Just Make the Effort To Let Go of Thinking and See it Directly

Suppose you were to tell me, "But my knees are screwed up, I can't bend them right to do Zazen and I can't sit in Seiza, it hurts too much, so I can't do Mokuso, either. I guess it's hopeless. I'll never get enlightened." My immediate response is: You don't need to do Zazen or Mokuso. Zazen and Mokuso can be helpful for attaining concentration, but they're not absolutely necessary. The important thing is to be able to let go of thoughts and try to clearly see what's before thinking, not in a theoretical way but for you right in the Here-Now. If you make the effort you can do this anywhere and at any time. Just set aside some small amount of time every day to do nothing but look directly into this. Go and sit on a bench in a park to do it, or walk in slow circles around the block during your lunch hour while looking intensely and alertly for the answer. Resolve the Great Matter! Don't be distracted by the idea that "I can't get enlightened because I'm not doing Zazen," or "To really wake up I'd have to go and be a monk in a monastery." People wake up all the time in the midst of doing ordinary stuff. You've probably had some awakenings already. Let those guide you. There are no books you have to study, no special yoga postures you have to learn, in order to directly and intuitively know your original self!