About Sitting Zazen

How to sit Zazen, What is really Zazen - you can find the answers in 'roles for sitting in Zazen', Fukanzazengi - a short composition of great deepness and concrete and direct guidelines for Zazen. Being the premier text for Zazen by all Soto Zen teachers and trainees since Dogen wrote it almost 800 years ago.

Keizan' guidelines for sitting in Zazen, - Zazenyojinki - more long and detailed guidelines for Zazen. Wonderful words and deep insights - direct wisdom from an enlightened teacher. Keizan (1268-1325) based his work on Fukanzazengi and elaborated it for the benefit of everyone that want to practice Zazen and find his true self.

Q: How it is possible to practice Zen in our modern age when everyone is so busy and has no time?

A: Anyone after waking up and washing his or her face, can sit five to ten minutes in Zazen. When Zazen sitting is finished, it is advisable to think about the agenda of the day, and then do whatever we need to do in our daily life.

Q: What is Zazen?

A: 'Za' is - soft, gentle, tranquil. 'Zen' is - true. Zazen is the true and tranquil sitting. Zazen is calm and comfortable cross leg sitting. Sitting in Zazen creates the harmony between the heart, internal organs, breath and brain. The principle of sitting in Zazen is to be beyond thinking. To think without thinking, to let all thought go, focusing on one thing, doing Zazen only. Slowly through continuous training, the thoughts will stop. The physical difficulty of sitting, if existent, will disappear. The trainee will feel like a tiger that climbs the mountain. Zazen is the most direct way to penetrate the true self. In Zazen we make our inner organs shine from inside, internal energy is created, and a great life force is developed. Harmony is created and develops while we sit in Zazen. This unification of body and mind helps us to penetrate day after day into our true self. We also continue to sit Zazen after we reach ourselves. Now we have a strong will to help humanity. We become Bodhisattvas. One day, suddenly, Satori comes, the supreme understanding. After Satori, we, as Buddha did, continue to sit Zazen.

Q: How to sit in Zazen?

A: For sitting in Zazen a quiet place is most suitable (quiet room, or under a tree). You sit Zazen on a cushion with crossed legs. In that way your pelvis remains a little bit higher then the floor. It is possible to sit in Half Lotus posture (one foot is placed on the opposite thigh) or in a Full Lotus posture (the two feet are placed on each opposite thigh). Anyone who can't sit in these ways can sit simply with crossed legs or on a chair. Most important is to place your hands on your legs near your lower belly, so that the back of one hand rests in the palm of the other hand and the two thumbs touch each other at their edges. You move gently from side to side and forward and backward, in a very light and gentle movements, to find the comfortable position. When you reach a comfortable point where you feel pleasant, and there is no strain in your back, you stop moving in the middle, and sit with your back straight. You then exhale the air through the nose once or twice, and than breath naturally through the nose. You let go of all thoughts. Don't fight them nor encourage them. Only be beyond thinking. When you finish sitting, you start to move again, lightly from side to side, massage and relaxes the feet, and then rise to standing position with no heist, Then you do Kinhin.

Q: What is Kinhin style of walking?

A: Kinhin is a way of training that complement Zazen and is done after Zazen. Kinhin propose is to calm the mind and release the legs from tense or tiredness that may occur while sitting. In Zazen there is movement without moving. Kinhin walking is Zazen in movement. Also Judo is Zazen in movement. It is extremely important to learn to do Zazen in movement. We do Kinhin by walking half steps, slowly in a cycle, until we complete one round while walking clockwise, breathing naturally every half step. The right palm wraps the left palm, which we keep closed, and both the hands rest comfortably on the middle of the chest while walking.

Q: Who invented the form of sitting in Zazen, and what makes it unique from other forms or positions of the body?

A: the Indian Yogis knew the form of sitting in crossed legs position for thousands of years. It' uniqueness is that it doesn't make you tire as much as standing, and it is relatively hard to fall a sleep in it (in contrast to lying down). Buddha showed for the first time, the way for complete use of this comfortable sitting to reach Satori. His breakthrough opened vast horizons for Yoga teaching, and new depths of training and understanding.

Q: Why the continuity of training is so important?

A: If there is no continuity of training there is no continuity of development. Internal lives are like ashes of fire. Without wind the ashes will die. That's why it is so important to continue to practice Zazen everyday, even if sometimes the length of practice is shorter.