SHRIMP Fried This Rice?!) / Jamie Paige feat. 初音ミク Jamie Paige is behind just about every English Vocaloid song that I like (sorry Crusher-P, but I'm not an edgy teenager anymore), so I wasn't surprised to love her celebration of the Snow Miku 2024 "Shrimpku" design. And it's always funny to hear Miku say fuck.

ルナシー / 報瀬 feat. 初音ミク, 重音テト There's something so satisfying about hearing a "traditional" vocasynth sing alongside one of the next-gen, realistic-sounding ones. I love getting hit back-to-back with a crunchy melismatic Miku call and Teto soaring smoothly in response, especially paired with an uptempo saxophone riff that makes me want to shout ᴶaᵃaˢₒⁿ ᴰₑʳᵤᵘᵤˡₒᵒₒᵒ.

ドキドキ / tiputica feat. AiSuu I can't find anything about this artist. They have a Twitter account with one post about this song, zero followers or follows, and that's it. If anyone out there has more information on this artist, hit me up.

マジカルメモリー / in the blue shirt feat. 初音ミク in the blue shirt isn't new to Vocaloid, but he's much more known among netlabel followers for his sunny, sample-driven plunderphonic pop. His Miku music follows that feeling.

今日のずんだはみなごろし / ちから feat. ずんだもん,東北ずん子, イタコ, きりたん, 四国めたん, ナクモ I barely know where to start with this one. Like, uh, most people who don't listen to Pentatonix, I'm not particularly fond of a certain brand of a capella music, but when it's done this well, with such a satisfying complexity of harmony and counterpoint, and for Zundamon's birthday of all occasions, how can you not fall in love?

サンタの眠る夜 / ぐーすかぽー feat. 初音ミク The holidays have just wrapped up, and while there's never any shortage of Vocaloid Christmas songs, ones that are actually enjoyable to listen to are few and far between... though I think there's a new market opening for New Years music!

Trajectory / ごーぶす feat. KAITO Hey, it's KAITO's first appearance on here! A chill ballad with a beautiful rnb chord progression.

え？ちょっと待って寒すぎない？ / asanuko feat. 鏡音レン Speaking of rnb, I think I've mentioned on here how much I love Rin for rnb/garage. asanuko's song is funny as hell, and I'm sure I'll be singing it under my breath as the winter chill continues to settle in, but mostly I'm impressed at how good Rin sounds for this kind of music.

夜空の再構成 / ヨハク feat. 初音ミク This style of song/video has been getting popular recently... electric piano, rapid-fire bass, intricate drum programming, synth leads that twist and turn around the melody, and all of the chord/time information you could ever hope for. A little showboating for music nerds, but it's stimulating enough and I do like it.

ボクにあいそうなはこ / MIDy feat. カゼヒキβ Finally, Kazehiki Beta hy-- wait a second.

ずんだ体育大学コール / さたぱんP feat. ずんだもん, 春日部つむぎ, WhiteCUL, 四国めたん, 白上虎太郎, 青山龍星 The Zundamon gods demand a sacrifice of joke songs, so here it is. See if you can count the references in the zunda dances.

＊･ﾟ+｡園にて.ﾟ / ukaihi feat. 初音ミク ukaihi is 3 for 3 on making it onto this list. I'm sure #4 will make it on here, too... if they don't become popular enough for most people to come across their music first!

絵空事未来 / 真島ゆろ feat. 初音ミク Where the ukaihi song seemed to float, this one skips. 真島ゆろ is one of those producers who can change styles from song to song, and this take on a sasakure.uk-gone-lighthearted style is a winner.

ナイトランナー / d0tc0mmie feat. 重音テト Osaka mentioned... d0c0mmie did a great job capturing a feeling with this one. The laid back - but quick - drums bring back memories of running around Namba with friends way too late into the night.

ハイパー. / ikomai feat.Ciちゃんβ My favorite submission from #PVSF2023R -- so obviously the video is great, but the original track from ikomai blew me away. I think my taste in music is easily read from my blog posts, and this kind of song is nothing out of the ordinary for me, but the Jacob Collier style turnaround at 0:58 knocked me out.

エグい速度での俯瞰 / もっちりしたパン feat.可不, ナースロボ＿タイプT Nurse Robo Type T and Kafu doing what they do best -- talking and mirroring a superspeed jazz fusion piano riff.

