![]() ![]() Mantras are also sometimes used in place of counting. The student begins by focusing on the breath at the hara/tanden with mindfulness of breath ( ānāpānasmṛti) exercises such as counting breath ( sūsokukan 数息観) or just watching it ( zuisokukan 随息観). The initial stages of training in zazen resemble traditional Buddhist samatha meditation. It is not uncommon for modern practitioners to practice zazen in a chair, 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. Seiza (a kneeling posture using a bench or zafu).Burmese (a cross-legged posture in which the ankles are placed together in front of the sitter).The legs are folded in one of the standard sitting styles: In many practices, the practitioner breathes from the hara (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 hands are folded together into a simple mudra over the belly. The posture of zazen is seated, with crossed legs and folded hands, and an erect but settled spine. Long periods of zazen may alternate with periods of kinhin (walking meditation). 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). 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. 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. 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. daijo, zazen aimed at gaining insight into true nature Ī young master Hsuan Hua sitting in full lotus.gedo, zazen-like practices from other religious traditions. ![]()
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