walkinginzen,sittinginzen.docVIP

Walking in Zen, Sitting in Zen Zen Stories Talks given from 05/03/80 am to 10/05/80 am English Discourse series 16 Chapters Year published: 1982 Original tape title calls discourses 1 to 6 as Part 1, and 7 to 16 as Part 2. Walking in Zen, Sitting in Zen Chapter #1 Chapter title: The Breath of the Soul 5 March 1980 am in Buddha Hall Archive code: 8003050 ShortTitle: INZEN01 Audio: Yes Video: No The first question Question 1 OSHO, WHY HAVE YOU CALLED THIS SERIES OF DISCOURSES: WALKING IN ZEN, SITTING IN ZEN? I AM NOT TO BLAME. The whole blame goes to this old guy Yoka. Yoka is one of the rarest enlightened people; his sayings are tremendously beautiful. Very few sayings are available, but each saying is a diamond unique in itself. Reading his sayings, I came across this statement: A MAN OF ZEN WALKS IN ZEN AND SITS IN ZEN. WHETHER HE SPEAKS OR ACTS, WHETHER HE IS SILENT OR INACTIVE, HIS BODY IS ALWAYS PEACEFUL. HE SMILES, LOOKING STRAIGHT AT THE SWORD WHICH TAKES HIS LIFE. HE KEEPS HIS BALANCE EVEN AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH. I love the statement that the man of Zen walks in Zen and sits in Zen for the simple reason that meditation cannot be just a part of your life. You cannot make a fragment of your life meditative; it is not possible to be meditative for one hour and then non-meditative for twenty-three hours. It is absolutely impossible. If you are doing that, that means your meditation is false. Meditation can either be a twenty-four-hour affair or it cannot be at all. It is like breathing: you cannot breathe for one hour and then put it aside for twenty-three hours, otherwise you will be dead. You have to go on breathing. Even while you are asleep you have to go on breathing. Even in a deep coma you have to go on breathing. Meditation is the breath of your soul. Just as breathing is the life of the body, meditation is the life of the soul. The people who are not aware of meditation are spiritually dead. George Gurdjieff used to say that very f