NSFW Bonus - メスガキヨーデル / enunichime feat. 重音テト First of all, I have never heard a vocasynth yodel before, and I was not expecting it to sounds this good. Second of all, you can't be making songs about this white baby.

[salora-rainriver]

*taps mic*

The thing about meditation is that it’s never just meditation,

(Hey- You there! Peeps with ADHD who are sick of being told to meditate! This is for you! This is about that frustration and the problem with that advice!)

There’s hundreds of spiritual meditation traditions in the world, and thousands of ways in which you (yes, you) could hypothetically begin to meditate.

Meditation isn’t one thing. It’s not sitting in lotus pose 🧘‍♀️ and emptying your mind.

Meditation can be done sitting in a chair, kneeling on the floor, laying in bed, standing, walking, even dancing! (please look up whirling dervishes)

Meditation also isn’t done for just one thing. It can be done to pursue inner peace, focus your mind, leave your mind, gain greater awareness of the outer world or the inner world, and even attain a higher level of spirituality (whatever that means for you / your religion).

“Mindful” meditation is done to exercise self-awareness and reduce stress.

Christian mystics meditate in the pursuit of understanding God.

Zazen is practiced as part of the daily traditions of a monastery, a mandated period of rest after a long day of spiritual and physical labor.

Often, people will “try meditation” AKA walk into a Mindfulness guided meditation, be told to focus on their breathing and let their worries go,

Then get frustrated because the Thoughts keep coming faster than they can push them away. And then they walk away deciding this isn’t for them.

Just so we’re all clear: no. You’re not supposed to push the thoughts away.

You’re supposed to notice the thought is there, take note of it, and then let it go.

Trying to push thoughts away just creates a “don’t think of pink elephants” situation, where thinking about not thinking about it makes you think about it more.

Hey, dude with ADHD, thanks for sticking with me. I’m sure i don’t need to tell you how annoying it is to hear “you should meditate” and then you’re stuck there going “but I cant just sit down and Relax for an hour bro” and then they straight up don’t believe you.

Yeah what if we had a deeper understanding of what meditation was and someone said “you know if you feel like you can’t sit still, maybe going for a walk and Focusing on the sound of your footsteps might do something”?

Does that maybe sound a bit more appealing?

Or maybe before you go to bed, you put on some music or the sounds of rain, and let it carry your thoughts somewhere peaceful and dreamlike as you Listen Closely?

Maybe you could dance? Or chant? Sing, even?

Run your fingers over some object and ruminate on its texture?

Meditation is a huge and diverse array of practices. The only thing they all have in common is that you enter some sort of peaceful trance as you do it.

However the hell you get there.

So yeah, I think people should be specific before they suggest “meditation” to someone.

Cause I know for a fact that sitting in an uncomfortable pose and doing Nothing for an hour won’t fix me,

but I sure as fuck Feel Something when I go Deep Listening to the sound of cicadas in a forest while Twin Peaks synth hums a mysterious drone over the misty scene. Or yanno, whatever the fuck sounds I’m feeling like at the moment.

Also, walking in nature feels good. I could go for a walk every so often.

Hey y’all, it’s springtime in the northern hemisphere right now. you might find some flowers if you go walking!

Edit:

“writing a thingy about meditation for adhd folks but also making it a massive wall of text is very gabycore xD”

Added page breaks and formatting and also some colorcoding. Hope that helps with readability. I have The Tisms, ok?

[misantropiarecords]

Voidwind Clad In Your Misery review from Zazen Sounds Magazine by Harri Linnera.

[beyourselfchulanmaria]

鳥兒在樹梢歌唱，也在我們心裡歌唱。 詩人芭蕉寫道：

多麼寂靜，

蟬的聲音，

穿透岩石。

The bird singing in the tree sings in our heart. The poet Basho wrote:

What stillness,

The voices of the cicadas,

Penetrate the rock. 

《法句經》 偈頌 第289偈

緣起之鍊的第十二環是“死亡”，但為了更充分地體驗生命，必須有“生中死亡”。

珍妮·霍爾／Jenny Hall 探討了這個主題。

Verses from the Dhammapada 289

The 12th Link of the Chain of Dependent Origination is 'Death', but there is a death-in-life necessary to experience life more fully. Jenny Hall explores this theme.

［……］We tend to ignore the Buddha’s teaching that impermanence is the natural state of the world. Everything, including ourselves, changes, ages and dies. We also forget that the Buddha taught that ‘I’ am a delusion made up of five impermanent aggregates: physical form, sensations, perceptions, mental formations and sense consciousness. They come together to create a psycho-physical organism. When the form dies, they break up.

