Simple guidance for sitting practice.
Beginners
Beginning a Sitting Practice: A Practical Guide
New to meditation? This practical guide covers what you actually need to begin, how to establish a workable sitting place and posture, and where optional supports such as cushions, incense and bells may help.
Temple Bells
Using Bells to Support Meditation.
Creating space and time to meditate is essential, especially at first as we begin to settle the body and mind from the momentum of daily life.
A physical space, the right cushions to support our practice, a candle to light our way, and incense to mark the passing of time all help establish the conditions for sitting.
We also need a clear signal that meditation is beginning and ending. For this we use a Temple Bell.
In the Zen Monastery each meditation period is started by the sharp crack of the taku, wooden clackers, followed immediately by four rings of the bell. The taku creates a sudden separation from ordinary activity, but it is the clear sound of the bell that allows the body and mind to settle into zazen.
When the sitting period is over the temple bell is rung once, a gradual return from sitting practice. The taku is then struck twice to confirm that it is time to stand and return to daily activity.
Over time the sound of the bell becomes closely associated with stillness and seated practice. It marks out a period of time that is set aside entirely for zazen, often for the length of time it takes a stick of incense to burn through.
Temple Bells can be found here: temple bells
Incense in Practice
On the use of Incense in Practice
We burn incense when we meditate in the monastery because incense reminds us of the virtues of practice.
- A solid stick of incense burns down to only a small pile of ash. This ash is minuscule yet over time it will accumulate and become a great mass.
- When incense is burned the scent of it travels far and wide, but it cannot be captured, cannot be caught or contained, everyone and anyone can smell it and note its beautiful fragrance.
Incense is such a beautiful metaphor for zazen. We take this solid and unimpressive lump which has been shaped into a rigid form and then burn it all away. As it burns it releases a beautiful smell which manages to find its way through even the smallest spaces to spread its scent to places we cannot even see. As it burns it seems to disappear until there is only the tiniest residue left. However, over the years that tiny residue builds up.
– excerpt from How to Sit Zazen in A Guided Course in Zen Meditation by Ven. Daiju Zenji
Incense used in practice can be found here: incense