Mushotoku: Without Seeking Gain

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True zazen is practiced without any object, without seeking any result, without any goal—mushotoku. If you practice zazen to gain something, it is no longer zazen. Sit simply, concentrate on the posture, breathe naturally, and let thoughts pass like clouds in the sky. This is the highest form of practice. There is nothing to achieve because you already have everything from the beginning.

license: fair_use

Attribution

• Attributed To
  Taisen Deshimaru

Lineage: Sōtō

By Taisen Deshimaru

• Just Sitproverb
• The Cosmos in the Postureproverb
• Automatic Thinkingproverb
• Observe Your Own Mindproverb
• Hishiryo: Beyond Thinkingsermon

From Teachings of Taisen Deshimaru

• Just Sit
• The Cosmos in the Posture
• Automatic Thinking
• Observe Your Own Mind
• Hishiryo: Beyond Thinking
• The Posture Is the Teaching
• True Zen Is Useless
• Here, Now, Nothing Else
• Shikantaza: Only Sit
• Kontin and Sanran: The Two Sicknesses of Zazen

Sources

• contentWikisource — English-language free library

  Kusen of Taisen Deshimaru, oral teaching during zazen

  Teachings of Taisen Deshimaru: Mushotoku: Without Seeking Gain