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20 / YASUTANI ' S INTRODUCTORY LECTURESthe Buddha's method of sitting as the most direct and practical wayto attain emptiness of mind and, ultimatdy, enlightenment.This is not to imply, however, that zazen cannot be practiced orsatori attained unless one sits in the full- or half-lotus posture. Zazencan in fa ct be effective even in a chair or on a bench or while kneeling,provided the back is straight.1 In the last resort what insures success inthe quest for enlightenment is not a particular posture but an intenselonging fo r truth fo r its own sake, which alone leads one to sit regularlyin any fashion and to perform all the affairs of his daily lifewith devotion and dear awareness. But zazen has always been regardedas fundamental to Zen discipline simply because centuries ofexperience have demonstrated that it is the easiest way to still the mindand bring it to one-pointedness so that it may be employed as an instrumentof Self-discovery. In the long history of Zen, thousandsupon thousands have attained enlightenment through zazen, whilefew genuine enlightenment experiences have taken place without it.2If even the Buddha and Bodhidharma, as Dogen reminds us, hadneed. to sit, surdy no aspirant can dispense with zazen. Kensho (orsatori) is but the first sight of Truth, and whether this is merely aglimpse or a sharp, deep view, it can be enlarged through zazen.Moreover, it is well to remember that unless fortified by joriki (theparticular power developed through zazen),3 the vision of Onenessattained in enlightenment, especially if it is faint to begin with, intime becomes clouded and eventually fa des into a pleasant memoryinstead of remaining an omnipresent reality shaping our daily life.What we must not lose sight of, however, is that zazen is more thanjust a means to enlightenment or a technique for sustaining and enlargingit, but is the actualization of our True-nature. Hence it hasabsolute value. Yasutani-roshi makes this vital point dear in theselectures as well as in his interviews with ten Westerners.1 See section IX for the various correct postures. On Yasutani-roshi's recent trip toAmerica one student during sesshin had an enlightenment experience doing zazenon a piano bench. In Japan many women do zazen by sitting in the traditionalJapanese fashion, with the buttocks resting on the heels.2 The Sixth Patriarch, Eno (638-713), is the most notable example. In his autobiographyhe recounts how he attained enlightenment in his youth upon hearingthe Diamond surra recited by a monk. Evidently he had never practiced formalzazen before.3 For a discussion ofjoriki, see pp. 46-47.