Photo by Flint Sparks
“Just sitting” or “Zazen” is the English translation of the word “Zazen.” Zazen meditation comes from the Buddhist tradition and involves transforming the mind through a simple seated posture.
Molokai residents have the opportunity to experience zazen meditation at the Guzeiji Soto Mission in Kaunakakai with weekly classes taught by Coco Kawauchi Johnson and monthly instruction by Flint Sparks.
“This temple is a pu’uhonua,” explains Johnson, who is originally from Japan and introduced a small but growing group of weekly classes in January. “Anyone can come, and we’re open to everyone.”
Sparks, a longtime Zen teacher, said the first principle of this Japanese meditation technique is to establish comfort and ultimate fulfillment in nothingness.
“It’s a kind of nothingness, with no reward waiting at the end,” explained Sparks, who offers monthly meditation sessions at the Guzeiji Soto Mission on Molokai to supplement the weekly classes taught by Johnson. Essentially, he explained, it’s the practice of letting thoughts, images and words pass by without consciously responding to them.
For Sparks, Zen meditation is a particularly effective way to deal with difficult moments in life. As a psychologist specializing in behavioral medicine, he worked for many years with hospital patients in cancer wards.
“I was working with people who were dying,” Sparks explained, “and they were bringing to me certain questions. Some were psychological, for sure, but also soul questions, deeper questions, spiritual questions.”
These questions led Sparks to Buddhism and then to Zen meditation, which practitioners are attracted to because of its simple nature and alternative approach to achieving a state of relaxation, he explained.
“We sit down for 20 to 30 minutes,” Sparks says, “and almost without exception, people say, ‘Can you go on longer?'”
For Johnson, zazen offers mental health benefits as well.
“I suggest this because we have a lot of young people committing suicide,” Johnson said.
She explained that zazen helps practitioners cultivate a safe space within themselves.
“You can be yourself, you can be quiet, you can be safe,” she said.
Sparks said Molokai residents can experience zazen in their own home by sitting in their garden or overlooking the ocean, keeping an open mind and waiting to see what happens.
Moloka’i residents who would like to join the weekly Sunday Zen meditation must first attend an orientation on the first Thursday of each month. For more information, contact Johnson at (808) 498-8351.
