Ketchup, or catsup, is a table sauce. Traditionally, different recipes feature ketchup made of egg white, mushrooms, oysters, mussels, walnuts, or other foods,[1][2] but in modern times the term without modification usually refers to tomato ketchup, called tomato sauce more commonly in Australia, New Zealand, and India and almost exclusively in South Africa. (“Tomato sauce” can also mean something more like Passata.) Ketchup is a sweet and tangy sauce, typically made from tomatoes, a sweetener, vinegar, and assorted seasonings and spices. Seasonings vary by recipe, but commonly include onions, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, garlic, and sometimes celery.[3]Heinz tomato ketchup is the market leader, with an 82% market share in the UK and 60% share in the US.[4][5]
Tomato ketchup is often used as a condiment with various dishes that are usually served hot, including chips/fries, hamburgers,sandwiches, hot dogs, eggs, and grilled or fried meat. Ketchup is sometimes used as a basis or ingredient for other sauces and dressings, and is also used as an additive flavoring for snacks such as potato chips.
In Zen temples and monasteries, practitioners traditionally sit zazen as a group in a meditation hall, usually referred to as the zendo. The practitioner sits on a cushion called a zafu,[2] which itself is usually placed on top of a low, flat mat called a zabuton.[2]
Before taking one’s seat, and after rising at the end of the period of zazen, a Zen practitioner performs a gassho bow to their seat, and a second bow to fellow practitioners.[6]
The posture of zazen is seated, with folded legs and hands, and an erect but settled spine.[9] The hands are folded together into a simple mudraover the belly.[9] In many practices, the practitioner breathes from the hara (the center of gravity in the belly) and the eyelids are half-lowered, the eyes being neither fully open nor shut so that the practitioner is neither distracted by, nor turning away from, external stimuli.
The legs are folded in one of the standard sitting styles:[2]
In addition, it is not uncommon for modern practitioners to practice zazen in a chair,[2] often with a wedge or cushion on top of it so that one is sitting on an incline, or by placing a wedge behind the lower back to help maintain the natural curve of the spine. One can sit comfortably, but not too comfortably, so as to avoid falling asleep. While each of these styles is commonly taught today, Master Dogen recommended only Kekkafuza and Hankafuza.
Types of zazen
In his book Three Pillars of Zen, Philip Kapleau says that practitioners in the Rinzai school face in, towards each other with their backs to the wall, and in the Soto school, practitioners face the wall or a curtain.[10] Kapleau quotes Hakuun Yasutani‘s lectures for beginners. In lecture four, Yasutani describes the five kinds of zazen: bompu, gedo,shojo, daijo, and saijojo (he adds the latter is the same thing as shikantaza).[11]
Instruction
Very generally speaking, zazen practice is taught in one of three ways.
Koan practice is usually associated with the Rinzai school and Shikantaza with the Sōtō school. In reality many Zen communities use both methods depending on the teacher and students.
The beginning of a period of zazen is traditionally announced by ringing a bell three times (shijosho), and the end of a round by ringing the bell either once or twice (hozensho).
Long periods of zazen may alternate with periods of kinhin (walking meditation).[7][8]
Dogen uses various terms to describe zazen, one of which is gotsu-za, which means “sitting immovable like a bold mountain.” A related term of great importance is kekka-fuza—“full-lotus position”—which Dogen regards as the key to zazen. However, Dogen’s understanding of kekka-fuza is completely different from the yogic tradition of India, and this understanding sheds a great deal of light on how we should approach zazen.
In most meditative traditions, practitioners start a certain method of meditation (such as counting breaths, visualizing sacred images, concentrating the mind on a certain thought or sensation, etc.) after getting comfortable sitting in full-lotus position. In other words, it is kekka-fuza plus meditation. Kekka-fuza in such usage becomes a means for optimally conditioning the body and mind for mental exercises called “meditation,” but is not an objective in itself. The practice is structured dualistically, with a sitting body as a container and a meditating mind as the contents. And the emphasis is always on meditation as mental exercise. In such a dualistic structure, the body sits while the mind does something else.
