Question
Let me share my experience. This is what my zazen is like today: first, make the words disappear, then the source of the words, which are like little waves, little jolts. Then make images and visualizations disappear. More difficult. Finally, try to quiet the background, that sort of mental mirror reflecting the phenomenal world, the outside world and also the inner one, like a filter interfering with the true nature of things. Very, very difficult. It gives me the impression that I have to lose consciousness completely. After that, perhaps, journey inward, because having lost consciousness, you can become everything you touch: the sounds of the heart, the breath, the belly… Please correct me if I am on the wrong track. Thank you.
Anonymous
Answer from Master Kosen
You are still conscious of having lost consciousness. The approach itself is conscious. True shikantaza is beyond categories of extremes such as conscious or unconscious. We say it is unconscious, but that does not mean without consciousness. It is hishiryo, naturally without obstacles or limits.
Kosen