The generalized Japanese term for meditation is瞑想 (meisō); however,zazen has been used informally to include all forms of seatedBuddhist meditation. The termzuòchán can be found in earlyChinese Buddhist sources, such as theDhyāna sutras. For example, the famous translatorKumārajīva (344–413) translated a work termedZuòchán sān mēi jīng (AManual on the Samādhi of Sitting Meditation) and the ChineseTiantai masterZhiyi (538–597 CE) wrote some very influential works on sitting meditation.[3][4]
The meaning and method of zazen varies from school to school, but in general it is a quiet type of Buddhist meditation done in a sitting posture like thelotus position. The practice can be done with various methods, such as following the breath (anapanasati), mentally repeating a phrase (which could be akoan, amantra, ahuatou ornianfo) and a kind of open monitoring in which one is aware of whatever comes to our attention (sometimes calledshikantaza or silent illumination). Repeating a huatou, a short meditation phrase, is a common method inChinese Chan andKorean Seon. Meanwhile, nianfo, the practice of silently reciting the BuddhaAmitabha's name, is common in the traditions influenced byPure Land practice, and was also taught by Chan masters likeZongmi.[5]
In Zen temples and monasteries, practitioners traditionally sit zazen together in a meditation hall usually referred to as azendo, each sitting on a cushion called azafu[2] which itself may be placed on a low, flat mat called azabuton.[2] Practitioners of the Rinzai school sit facing each other with their backs to the wall, while those of the Sōtō school sit facing the wall or a curtain.[8] Before taking one's seat, and after rising at the end of a period of zazen, a Zen practitioner performs agassho bow to their seat, and a second bow to fellow practitioners.[9] The beginning of a period of zazen is traditionally announced by ringing a bell three times (shijosho), and the end of the period by ringing the bell either once or twice (hozensho). Long periods of zazen may alternate with periods ofkinhin (walking meditation).[10][11]
The posture of zazen is seated, with crossed legs and folded hands, and an erect but settled spine.[12] The hands are folded together into a simplemudra over the belly.[12] In many practices, the practitioner breathes from thehara (thecenter 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]
It is not uncommon for modern practitioners to practice zazen in a chair,[2] sometimes 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.
The initial stages of training in zazen may resemble traditional Buddhistsamatha meditation. According to some approaches, the student begins by focusing on the breath at thehara/tanden[13] withmindfulness of breath (ānāpānasmṛti) exercises such ascounting breath (sūsokukan 数息観) or just watching it (zuisokukan 随息観).[note 1]Mantras are also sometimes used in place of counting. Practice may be continued in one of these ways until there is adequate "one-pointedness" of mind to constitute an initial experience ofsamadhi. At this point, the practitioner might move on to koan-practice or shikantaza.
While some teachers such asDainin Katagiri Roshi taught watching the breath, andShunryū Suzuki taught counting the breath, others such asKōshō Uchiyama andShohaku Okumura taught neither counting nor watching the breath.[15] According to Okumura, one does not put one's focus on the breath (nor any object at all): "We don’t set our mind on any particular object, visualization, mantra, or even our breath itself. When we just sit, our mind is nowhere and everywhere."[16][note 2]
While Yasutani Roshi states that the development ofjōriki (定力) (Sanskritsamādhibala), thepower of concentration, is one of the three aims of zazen,[18] Dogen warns that the aim of zazen is not the development of mindless concentration.[19]
In theRinzai school, after having developed awareness, the practitioner can now focus their consciousness on a koan as an object of meditation. While koan practice is generally associated with the Rinzai school and Shikantaza with theSōtō school, many Zen communities use both methods depending on the teacher and students.
Zazen is considered the heart of Japanese SōtōZenBuddhist practice.[1][20] The aim of zazen is justsitting, that is, suspending all judgemental thinking and letting words, ideas, images and thoughts pass by without getting involved in them.[6][21] Practitioners do not use any specific object of meditation,[6] instead remaining as much as possible in the present moment, aware of and observing what is occurring around them and what is passing through their minds. In hisShobogenzo,Dogen says, "Sitting fixedly, think of not thinking. How do you think of not thinking? Nonthinking. This is the art of zazen."[22]
^The Japanese Rinzai masterTakuan Sōhō was critical of the practice of placing the mind below the navel (at the hara/tanden) in concentration. He said, "...viewed from the highest standpoint of Buddhism, putting the mind just below the navel and not allowing it to wander is a low level of understanding, not a high one. [...] If you consider putting your mind below your navel and not letting it wander, your mind will be taken by the mind that thinks of this plan. You will have no ability to move ahead and will be exceptionally unfree."[14]
^Similarly, according to the famous East Asian śāstra, theAwakening of Faith, one does not concentrate on the breath:
"Should there be a person who desires to practice “cessation,” he should stay in a quiet place and sit erect in an even temper. [His attention should be focused] neither on breathing nor on any form or color, nor on empty space, earth, water, fire, wind, nor even on what has been seen, heard, remembered, or conceived."[17]
^Yamabe, Nobuyoshi; Sueki, Fumihiko (2009).The sutra on the concentration of sitting meditation (Taishō Volume 15, Number 614), pp. xiv-xvii. Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research.
^Takuan Sōhō, The Unfettered Mind, Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman, translated by William Scott Wilson, page 18, Shambhala Publications, 2012
^Sōtō Zen: an Introduction to Zazen, pages 16-17, Sotoshu Shumucho, 2002
^Sōtō Zen: an Introduction to Zazen, page 17, Sotoshu Shumucho, 2002
^The Awakening of Faith, attributed to Aśvaghoṣa, translated from the Chinese of Paramārtha by Yoshito Hakeda, page 74, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2005
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