Comfort comes with all those things. It's comfortable to sit on a pillow for just about anything I know I feel more comfortable for longer periods when using one. But there are ways of forming the same stable base and posture without the pillow. There are also some surfaces (linoleum and Formica tile comes to mind) that are particularly uncomfortable without a pillow. Ironically, arguments over the "right" zafu abound, from a zen point of view...it's very funny. There should be a koan about zafus...I wish I was enlightened enough to write one http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/jan/06/western-buddhists-zafu-meditative-method
The 'right zafu' is the one on which you can sit comfortably in posture. There are also schools of thought that says the posture is zazen and if you're not in the posture (because you're sat on a park bench) then you're not actually doing zazen at all.
I see your point brother. I definitely agree it would be standard for many formal Zen schools. Handling the zafu itself, preparing it and so forth is a formal part of those schools. The issue is that the practices themselves predate those practices by about 800 years and of course the use of sitting instruments has varied wildly over the time. The sitting traditions even go back beyond Chan to proto Chan, to Indian Buddhism, and all the way back to forms of Vedic asceticism. Put simply, the pillows are a relatively new thing, compared to the posture. Certainly a welcome thing, I use a zafu when I have one handy. But importantly, not having one should not in my opinion prevent you from zazen Of all the ancient and modern depictions of the Buddha, he sits or lies in meditation, but rarely have I seen any depictions on a zafu, putan. I will have to investigate but I don't believe this kind of cushion was in common use in India, but I might be wrong about that. It should be a Chinese innovation if I'm not mistaken.
I try to meditate during the day by being mindful, sometime I pick a longer line at the cash desk just to do so . I always take a morning stroll through the garden to be aware of the air, sun and animals around me. In the evenings I often do some sitting meditation or Tonglen. As a buddhist I think it is very important to master your own mind. It also helps me with my mental issues.
Yep I meditate but I seem cursed with a monkey mind of late. Hi Kebro, Nice to see another Buddhist on here.
I mainly follow Theravada tradition, but I take aspects of Tibetan buddhism, zen buddhism and many other philosophies, religions and traditions. I try to stay as close to the noble eightfold path as possible.