Despite our transience, we cling, not only to the idea of youth, but to all our experiences, both enjoyable and distressing. This creates the delusion of ‘me’. This delusion is terrified of death. Such fear drives us to strive constantly to become ‘someone’. We pursue this goal through possessions, relationships and accomplishments. Even the desire to become a Zen student may be initially part of such ambition. Before starting the Zen training, I had read that through zazen (sitting meditation), I would find my ‘real’ self. I believed that if I sat long enough this real me would appear. Fear arose when nothing emerged!

‘… the wise will enter the Path leading to Nirvana.’

The Zen training helps us to recognise this fear. We learn to greet it and to embrace it. When we stop running away from it, the energy is transformed into the spaciousness and timelessness of ‘Choiceless Awareness’ – the description given by the sage Krishnamurti for consciousness without the delusion of self. This ‘I’ made up of fear drops off. So we learn to ‘die’ on the cushion before we die physically.

Master Sokei-an said that when the time comes, and death approaches:

‘We fold our hands, bow our head and return to where we always have been.’

These beautiful words express the whole of the Zen training.

The story of The Dead Man’s Answer, illustrates this complete self-abandonment. Mamiya went to a Zen master and asked for guidance. He was given the koan: ‘What is the sound of one hand clapping?’ Mamiya concentrated on what the answer might be. When he went back to his teacher, the teacher said: ‘You must work harder. You are too attached to food, wealth and that sound. It would be better if you died. That would solve the problem.’ The next time Mamiya met his teacher he was asked for an answer. Mamiya fell onto the floor as though he was dead.

‘Yes, you are dead, but what about that sound?’ said the master.

Mamiya looked up and said ‘I haven’t solved that yet.’ The teacher said: ‘Dead men do not speak. Get out!’

The daily life practice offers the opportunity to ‘die’ from moment to moment. Each time ‘I’ give myself away into the situation, becoming at one with it, whether it pleases me or displeases me, is a little ‘death’. At the same time the craving ‘to be’ someone drops off too. The spacious intimacy of the open heart appears. We participate fully with life, its ups and downs, the light and the darkness both. There is no separation. When there is freedom from this one who stands apart judging everything about me there is just the Buddha’s compassion remaining.

The bird singing in the tree sings in our heart. The poet Basho wrote:

What stillness,

The voices of the cicadas,

Penetrate the rock. 🙏

text ©️Jenny Hall

https://www.thezengateway.com/teachings/verses-from-the-dhammapada-289

[zerogate]

Vainly wasting your thinking and discrimination does not compare to the virtue of gaining bodhi. Intending to reach the buddha way through stupid ceaseless chanting millions of times is like steering a cart north and trying to go south. It is also the same as trying to put a square peg in a round hole. Reading literature while ignoring the way of practice is like a person reading a prescription but forgetting to take the medicine; what is the benefit? Continuously uttering sounds like frogs in a spring rice paddy croaking day and night is also ultimately worthless.

-- Master Dogen's Zazen Meditation Handbook: A Translation of Eihei Dogen's Bendowa - A Discourse on the Practice of Zazen

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary142

2/3-4/2024

my weekend begins #now.

i started it with a damon packard movie, foxfur, a friend sent me it and i was like, entranced by it. really great movie, feels like it gets at the precarity/nightmarishness of the world atm and all ways people cope, especially w/ new age weirdo stuff. so oddly on with that, all the way back in 2012.

otherwise, my day was okay, my work note:

stuck there too long, one kid tried to scam me and it was so obvious and bad, insanely stupid attempt. the rides are scary, someone almost lost their phone, but mostly, dull. i didn't get to take a break.

i did work on music but i'm too exhausted/spaced out to get to the next song, i've just been fiddling with the last one, the issue w/ it is that in order to get it more disgusting sounding in the distortion/how it distorts, i need to figure something out, and the fiddling/ solutions i've come up with are a bit flabby sounding i guess, coming back to them. the flab is in the lack of sharpness. something weird needs to happen or whatever. might need to go back to the guitar fixing thing for the right channel sound, i've started messing with some octave effects, but there may be something else i need to try too, maybe a re-done effects chain in parts. idk. i'll see how this export comes out where i boost some of the highs in each separate track.