For Dogen, on the other hand, the objective of zazen is just to sit in kekka-fuza correctly—there is absolutely nothing to add to it. It is kekka-fuza plus zero. Kodo Sawaki Roshi, the great Zen master of early 20lh century Japan, said, “Just sit zazen, and that’s the end of it.” In this understanding, zazen goes beyond mind/body dualism; both the body and the mind are simultaneously and completely used up just by the act of sitting inkekka-fuza. In the Samadhi King chapter of Shobogenzo, Dogen says, “Sit in kekka-fuza with body, sit in kekka-fuza with mind, sit in kekka-fuza of body-mind falling off.”
The Padmasanaor Lotus Position (Sanskrit: पद्मासन[pɐd̪mɑːs̪ɐn̪ɐ], IAST: padmāsana)[1] is a cross-legged sitting asana originating in meditative practices of ancient India, in which the feet are placed on the opposing thighs. It is an established asana, commonly used for meditation, in theHindu Yoga, Jain and Buddhist contemplative traditions. The asana is said to resemble a lotus, to encourage breathing proper to associated meditative practice, and to foster physical stability.
Padmāsana means “Lotus throne” and is also a term for actual thrones, often decorated with lotus foliage motifs, on which figures in art sit. In BalineseHinduism, a prominent feature of temples is a special form of padmasana shrine, with empty thrones mounted on a column, for deities, especially Acintya.
In Chinese Buddhism, the lotus position is also called the “vajra position” (Skt. vajrāsana, Ch. 金剛座 jīngāngzuò).[2]The traditions of Tibetan Buddhism also refer to the lotus position as the “vajra position.”[3]
The cultivation of benevolence (mettā bhāvanā) is a popular form of meditation in Buddhism in the Theravadin Buddhist tradition. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, it is part of the Brahmavihara meditation (four immeasurables). Metta as ‘compassion meditation’ is often practiced in Asia by broadcast chanting, wherein monks chant for the laity.[7]
The compassion and universal loving-kindness concept of Metta is discussed in the Metta Sutta of Buddhism, and is also found in the ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism and Jainism as Metta or Maitri.[8]
Small sample studies on the potential of loving-kindness meditation approach on patients suggest potential benefits.[9][10] However, peer reviews question the quality and sample size of these studies, then suggest caution.[11][12]
The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit, literally meaning “leading out”, “education”, “discipline”) is the regulatory framework for the sangha or monastic community of Buddhism based on the canonical texts called the Vinaya Pitaka. The teachings of the Gautama Buddha can be divided into two broad categories: Dharma “doctrine” and Vinaya “discipline”.
The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta[1] (MN 10: The Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness) and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta[2] (DN 22: The Great Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness) are two of the most important and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism, acting as the foundation for mindfulness meditational practice. These suttas (discourses) stress the practice of sati (mindfulness) “for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the extinguishing of suffering and grief, for walking on the path of truth, for the realization of nibbāna.”
Sloth and torpor follow sensual desire and aversion in the list of the five hindrances. Accustomed to the stimulation of constant desire and aversion, some people become tired or deflated when these stimuli are absent. After meditation has calmed the mental activity of wanting and averting, sloth and torpor may be the hindrance that needs to be overcome. Doing so renews a healthy state of energy and alertness.
The five hindrances are key psychological forces that obscure the natural luminosity and healthy functioning of the mind. Because they hinder attention, it is important for people practicing mindfulness to become wise about them.
Sloth and torpor are forces in the mind that drain vitality and limit effort. Sloth manifests as a physical absence of vitality. The body may feel heavy, lethargic, weary, or weak. It may be difficult to keep the body erect when meditating. Torpor is a mental lack of energy. The mind may be dull, cloudy, or weary. It easily drifts in thought. Being caught in sloth or torpor can resemble slogging through deep mud. When this hindrance is strong, there is not even enough mindfulness to know we’ve fallen in.
