Fade into Emptiness: Shikantaza

"Even though your practice is not good enough, you can do it. Your breathing will gradually vanish. You will gradually vanish, fading into emptiness. Inhaling without effort you naturally come back to yourself with some color or form. Exhaling, you gradually fade into emptiness -- empty, white paper. That is shikantaza. 

The important point is your exhalation. Instead of trying to feel yourself as you inhale, fade into emptiness as you exhale. When you practice this in your last moment, you will have nothing to be afraid of. You are actually aiming at emptiness. You become one with everything after you completely exhale with this feeling. If you are still alive, naturally you will inhale again. 'Oh, I'm still alive! Fortunately or unfortunately!' Then you start to exhale and fade into emptiness. 

Maybe you don't know what kind of feeling it is. But some of you know it. By some chance you must have felt this kind of feeling." 

- Suzuki Roshi, Not Always So

A Cloud Hands Blog repost from February 2007

Zen 

Breathing Practices