did something where i went and eq-ed out the ugliest signals solo, seems to have worked in a first pass but i forgot to turn some stuff back on. i also decided to change something in the master. it's impressive to me how much stuff regarding guitar sounds/tones online is so useless and how boring most people want to be.

having thoughts now, about ai, that's how you know i've been up too late. here's my new whacko theory about it, or i guess i can't present it from there, immediately, here's the source of the thought, seeing the cover art for zazen boys ii, and the illegibility of it, basically, its failure to say zazen boys ii in a way that's immediately readable. it's willfully against being read, it's a mess, it's beautiful, it's a typographic explosion, it looks like several different languages slammed together, congealed. i don't think it's important it was done by a human or whatever but i think what it is, is something that fails at what you'd expect, and what you'd want from what is basically an advertisement to get people to blindly buy something, or that's what cover art is when viewed from the perspective of not caring about the music. many times, they are related, but it's positive also with the selling/potential to get someone to loo, i think maybe this is is only worth thinking about because zazen boys are a japanese band and cd sales are still hugely important over there, because piracy is so scary for them. for anyone who steals the vast majority of music, it's more freely interrelated to the music/meaning of the music, it's something that is liked and connected with in that way. this is an aside. basically the other thing is it reminded me of what those neural nets or whatever they are now, do when they try to write something in an image. signs, anything. it bugs me when people act like ai is novel, is what i think i'm feeling lately. it's a lot of futurists basically taking up a fetishistic desire to point at something as new, a new method, a new field of potentiality, a new capability for people to adopt, maybe flatly, it increases our ability, for them, and so this novelty in technology revitalizes art, but these things only scrape and congeal, they do it at a scale that people cannot, because they can remember more, with their monologic weighting and construction of meanings as largely singular and not fluid. people may bring the nature of ai writing which does get rather figurative and strange, but so does any good writer, it rarely produces sentences i think nothing else could produce, it just feels like a lot of excitement over the fact that capital has now moved into the territory of the illegible, it creates nonsense information, it absorbs centuries of ways of writing and sequences them, somehow, this is enough to some people to seem better than all fiction currently produced. a strangely eugenic approach to art, we seem to have arrived at in recent times, where people are quick to say, this is the end of everything, this makes anyone doing the same thing unnecessary, there is not vitality in (x), there is no hope for anything new in (x). a sickness over novelty, it is so purely and psychotically spectacular, it should be seen as special i guess how even people who act outside/above this get very wrapped in it, or act like it is real. i can never see or feel how it's real. i don't know why. is that wrong of me?

i know people who find ai to be very exciting, but when i see what they think of it, all i feel is that really what they want is to be the manager of creative work, and ai is finally a worker they can have. it's not about freeing up who can make things, the novelty is the fantasy it sells, the fantasy of not having to communicate with others in the creation of something, and the feeling that you are communing with some vast well of meaning. in short, you are enabled to be a creative director, you direct an image making, text spewing machine, a machine which has absorbed meaning/constructs meaning in a way that snuffs out the negative, there is never lack, it is a system of pure success, it is eugenically improving itself always, at least this is my read on it, creating memories / facts / linkages that are essentially a kind of super-infrastructure for information. this is totally opposite to the waste-products created in our mind, which we trip over, and months of not considering them, surface, corpses in rivers, eggs which never spawned, and now gleaming and bobbing, they seem pearls you may fashion into something terrible, and carry it for the rest of your life, with a special sort of love. the value of failure, and waste, is in that, spoken more i guess, directly, it is that when you are shut up in yourself, mute, and when you cannot find the words, something else comes to you, and when you cannot explain yourself, you are something else, you are fallen between words. a.i cannot fall between, it cannot be anything but the sun, not as solar anus, not as the life-expelling force bataille describes, but the implement of measurement via shadows cast, a ruler set to earth, set to voice and thought to collect data and surveil, a system perfected, something that can encapsulate some of the world.

our next cybernetic apparatus of agitation and gentle discomforts. it will not think for us, it will make us think we think as it does, and thus we will chase the capability, ability to conclude, be read, and to read, falling for the novelty, and whatever.

this isn't to say though, it's utterly useless. ai should probably be used in pointless clerical data entry work, and i don't especially care if some people steal pokemon with it. the palworld thing is so weird because people should be wigged out that people are just getting super into something that seems like ark or whatever. that awful game with the dinosaurs. survival game slop, you do not need anything other than minecraft.

okay i think i got the problem song pretty good. right guitar needs something though... idk what. maybe it's missing some frequency from something i notched.

re-exporting now.

i think it sounds really good now, i hope i feel that way tomorrow. i also just made a new guitar sound thing. i am up too late but at least i'm having fun.

this has too much white noise in it but idk, it's kind of cool, also.

anyway i need to sleep now, or soon, at least, so

byebye!!!!!!!!!!!