Discouragement, frustration, boredom, indifference, giving up, hopelessness, and resistance are some of the psychological causes of sloth and torpor. Mental and physical tiredness may resemble sloth and torpor, but differ in not arising from a psychological attitude.
The presence of sloth and torpor does not mean that energy is not available. It means we are not accessing it. With a change in conditions, energy may reappear in a moment. This can be seen clearly in young children who switch from being “tired” (while shopping, for instance) to being energetic (about an offer of ice cream, for instance) in a matter of seconds. The energy level depends on whether they evaluate the situation as boring or exciting.
The term nāmarūpa is used in Hindu thought, nāma describing the spiritual or essential properties of an object or being, and rūpathe physical presence that it manifests. These terms are used similarly to the way that ‘essence‘ and ‘accident‘ are used in Catholictheology to describe transubstantiation. The distinction between nāma and rūpa in Hindu thought explains the ability of spiritual powers to manifest through inadequate or inanimate vessels – as observed in possession and oracular phenomena, as well as in the presence of the divine in images that are worshiped through pūja.
Nāma Rupatmak Vishva is the Vedanta (a school of Sanatana Dharma/Hinduism) term for the manifest Universe, viz. The World as we know it. Since every object in this World has a Nāma and Rupa,the World is called Nāma Rupatmak Vishva. The Paramātma (or Creator) is not manifest in this Nāma Rupatmak Vishva but is realized by a Sādhaka(student) by means of Bhakti (devotion), Karma (duty), Jnana (knowledge), Yoga (Union, a Hindu school), or a combination of all of these methodologies.
This term is also used in Buddhism, to refer to constituent processes of the human being: nāma is typically considered to refer to psychological elements of the human person, while Rūpa refers to the physical. The Buddhist nāma and rūpa are mutually dependent, and not separable; as nāmarūpa, they designate an individual being.[1] Namarupa are also referred to as the five skandhas.
Saṅkhāra (Pali; Sanskritsaṃskāra) is a term figuring prominently in Buddhism. The word means ‘that which has been put together’ and ‘that which puts together’.
In the first (passive) sense, saṅkhāra refers to conditioned phenomena generally but specifically to all mental “dispositions”.[1] These are called ‘volitional formations’ both because they are formed as a result of volition and because they are causes for the arising of future volitional actions.[2] English translations for saṅkhāra in the first sense of the word include ‘conditioned things,’[3]‘determinations,’[4] ‘fabrications’[5] and ‘formations’ (or, particularly when referring to mental processes, ‘volitional formations’).[6]
In the second (active) sense of the word, saṅkhāra refers to karma (sankhara-khandha) that leads to conditioned arising, dependent origination.[7][8]
aṅkhāra is a Pali word, that is based on the Sanskrit word saṃskāra.[9] The latter word is not a Vedic Sanskrit term, but found extensively in classical and epic era Sanskrit in all Indian philosophies.[9][10][11]Saṃskāra is found in the Hindu Upanishads such as in verse 2.6 of Kaushitaki Upanishad, 4.16.2–4 of Chandogya Upanishad, 6.3.1 of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad as well as mentioned by the ancient Indian scholar Panini and many others.[12]Saṅkhāra appears in the Buddhist Pitaka texts with a variety of meanings and contexts, somewhat different than the Upanishadic texts, particularly for anything to predicate impermanence.[12]
It is a complex concept, with no one word English translation, that fuses “object and subject” as interdependent parts of each human’s consciousness and epistemological process.[9] It connotes “impression, disposition, conditioning, forming, perfecting in one’s mind, influencing one’s sensory and conceptual faculty” as well as any “preparation, sacrament” that “impresses, disposes, influences or conditions” how one thinks, conceives or feels.[9][13][10]
Conditioned things
In the first (passive) sense, saṅkhāra refers to “conditioned things” or “dispositions, mental imprint”.[13][9][14] All precepts, state early Buddhist texts, are conditioned things.[9] It can refer to any compound form in the universe whether a tree, a cloud, a human being, a thought or a molecule. All these are saṅkhāras, as well as everything that is physical and visible in the phenomenal world are conditioned things, or aggregate of mental conditions.[9] The Buddha taught that all saṅkhāras are impermanent and essenceless.[15][16]These subjective dispositions, states David Kalupahana, “prevented the Buddha from attempting to formulate an ultimately objective view of the world”.[13]
