Foundation of Zen Training(by Justin)

The practice of Zen is like juggling, you just throw the balls up in the air, easy, right? It is very easy in words, but when it comes down to practicing, this easy vale is soon lifted? When starting sitting meditation, I knew that I just had to sit and not think, easy peasy, just sit and do not think, do not think, do not think, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I am thinking about not thinking. I soon discovered that it was a lot easier said than done and that a lot of time and energy is needed in mastering just the foundation of Zen practice. The Zen path is by all accounts an illusive fellow, it is not something that can be seen by the practitioner, or is it something that is taught by the teacher, it is something that arises naturally out of the time and effort put into practice.Zen training has two fundamental principals; 1, through focus and calm you reach samahdi2, through meditation and mindfulness you reach wisdom Zen training has 2 common mistakes; 1, over concentration, focusing too hard2, lack of concentration, losing mindfulness Zen has 3 basic tools for overcoming these mistakes; 1, adjust the body2, adjust the breath3, adjust the mind To overcome the block of breath and energy we sit alone, patiently waiting, when the breathing and counting and focusing all come together as one, then we will know we have overcome breath training. The new trainee feels mainly pain and unease, but the experienced trainee feels only joy and comfort.When starting Zen training these basic issues come up time and time again, any difficulties that arise from the training need to be dealt with accordingly, through mindfulness and patience, not with a big hammer. I think this short story illustrates the point better; One day the sun and the north wind were having an argument over who was the strongest, the north wind seeing a young man walking down the street wearing a big coat bet the sun that he could make the man take off the coat first, the north wind blew and blew and blew, but the stronger he blew the tighter the man held his coat, he turned to the sun and said ∪I give up, your turn∩, the sun gently came from behind the clouds and shone a warm beam onto the man who thus took off his coat. In the same way, bad habits are overcome by good habits, bad technique is overcome by good technique, hatred is overcome by kindness, foolishness is overcome by wisdom. Bad things are softly and quietly overcome by good.