[inochinoyomikata]

Inochi no Tabekata 2 ch 0-5 Translation

0-5 Otogiri Tobi– Knowledge of Zazen

“UUu…”

The backpack growled.

“I’m hungry…”

So, shut up.

Tobi Otogiri wanted to kick Baku away. But it would be weird if he suddenly did that in the morning class. He held back his tongue in his cheek and sighed. When he looked to his right for some reason, Ryuuko Shiratama was looking at him from a seat on the hall side. Her brows were furrowed and his lips were puckered. She seemed very worried.

“O-Ryuu.”

Baku complained in a pathetic voice.

“Help me, let me eat something.”

Ryuuko whispered “Something…” and held her head. He tried to warn that if any seats were close, she’d be speaking aloud. Ryuuko wasn’t at fault though. The culprit was Baku. Get mad, really. Baku was not the kind to flinch when Tobi showed a frightened look. He was at a loss.

When he was at a loss, a chime rang. The classroom door opened.

He thought it was the second year, third class teacher, Harimoto-sensei, whose trademark was a red jersey and hair that stood on end like a hedgehog, that entered the classroom— But he was wrong. 

A number of students said “Huh?” Tobi didn’t make a sound, but he was stunned. It was not Harimoto-sensei. Judging from her age, she was not even a teacher.

She was a girl. She was not wearing a uniform. Was she not a junior high student? Her hair was also quickly dried. It was like she tried to sleep but stayed awake. She was wearing headphones around her neck. He was a little worried about the letters printed on the shirt she was wearing. It read “THA ZEN.”

“Za Zen…?

Ryuuko muttered. He had just read it aloud without saying anything out loud. Well, it seemed his thoughts were in sync with Ryuuko’s. He was slightly embarrassed.

Suddenly, the girl glanced at Ryuuko with sleepy eyes. For a moment she just looked. The woman walked over to the teacher’s desk, where she stopped and looked around the classroom.

She met Tobi’s eyes.

Suddenly, the girl’s eyebrow and her mouth twitched. What kind of expression was that? Maybe she knew about Tobi. Why did Tobi come up with such an idea? Either way, Tobi didn’t know her. He didn’t recognize her at all.

The Za Zen girl took chalk and went to the chalkboard.

“Asahi Monika.”

---

The writing was quite vigorous.

“The reading is Asahi, Monika.”

Suddenly, the girl put down her chalk and turned around again.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Wait, Asahi-san…!”

It was at that moment that Harii in the red jersey, aka Harimoto, rushed into the classroom.

“You suddenly disappeared and I wondered where you went…!”

“Aah–”

Asahi Monika scratched her head.

“Somehow the sequence of the transfer student introducing themself before the teacher doesn’t seem so good. I wonder what will happen.”

“It-It's a good thing, sensei, to be curious…”

He seemed to have been in a great hurry, and Harimoto sensei was sweating profusely.

“Try it, this air.”

Asahi shrugged her shoulders and laughed “haha” without laughing.

“Could it be that I slipped away? Me?”

“...Is that the problem?”

Baku said. The same went for Tobi. Asahi twisted her neck with a “mu,” but it was not at the dimension that she was funny or able to slip away. The second year, third grade students were simply surprised and bewildered.

“Well, anyway, that’s why. Suddenly…!”

Harimoto cleared his throat and walked over to Asahi.

“From today, she’s going to study with everyone, Asahi Monika-san. Because of her parents’ circumstances, she was suddenly decided, so her uniform wasn’t ready yet…”

“Sensei.”

Asahi raised her right hand below her shoulder. It was a pretty energy efficient raise.

“Hm, what is it?”

“Where is my seat?”

“Oh? That’s right, yes, you need a seat, a seat…”

“There are some vacancies.”

Originally, there were thirty-six students enrolled in class 2-3. Asahi pointed to four empty seats one after another. She was also rough with the way she pointed. She wanted to use her physical strength as little as possible. Such an atmosphere was drifting from end to end.

“Are there many people off today?”

“....Ah, no… that’s….”

