Shikantaza

Zazen is good for nothing – we do it anyway.

Our sitting practice is called zazen or shikantaza. In our zazen, we do only four things: We sit in zazen posture, breathe deeply through the nose, keep our eyes open, and let go of thoughts. That’s all we do. Everything else is secondary.

It sounds like a very simple practice, and it is – but it is also profound, challenging, joyful, and intimate. We do nothing but be, body and mind, right here and now. Conditions within and outside of us change, but we always return to this moment.

When we sit down and let go of our ideas, we stop chasing after things we like and running away from things we don’t. The dust settles, and we begin to see more clearly: the interdependence of all things, the ever-changing causes and conditions of our lives, and the true nature of the self. Our natural wisdom and compassion arise naturally.

Zazen isn’t about getting somewhere, having a special experience, or becoming people we like better.

As our Dharma ancestor Kodo Sawaki so aptly said: Zazen is beyond gain and satori.

In other words: Zazen is good for nothing… but we do it anyway. We don’t have to seek meaning in it; we are free from the pursuit of a goal. Zazen is good—but not for anything. Zazen is good in itself.

“Of course, it’s good to sit enthusiastically, but your enthusiasm shouldn’t serve as a competition with others. Should we then honestly follow our desires? Should we only sit when we want to and avoid sitting when we don’t? This, too, is a mistake. It’s good to sit with others because we’ve planned zazen, even if we don’t want to sit that day. That is dignified zazen. Even if we sit involuntarily or just to keep others company, zazen is zazen when we actually sit. It depends entirely on one’s attitude toward the practice.”

Kosho Uchiyama Roshi

Instructional video by Sotoshu for practicing zazen at home

This shikantaza, sitting in silence, represents a true revolution. Turning one’s gaze inward, stopping running away from things or chasing them, not moving, focused, attentive, and alert—with every cell of the body. We stop looking outward to what others are doing and thinking, but instead begin to finally “create” our own lives, as Kodo Sawaki says. This “one and finite life” is no longer dull and gray, hesitant, but gains stability, strength, and direction. But not only that; through the practice of zazen, intuition and creativity awaken, our lives become free and fresh, and our worries and fears fade away! Since our lives are connected to everything, our new way of living in harmony with ourselves and others has a direct positive effect on our fellow human beings and ultimately on the entire cosmos.

Zazen practice is interrupted by Kinhin –

“Stand up and walk on the great earth” T. Deshimaru

Zen monk Eddie Eisai during Kinhin

You walk slowly in the rhythm of your breathing, gracefully positioned between heaven and earth, gravity and centrifugal force, step by step, breath by breath, straight ahead, without hesitation, without taking detours, without looking around, without a goal…

Kinhin is also a metaphor for everyday action. With all your energy and conviction, focused on your breathing, on the hara, you take one action step, and then simply the next, and the next…

If I make a mistake, okay… shit, and the next action begins with the next exhalation…

M. Bejart (ballet master): “Kinhin! That is the only true way of walking”