Being Practices
Shikantaza
Shikantaza, or “just sitting”, is a form of Zen meditation, and the primary focus of the Soto Zen school. It is simple, unadorned presence with whatever arises, without concentration or effort of any kind. In a way, shikantaza is a pure, embodied distillation of the Zen school of Buddhism, which is sometimes conceived of as a unique vehicle of its own.
The founder of Soto, Eihei Dogen, only advocated for a few simple monastic and religious practices beyond shikantaza. Some Soto Zen practitioners take this to an extreme, and will only practice shikantaza, to the exclusion of all other practices, including even reading the Buddhist sutras.
Dogen’s Fukanzazengi remains the sole, authoritative source on shikantaza.
Somatic Meditation
Somatic Meditation is a contemplative focus on somatic sensation. Many forms of meditation qualify for this label, including aspects of Buddhist breath-focused meditation and dantian-focused styles of Chinese meditation. But because somatic meditation eschews focus on cognition and is primarily focused on nonverbal sensations, its principles can be abstracted and performed in any context, without much instruction.
Neijia
The Chinese internal martial arts include those practiced in kung fu, qigong, t’ai chi and other forms. They are codified ritual movements that physically embody the principles of ancient Chinese shamanism and Daoist spirituality. The practices are focused on the generation, development and direction of the body’s internal energies, also known as qi. These martial arts can be poorly learned from a book and intermediately learned by video, but they are best transmitted by an in-person teacher within a practice community. Most Western cities have Chinese martial arts centers that teach multiple forms of neijia.
Here is a good video introduction to Qi Gong.
Yoga Asanas
Coming soon.