Harimoto stuttered and his eyes watered. The classroom was silent.

Lots of absences. That’s right. She wasn’t wrong.

One of the seats in the last row was for Shizukudani Rukana, who didn’t show up in the classroom because she was attending in the infirmary, so she wasn’t absent. But the seat at the very back by the window was Takatomo Miyuki, who was in the hospital. She still hadn’t regained consciousness. There was an empty seat in the front row. Chiami Kon was resting at her home. Masamune, aka Masaki Shuuji, also was not in any condition to come to school any time soon. Naturally, he was absent.

There were a lot of things, and when you look back, everyone would have their own thoughts.

Tobi also had mixed feelings.

Kon and Masamune’s zingai were involved in the series of events that occurred in Class 2-3. And then, none other than Baku ate Kon and Masamune’s zingai.

“I’d like the back.”

Asahi licked her chin and pointed in the distance. Did she get tired of pointing?

“Backmost, you can see everything.”

“...One student was injured and is in the hospital… The other student was going to school in the infirmary.”

Harimoto explained as though it was difficult to say.

“The other two seats where there’s no one are out sick. First I’ll need to prepare a desk and chair for Asahi. I can’t do it. I’ll ask Haizaki-san immediately—”

Asahi glanced at the classroom door and said “well.” As if to say “come on.”

“Please do so.”

“Yeah, that’s right...”

“I’m standing.”

“It looks like it’s best to hurry...”

“If you could do that.”

“W-wait. I’m sorry, Asahi.”

“If you want, you can add ‘san,’ Harimoto-sensei.”

“U-understood, Asahi-san.”

Harimoto hurried out of the classroom.

Voices saying things such as “scary…” and “oh wow…” raised at the same time from all over the place, and although the noise grew louder than smaller, it didn’t seem to disappear. 

Asahi folded her arms and looked around vaguely, bending her neck lazily from side to side. Did she care about anything? She seemed to be quite on her nerves.

“Well…”

Baku laughed, “Heheh.”

“Hey, she transferred from another school, didn’t she?”

Was this a coincidence?

Asahi turned her eyes and moved one of her eyebrows and the corner of her lip. She even seemed to be grinning.

She might happen to be. But Baku had spoken. It was right after that.

[randomprojectsbeforeidie]

New project: Bene Gesserit Training

Ok, I got a bit lost at the end of my study challenge, but I managed, with a lot of effort, to complete my 21 days. Now I have the challenge of keeping it up.

But it's time to start stirring things up again.

I reread Dune this year, and remember being quite impressed by Lady Jessica and the Bene Gesserit.

(Not the eugenics part)

To have so much body and mind awareness, to be so much in control of yourself... and all of this coming from an order of women... it sounded awesome.

Now, Dune is sci-fi, I know. Most of the Bene Gesserit powers are not things that are possible to achieve. But there are some real world counterparts. So, I set out to research. Here are my notes:

Bene Gesserit Training:

1. Combat (martial arts?)

2. Meditation (Zen? Zazen? Breath control?)

3. Mental conditioning (CBT?)

4. Body awareness (yoga? Kundalini? Ashtanga?)

5. Charisma (body language? The Voice?)

6. Situational awareness

7. Inteligence

8. Languages. Sign language.

I chose to start with combat. Although it is not the most impressive part of being a Bene Gesserit, is the one I'm most familiar with; I used to train martial arts as a child and as a teen.

Also, I have some personal reasons. I'm obese, my friends. And I want to change this, not only for aesthetic reasons, but for health reasons; my glicemic stuff has shown alterations in my last exams, and my mobility is worse, since I had a knee injury directly related to my excess of weight.

Also, to be real, I was a very active child and teen, and I miss it. I miss feeling like the master of my body, I miss being strong and fast and agile. I feel like adulthood has taken this from me, and I want it back!

So yeah, trying to be combat ready sounds like a fun way to frame fitness, instead of just boring numbers on the scale.

As of martial arts, I decided to start with boxing. It's a striking art, so it's better for me to learn it while still young, while taking a punch to the face is easier to deal with.

I thought about muay thai too, but honestly, taking elbows, knees and kicks to the face sounds like too much for me, a person who won't actually do this professionally.

So, as soon as I'm good again (I've been sick) I'll start boxing.

Meanwhile, I've been researching diet and exercise. I will follow my nutritionist plan and I'll start walking for 30 minutes 3 times a week, 'cause that sounds safe for my poor knee.

