{"id":11972,"date":"2023-06-29T08:54:45","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T14:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?p=11972"},"modified":"2023-07-28T12:56:34","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T18:56:34","slug":"why-oh-why-is-my-practice-not-progressing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2023\/06\/why-oh-why-is-my-practice-not-progressing.html","title":{"rendered":"“Why, Oh Why, Is My Practice Not Progressing?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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\u00a0 \u00a0Progress is empty, but that doesn\u2019t mean that progress in Zen practice is unimportant. Just like there are no ears (as the \u201cHeart Sutra\u201d proclaims), but still many people have awakened through hearing.<\/span><\/div>\n

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\u00a0 \u00a0And the Buddha of the Pali Canon often says that if practice isn\u2019t efficacious, it isn\u2019t Buddha\u2019s practice. <\/span>Indeed, many Zen students lament, most often in self-talk, \u201cWhy, oh why, is my practice not progressing?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0 There are at least three diagnostic considerations \u2013 best taken up with one\u2019s teacher, of course \u2013 intention, method, and application.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Click here<\/a> to read an ad-free version of this post and to support my Zen teaching practice, including translations and writings like this.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n \n \u00a0 \u00a0First, is your intention to fully awaken strong and clear? If your intention is strong and clear, is the awakening you aspire for mostly about saving your own ass or freeing all beings? If your intention is not strong and clear or if it is self-focussed it simply lacks the power of the bodhisattva\u2019s great compassion and awakening will take a kalpa or two.<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n \u00a0 \u00a0To cultivate intention, mindfully reflecting on the completely fleeting nature of this life AND how we\u2019re all in this suffering world together. <\/span>Study can be of considerable help. For example, texts like Dogen\u2019s \u201cArousing the Bodhi Mind\u201d and Shantideva\u2019s <\/span>Guide to a Bodhisattva\u2019s Way of Life<\/em> are highly recommended. For a biographical approach, nothing beats Hakuin\u2019s <\/span>Wild Ivy<\/em>.<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n \u00a0 \u00a0Liturgy practice is also important. Frequently (not just in formal practice sessions) entoning \u201cThe Great Vows\u201d and \u201cThe Ten Line Kannon Sutra\u201d are particularly powerful practices.<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n \u00a0 \u00a0Second, have you received appropriate instructions from your teacher on the lineage methods for initial awakening and post-awakening training? The primary method, of course, is the relationship with a Zen teacher who has walked this path and been authorized by someone who has walked this path.<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n \u00a0 \u00a0Within the context of the teacher-student relationship, methods for zazen (including posture and breath), koan, study, and engaging the world are offered to the student. If your intention is strong, clear, and altruistic, but you haven\u2019t received such personalized instruction, that\u2019s the place to begin. Further, if you have received such instruction, have you probed the meaning of the instructions with your teacher, so that you have a deep understanding of them? Exposing and releasing faulty assumptions about method is a vital part of the process.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\u201cProgress is not a matter of far or near, but if you are confused, mountains and rivers block your way.\u201d \u2013 Shitou<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n**** \n \u00a0 \u00a0Third, are you applying the instructions with fidelity and vigor? Or are you continuing to practice self-styled work arounds? If you have a strong, clear, and altruistic intention, if you have received the \u201cinside the room\u201d methods from your teacher\u2019s lineage, and you are stuck, this is the place to look. In our Vine of Obstacles work, in practice meetings with students, we often address process\/method issues rather than assume that the student understands. Even if we think that the student has received the instructions many times, we know that it is one thing to hear the instructions and another to apply them in actual practice.<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n \u00a0 \u00a0In addition, are you applying the methods half-heartedly or wholeheartedly? Do you really show up when you meet your teacher or do you hold back, rehearsing the same safe formula again and again? Do you apply the methods for zazen, for example, diligently throughout a session and as often as possible (at least an hour a day, but two hours is much better) or do find excuses not to sit and when you do get your butt on the cushion, do you space out most of the time or allow yourself to race down mind roads?<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n \u00a0 \u00a0If your answer to these questions is (a sheepish), \u201cYes,\u201d then begin again by clarifying your intention.<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n \u00a0 \u00a0My old friend and mentor Yvonne Rand used to have a card on her altar that said, \u201cIt takes as long as it takes.\u201d Even if your intention, methods, and application are all in fine shape, it still takes as long as it takes. So enjoy the process.<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n \u00a0 \u00a0If you want to study the Buddha Way, love the way of Buddha.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n \n***** ** *****""<\/a><\/p>\n D\u014dsh\u014d Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teaches with his wife, Tetsugan Zummach Sensei, with Vine of Obstacles Zen<\/a>, an online training group. D\u014dsh\u014d received dharma<\/a> transmission from Dainin Katagiri R\u014dshi and inka sh\u014dmei from James My\u014dun Ford R\u014dshi in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He is also the author of Keep Me In Your Heart a While: The Haunting Zen of Dainin Katagiri<\/a><\/i>. D\u014dsh\u014d\u2019s translation and commentary on The Record of Empty Hall: One Hundred Classic Koans,<\/em><\/a> was published in 2021 (Shambhala). His\u00a0third book, Going Through the Mystery\u2019s One Hundred Questions<\/em><\/a>, is now available. Click here<\/a> to support the teaching practice of D\u014dsh\u014d R\u014dshi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 \u00a0Progress is empty, but that doesn\u2019t mean that progress in Zen practice is unimportant. Just like there are no ears (as the \u201cHeart Sutra\u201d proclaims), but still many people have awakened through hearing. \u00a0 \u00a0And the Buddha of the Pali Canon often says that if practice isn\u2019t efficacious, it isn\u2019t Buddha\u2019s practice. Indeed, many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":11975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[69,18],"class_list":["post-11972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-teacher-student-relationship","tag-zen"],"yoast_head":"\n"Why, Oh Why, Is My Practice Not Progressing?"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0 \u00a0Progress is empty, but that doesn't mean that progress in Zen practice is unimportant. 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