Zazen is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen.Brad Warner (2025). 086171380X, Wisdom Publications. 086171380X
The generalized Japanese term for meditation is 瞑想 ( meisō); however, zazen has been used informally to include all forms of seated Buddhist meditation. The term zuòchán can be found in early Chinese Buddhism sources, such as the Dhyāna sutras. For example, the famous translator Kumārajīva (344–413) translated a work termed Zuòchán sān mēi jīng ( A Manual on the Samādhi of Sitting Meditation) and the Chinese Tiantai master Zhiyi (538–597 CE) wrote some very influential works on sitting meditation.[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.]
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 the lotus position. The practice can be done with various methods, such as following the breath (anapanasati), mentally repeating a phrase (which could be a koan, a mantra, a Hua Tou or nianfo) and a kind of open monitoring in which one is aware of whatever comes to our attention (sometimes called shikantaza or silent illumination). Repeating a huatou, a short meditation phrase, is a common method in Chan Buddhism and Korean Seon. Meanwhile, nianfo, the practice of silently reciting the Buddha Amitabha's name, is common in the traditions influenced by Pure Land practice, and was also taught by Chan masters like Guifeng Zongmi.
In the Japanese Buddhist Rinzai school, zazen is usually combined with the study of . The Japanese Sōtō school makes less or no use of , preferring an approach known as shikantaza where the mind has no object at all.Brad Warner (2025). 086171380X, Wisdom Publications. 086171380X
Practice
Five types of Zazen
Philip Kapleau quotes
Hakuun Yasutani's lectures for beginners. In lecture four, Yasutani lists five kinds of zazen:
-
bompu, developing meditative concentration to aid well-being;
-
gedo, zazen-like practices from other religious traditions;
-
shojo, 'Little Vehicle' practices;
-
daijo, zazen aimed at gaining insight into true nature;
-
saijojo, shikantaza.
Sitting
In Zen temples and monasteries, practitioners traditionally sit zazen together in a meditation hall usually referred to as a
zendo, each sitting on a cushion called a
zafu which itself may be placed on a low, flat mat called a
zabuton.
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.
Before taking one's seat, and after rising at the end of a period of zazen, a Zen practitioner performs a
gassho bow to their seat, and a second bow to fellow practitioners.
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 of
kinhin (walking meditation).
(2025). 086171315X, Wisdom Publications. 086171315X
Posture
The posture of zazen is seated, with crossed legs and folded hands, and an erect but settled spine.
The hands are folded together into a simple
mudra over the belly.
In many practices, the practitioner breathes from the
Dantian (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:
-
Lotus position (full-lotus)
-
Hankafuza (half-lotus)
-
Burmese (a seated posture in which the ankles are placed in front of the sitter)
-
Seiza (a kneeling posture using a bench or zafu)
It is not uncommon for modern practitioners to practice zazen in a chair,
Samadhi
The initial stages of training in zazen may resemble traditional Buddhist
samatha meditation. According to some approaches, the student begins by focusing on the breath at the
Dantian with
Anapanasati (
ānāpānasmṛti) exercises such as
Ganana (
sūsokukan 数息観) or just watching it (
zuisokukan 随息観).
are also sometimes used in place of counting. Practice may be continued in one of these ways until there is adequate "
Ekaggata" of mind to constitute an initial experience of
samadhi. At this point, the practitioner might move on to koan-practice or shikantaza.
While some teachers such as Dainin Katagiri taught watching the breath, and Shunryū Suzuki taught counting the breath, others such as Kōshō Uchiyama and Shohaku Okumura taught neither counting nor watching the breath.[Sōtō Zen: an Introduction to Zazen, pages 16-17, Sotoshu Shumucho, 2002] 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."[Sōtō Zen: an Introduction to Zazen, page 17, Sotoshu Shumucho, 2002]
While Yasutani Roshi states that the development of 3=jōriki (Sanskrit ), the Five Strengths of concentration, is one of the three aims of zazen,[Philip Kapleau, The three pillars of Zen.] Dogen warns that the aim of zazen is not the development of mindless concentration.
Koan introspection
In the
Rinzai 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 the Sōtō school, many Zen communities use both methods depending on the teacher and students.
Shikantaza
Zazen is considered the heart of Japanese Sōtō
Zen Buddhism practice.
[Deshimaru, Taisen (1981) The Way of True Zen, American Zen Association, ] The aim of zazen is just
sitting, that is, suspending all judgemental thinking and letting words, ideas, images and thoughts pass by without getting involved in them.
Practitioners do not use any specific object of meditation,
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 his
Shobogenzo,
Dogen says, "Sitting fixedly, think of not thinking. How do you think of not thinking? Nonthinking. This is the art of zazen."
Notes
See also
-
Vipassana — Meditation of "seeing things as they really are"
Further reading
External links