Let's go!

[garudabluffs]

Shunryu Suzuki with first rice “crop” at Tassajara, c. 1968.

Wisdom Seeks for Wisdom

by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi| June 30, 2022

In this teaching from 1965—taken from the oldest extant recording of his talks—Shunryu Suzuki Roshi explains what it means to understand your true nature.

Shunryu Suzuki with first rice “crop” at Tassajara, c. 1968. Photo by Clarke Mason.

We have been studying the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch—and with it, prajna, or wisdom. But this wisdom is not intellect or knowledge. This wisdom is our so-called inmost nature, which is always in incessant activity. Zazen practice is wisdom seeking for wisdom. “Wisdom seeks wisdom” is zazen practice, and everyday life is wisdom. Realization of our precepts is our everyday life; when our everyday life is based on wisdom, we call it “precepts.”

When we sit, we do not do anything. We just sit. There’s no activity of our mind. We just sit, and all we do is inhale and exhale. Sometimes you will hear some birds singing, but you are not actually hearing. Your ears will hear it; you are not hearing it. Just sound comes, and you make some response to it, that’s all. This kind of practice is called “wisdom seeks for wisdom.”

We have true nature. Whatever you do, even if you are not doing anything, your true nature is constantly working. Even when you are sleeping, it is quite active. Your thinking or your sensations are the superficial activities of yourself, but inmost nature is always working. Even when you die, it is working. I don’t mean some soul, but something—something is always incessantly working. Whatever you call it, I don’t mind. You can put many names to it, or you can give it various interpretations, but the interpretations belong to your intellectuality. That is intellect. So, whatever you call it, inmost nature itself also doesn’t mind. Someone may call it “soul.” Someone may call it “spirit.” Someone may say, “Oh, no, no, that is just material. Soul is some kind of function of materiality.” Maybe. People will put many names to it, but our inmost nature is our inmost nature. Names have little to do with it.

When we sit, we say that it is the self-activity of inmost nature. Let it work—we don’t do anything but let true nature work by itself. This is Zen practice. Of course, even though you do not do anything, you will have pain in your legs, or some difficulty to keep your mind calm. And sometimes you may think, “Oh, my zazen is not so good.” That is also the activity of inmost nature—not your activity, but the activity of your true nature. Your true nature says, “Your zazen is not so good.” If it says so, you should accept it: “Oh, not so good. What are you thinking? Stop thinking.” This is Zen.

When you do something, it has a kind of morality in it. This is because you are doing something by choice. When you make a decision to do something, your inmost nature will tell you, “That will not be so good. Why don’t you do it this way?” That is the precepts, when we have some choice in our activity. In zazen, we have no choice—we just sit, and whatever inmost nature says, let it do it. “I don’t mind.” That is zazen.

But when you make a plan, you are responsible for it. Then, you should listen to what your inmost nature says—it will tell you what to do. If you understand this way, then it is the way of morality. It is the precepts. The precepts are not only two hundred and fifty or five hundred. Five hundred or three hundred—it doesn’t matter. Whatever we do is the precepts, because we have some choice. We have to make some decision.

“I am responsible for it—what I should do?” When we make some decision, we listen to buddhanature: What should I do? That’s all. Here in your everyday life, you have precepts, and you have freedom, too. Whatever you do, that is up to you. As long as you have freedom, you yourself make decisions, so you should be responsible for them. You should not say, “Buddha should be responsible for it. I am not responsible for that.” We cannot say that in our everyday life; we should observe the precepts, instead of leaving the responsibility to Buddha. We should be responsible. But at the same time, we have freedom—there is no need for you to be bound by precepts. Precepts are formulated by your own choice. As long as you have conscious activity, there is freedom, and at the same time, you should be responsible. This is freedom—true freedom.

Someone may say, “Whatever you do, that is buddhanature, so it doesn’t matter what you do.” This is a misunderstanding. Morality without buddhanature is just a moral code, a rigid moral code by which you will be enslaved. If you become aware of buddhanature, innate nature, then that is freedom, not rigid precepts. You do things by your own choice and according to your true nature: complete freedom. That is also morality.

In this sense, you have freedom—you are not enslaved by either buddhanature or a moral code. And our moral code is not always the same. It is not permanent. Strictly speaking, there is a moral code whatever you do. So we say Zen and the precepts are one. In everyday life, we call it precepts; in the practice of zazen, we call it Zen. They are not different; they are both based on the self-activity of inmost nature. This is a very important point.

