Introduction
The contemporary reception of zazen meditation often reduces it to a technique for calming the mind to boost productivity. Seiso Paul Cooper, in his analysis of Master Dōgen’s thought, challenges this reductionism. This article explains why fighting against thoughts is a mistake, and how the triad of shiryo, fu shiryo, and hishiryo allows for authentic presence without escaping reality.
Why zazen is not about turning off thought
The belief that meditation requires the elimination of thoughts is a fundamental error and a spiritual hazard. The mind is a living organ, and its function is to generate content—attempting to forcibly remove it is a battle against one's own nature. Such an approach turns meditation into shuzen, an instrumental technique, which contradicts the essence of zazen. Instead of turning off thought, the practice teaches us to change our relationship to it. Hishiryo, or the state of "thinking non-thinking," is not a negation of thought, but a move beyond dualistic divisions, which helps avoid the trap of spiritual conformism.
The trap of the inner overseer: why zazen is not a battle with thoughts
Striving for the total silencing of thoughts constitutes a form of psychological violence. It creates an internal conflict between the "accused" mind and the "overseer," leading to cognitive pathology. Fighting thoughts is a mistake because it treats natural phenomena as evidence of failure, which reinforces mechanisms of shame and self-judgment. Instead of eliminating thoughts, they should be acknowledged as witnesses to reality. Hishiryo allows for the observation of the stream of consciousness without identifying with it, which protects against dissociation and allows for the psychological metabolism of emotions rather than their repression.
The trap of the emptiness manager: why zazen is not a technique
Treating meditation as a tool for optimization (shuzen) is contrary to the principle of mushotoku—the absence of a desire for gain. When meditation becomes an investment in "better functioning," the ego colonizes even its own absence. True practice is not an escape from reason or the world. Thanks to shōshiryo (proper thinking), the practitioner can maintain critical thinking and ethical responsibility. Zazen does not require abandoning the intellect, but ending its despotic tendencies. As a result, meditation becomes a foundation for engagement rather than withdrawal, allowing for an authentic response to the challenges of reality without reflexive reactivity.
Summary
Is meditation a bastion of freedom or a technology for managing anxiety? True awakening does not consist of escaping the chaos of thoughts, but in the courage to be with them without attempting to domesticate them. Zazen, understood as a practice of freedom, teaches us that we do not need to become our own ideal adaptation just to simply be. Is the highest form of enlightenment, then, the recognition that our thoughts require neither condemnation nor canonization?
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