Since conditioned things and dispositions are perceptions and do not have real essence, they are not reliable sources of pleasure and they are impermanent.[13] Understanding the significance of this reality is wisdom. This “conditioned things” sense of the word Saṅkhāra appears in Four Noble Truths and in Buddhist theory of dependent origination, that is how ignorance or misconceptions about impermanence and non-self leads to Taṇhā and rebirths.[17] The Samyutta Nikaya II.12.1 presents one such explanation,[17] as do other Pali texts.[18]
The last words of the Buddha, according to the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (in English and Pali), were “Disciples, this I declare to you: All conditioned things are subject to disintegration – strive on untiringly for your liberation.” (Pali: “handa’dāni bhikkhave āmantayāmi vo, vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā ti.“)
In the second (active) sense, saṅkhāra (or saṅkhāra-khandha) refers to the form-creating faculty of mind. It is part of the doctrine of conditioned arising or dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda).[19][20] In this sense, the termSankhara is karmically active volition or intention, which generates rebirth and influences the realm of rebirth.[19]Sankhara herein is synonymous with karma, and includes actions of the body, speech and mind.[19][21]
The saṅkhāra-khandha states that living beings are reborn (bhava, become) by means of actions of body and speech (kamma).[22] The Buddha stated that all volitional constructs are conditioned by ignorance (avijja) ofimpermanence and non-self.[23][24] It is this ignorance that leads to the origination of the sankharas and ultimately causes human suffering (dukkha).[25] The cessation of all such sankharas (sabba-saṅkhāra-nirodha) is synonymous with Enlightenment (bodhi), the attainment of nirvana. The end of conditioned arising or dependent origination in the karmic sense (Sankharas), yields the unconditioned phenomenon of nirvana.[26]
As the ignorance conditions the volitional formations, these formations condition, in turn, the consciousness (viññāna). The Buddha elaborated:
‘What one intends, what one arranges, and what one obsesses about: This is a support for the stationing of consciousness. There being a support, there is a landing [or: an establishing] of consciousness. When that consciousness lands and grows, there is the production of renewed becoming in the future. When there is the production of renewed becoming in the future, there is future birth, aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. Such is the origination of this entire mass of suffering & stress.’[27]
Skandhas (Sanskrit) or khandhas (Pāḷi) means “heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings”.[1] In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates concept that asserts five elements constitute and completely explain a living being’s mental and physical existence.[2][3][4] The five aggregates or heaps are: matter or body (rupa), sensations or feelings (vedana), perceptions (samjna), mental formations (sankhara), and consciousness (vijnana).[5][6][7]
The skandhas explain what is a “being or individual”, and the skandhas theory complements the anatta doctrine of Buddhism which asserts that all things and beings are without self.[8][3][9] The anatta and “five aggregates” doctrines are part of the liberating knowledge in Buddhism, wherein one realizes that there is no-self, a being is five aggregates, each of which are “not I, and not my self”, and each of the skandha is empty, without substance.[10][11]
In the Theravada tradition, suffering arises when one identifies with or clings to an aggregate. This suffering is extinguished by relinquishing attachments to aggregates. The Mahayana tradition asserts that the nature of all aggregates as intrinsically empty ofindependent existence. The skandhas concept to explain a thing or being is unique to Buddhism among major Indian religions, and is not shared by Hinduism and Jainism which believe that a living being has a soul, metaphysical self.[12][13]
The Twelve Nidānas (Pali/Sanskrit: nidāna “cause, motivation, link”) are twelve links doctrine of Buddhism where each link is asserted as a primary causal relationship between the connected links.[2][3] These links present the mechanistic basis of repeated birth, Samsara, and resultant Dukkha (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness) starting from avidyā (ignorance, misconceptions).[2][a]