We bowed this morning nine times. Bowing to Buddha is a kind of practice to get rid of our self-centered ideas, to give ourselves completely to Buddha. Here, to give ourselves means to give our physical and intellectual life to Buddha because it is based on buddhanature. Even if we forget all about it, we still have buddhanature. So Buddha bows to Buddha. That is bowing. This is one meaning.

Another meaning: as long as we live, we have a body here, and we have to think something. Buddha practiced Zen, and we practice Zen, so everyone, when they practice Zen, is called Buddha. And buddha mind, or bodhisattva mind, is our spirit. To attain oneness in duality is, in short, our spirit.

Because we are not so good, we try to improve ourselves. That is our true nature. And we are aware of it—we have some intention to improve ourselves. This intention is limited to human beings. Flowers come out in the spring without fail, but they do not make any effort; they automatically come out—that’s all. We also try to open our flower in the spring, you know. We try to do right things at the right time. But we find it very difficult—even though we try to do it, we cannot. This is our human nature. We always try to do something. We always have some difficulties. But this point is very important for us. It is why we have pleasure as human beings—because things are difficult and we are always making some effort. That effort results in the pleasure of human life, a pleasure limited to human beings. This is called our true nature.

If you understand this true nature, you will find out the true nature within yourself and in every existence. Flowers have this nature. Even when it is cold, they are preparing for spring, even though they do not know they are making a good effort to come up in spring. When we become aware of it, we will know that this nature we have is universal to every existence. Again, this awareness of true nature is limited to human beings, so it is very important. This is the awareness, in short, of trying to do something good. It is our spirit.

We don’t know why we should try to improve ourselves. No one knows. There is no reason for it; it is beyond discussion. Our true nature is so big. It is beyond comparison, beyond our intellectual understanding, so it doesn’t make any sense. Those who are aware of it will laugh at you if you discuss about why it is so. “What are you talking about?” It is too big a problem to discuss. This is why we bow to Buddha.

From the oldest extant recording of a dharma talk by Suzuki Roshi, given in Los Altos, California, on July 22, 1965. Published with permission by San Francisco Zen Center.

[burlveneer-music]

Brotherhood Of Sleep - Devotional Hymns to a Brilliant Flaming Sun - "Ritual Dark Ambient" music by Bart Piette (with perfectly-matched cover art by Abby Helasdottir)

Winter-Light presents the debut album by Belgian artist Bart Piette's new project, 'Brotherhood Of Sleep'. 'Devotional Hymns To A Brilliant Flaming Sun' is constructed of five Ritual Dark Ambient pieces employing powerful percussive elements and deep drones, traditional instruments, chants and invocations. Skilfully crafted tracks, draw the listener to a point of deep focus and guide them on to the next path of the journey, culminating in an auditory gaze into infinity. 'Energy directed through the opened mouths of the singing skulls, facilitated by mantra and multiplied several times by vocalisations through the mouths of other singing skulls, that are placed on stupas throughout the Temple.' Bart also records music as 'Dead Man's Hill' and has releases on Zazen Sounds, Black Mara and Noctivagant labels. Written and produced by Bart Piette Cover artwork and design by Abby Helasdottir

[radical-revolution]

"By bowing we are giving up ourselves. To give up ourselves means to give up our dualistic ideas. So there is no difference between zazen [meditation] practice and bowing.

Usually to bow means to pay our respects to something which is more worthy of respect than ourselves. But when you bow to Buddha you should have no idea of Buddha, you just become one with Buddha, you are already Buddha himself.

When you become one with Buddha, one with everything that exists, you find the true meaning of being. When you forget all your dualistic ideas, everything becomes your teacher, and everything can be the object of worship.

When everything exists within your big mind, all dualistic relationships drop away. There is no distinction between heaven and earth, man and woman, teacher and disciple.

Sometimes a man bows to a woman; sometimes a woman bows to a man. Sometimes the disciple bows to the master; sometimes the master bows to the disciple. Sometimes the master and disciple bow together to Buddha. Sometimes we may bow to cats and dogs.

In your big mind, everything has the same value. Everything is Buddha himself. You see something or hear a sound, and there you have everything just as it is. In your practice you should accept everything as it is, giving to each thing the same respect given to a Buddha. Here there is Buddhahood. Then Buddha bows to Buddha, and you bow to yourself. This is the true bow."

~Shunryu Suzuki

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind