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What is it to 'know oneself in all postures'?
Is devotional practice allowed in pure awareness practice?
Are alternative practices permissible in pure awareness practice?

Q . I wonder whether you can clarify for me what exactly is meant by the Buddha's teaching on 'knowing oneself in all postures'. For example, I can mentally know that I'm sitting. Or I can tune into my physical experience, such as the sensations of the contact between my body and the chair, sounds coming to me. Or I can 'go inside' and have an inner feeling experience of myself in the moment, which takes the focus away from my senses, but seems to highlight a living presence within my form.

A. To have awareness of yourself in the moment is, I believe, what is meant here. To be aware is not to discriminate, but just to know. Be alive to yourself through awareness whether you are walking, sitting, standing or lying down. Nothing special, just know. Not to be wandering off in thoughts and unaware of what you are doing. There is nothing to do -just being alive and knowing it.

Q. I've been practising pure awareness for the last few months, which by coincidence have also been a few quite emotionally turbulent months for me.At various times I have felt quite lonely, angry, upset, betrayed. All of which have had an influence on how I feel about life and work and relationships. I haven't exactly been a happy camper! Previously I would have used the metta bhavana practice to work on these 'negative' mental states, attempting to bring about an understanding perhaps as to why someone close may have done something to me, or to simply 'upgrade' my own experience of myself. Or I may have engaged in some chanting to shift me out of a particular gloomy mental state. However, if I understand the spirit of the pure awareness practice, then availing oneself of such practices as these, is not to be done. Am I correct? Can you possibly say some more about all of this?

A. To have a devotional practice that could include chanting is certainly 'allowed', and positively encouraged, in this type of practice. Furthermore, it is not only a very skilful way of nurturing a positive relationship with yourself but even more crucially with your inner nature that is beyond the turmoil of any relationship.

An example of devotional practice could be, as I have many times mentioned both in writing and when teaching, to incorporate bowing into the practice, which could be accompanied with words of supplication and surrender. I would regard the act of bowing as puja, or devotion, and if regularly accompanied by sutra chanting, so much the better. Regular engagement with this activity will support the spirit of giving up the self, bring us closer to our inner nature, and help to 'soften' the heart that has become 'hardened' by self-interest.

When we become more aware of our inner nature, we will by definition be more balanced and therefore naturally more positive about ourself as well. By learning to surrender to our inner nature with a devotional practice we will unload not only the self (and help bring the warmth of our heart into the practice, which is crucial), but also the negative emotions that are associated with it.

Q. Unless I've misunderstood, the teachings on Pure Awareness point to its essence being Sunyata. It's not a thing, an object. Therefore it can't conflict with other practices, as they are objects, upayas used to lead one and help one into Pure Awareness or Sunyata. So if you have something that you feel is too big to sit with directly, you can use a more conceptual practice such as Metta to act as a divider between 'you' and the 'something', deal with it, and then drop the Metta when it's served its purpose,along with the dualism, and return to the directexperienceall within the context of Pure Awareness.

Please correct me on any shortcomings in the above. Now my question is, that when I have been taught Shikantaza (Just Sitting), to place any emphasis, use any upaya, make any judgment, is to cease Shikantaza. 'Make the slightest distinction and Heaven and Earth are set miles apart'. So is Shikantaza or Just Sitting then an object, a thing, because unless I'm mistaken that statement would come into conflict withPure Awareness' ability to incorporate upayas. Obviously the aforementioned Pure Awareness can incorporate Shikantaza, butis Shikantaza simply another name for Pure Awareness? Can it incorporate the use of other meditation techniques in order to deal with seemingly unapproachable problems,or is Shikantaza in itself apart from Sunyata, is it nothing more than a way in, another upaya, or object?

A. Your overview seems to me to be correct.

From my understanding pure awareness in its true sense is no different to Shikantaza. It is as simple and as direct as it appears. Totally uncluttered with any kind of upaya. But let's be realistic, and indeed pragmatic, as Master Rinzai must have been when he introduced the koan (question) system of meditation into his Zen teachings.

From my understanding he too practised 'just sitting' but realised that the mind could easily become dull and disinterested when there was 'nothing to do' during long days of meditation. So when he began to teach he constructed the koan system to assist his disciples with this potential impasse. The system encouraged his disciples to make use of a koan that became a (transcendental) insight tool that they took to their cushion, as well as to the rest of their life - but whose 'answer' was beyond the conceptual world of dualistic thinking. He used many of these upayas, which would systematically undermine his students' fixed experience of 'reality'. So despite apparently setting 'heaven and earth miles apart', he too was a man with the true spirit of Zen, in the same way that Dogen was.

I think it is very important that we in the West, and especially those of us without a mature teacher to guide us, are realistic with the type of practice that you talk of. Yes, in its pure form there is nothing to do but just 'be'. But there is every likelihood that most of us westerners will never truly be able to pull that off in a consistent way because we will be continually waylaid by the heavy karma most of us seem to be carrying around. Therefore we may wander away from the 'true path' because we have been taken over by our burden yet again through some powerful attachment that we just can't shake off.We may well then need to use a skilful means to get back on it.

What is crucial is that during these brief times when we divert, we always retain, through awareness, openness to and inclusiveness of life's experiences, which is the hallmark and spirit of the infinite path. This cannot be emphasised strongly enough. If we are always with this spirit we will not actually be off the path in any serious and damaging way, but just briefly attending to a small difficulty along the way.