Zazen

Zazen
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese坐禪
Simplified Chinese坐禅
Literal meaningseated meditation
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinzuòchán
Wade–Gilestso4ch'an2
IPA[tswô ʈʂʰǎn]
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳchhosàm
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingzo6sim4
Southern Min
Hokkien POJchōsiân
Middle Chinese
Middle ChinesedzwaHdzyen
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabettoạ thiền
Chữ Hán坐禪
Korean name
Hangul좌선
Hanja坐禪
Transcriptions
Revised Romanizationjwaseon
Japanese name
Kanji坐禅
Kanaざぜん
Transcriptions
Romanizationzazen
Kodo Sawaki practicing zazen

Zazen is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition.[1][2]

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 Buddhist 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.[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 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 huatou 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 Chinese Chan 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 Zongmi.[5]

In the Japanese Buddhist Rinzai school, zazen is usually combined with the study of koans. The Japanese Sōtō school makes less or no use of koans, preferring an approach known as shikantaza where the mind has no object at all.[6]

  1. ^ Warner, Brad (2003). Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, & the Truth about Reality. Wisdom Publications. p. 86. ISBN 086171380X.
  2. ^ "Zazen Instructions". Zen Mountain Monastery. December 30, 2012. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Swanson, Paul L. "Ch'an and Chih-kuan T'ien-t'ai Chih-i's View of "Zen" and the Practice of the Lotus Sutra" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  5. ^ Jones, Charles Brewer (2021). Pure land: history, tradition, and practice. Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala. ISBN 978-1-61180-890-2.
  6. ^ Warner, Brad (2003). Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, & the Truth about Reality. Wisdom Publications. pp. 189–190. ISBN 086171380X.