ZEN WATERLOO
The practice of Zazen, or sitting Zen meditation, is the core of the Soto lineage of Zen Buddhism, and that is exactly what we do: we concentrate in the breathing and in the posture, and we watch our thoughts move away like clouds in the sky of our mind, in the same way that Siddharta Gautama, the Buddha, did it thousands of years ago, way that since then has been followed and practised by countless generations of people like you and me, who relentlessly seek reclaiming life and freedom from suffering.
At the very least, one needs to sit for 20 minutes. Less time makes it less probable for the mind to calm down effectively.
Lower Body Position
You are encouraged to practice Zazen in the lotus position whenever possible for you. However, for Westerners this position usually is very difficult to attain and many are able to compromise by sitting in semi-lotus. If semi-lotus is still not feasible for you, try sitting in Burmese position, a very popular position among Zazen practitioners. Some Eastern practitioners and martial artists prefer sitting in the Japanese Seiza position. Sitting aided by a chair and lying down are explained at the end of this page.
Full Lotus
Burmese
Semi Lotus
Saddle (Seiza)
Regardless of the sitting position you choose, make sure you: 1) achieve a solid position that feels as if rooted in the ground, and in which 2) your hips are always above your knees; 3) sit in the front half of the zafu. These elements combined allow the tilting of the pelvis and permit a proper deep breathing as well as alignment of the spine.
Upper Body Position
Once the base is set, direct your attention to your upper body for a correct posture of the spine. Push upwards with the crown of your head as if lifting the ceiling with your head. Daily sedentary life in front of a computer is the rule for hundreds of millions of people around the world; this has resulted in shoulders closing forward, hunching of the upper spine, and chin forward while reducing the extension of the back-neck muscles. You need to combat this posture like the plague (regarldess of Zazen). As much as you reasonably can, even aided by gently forcing the posture in a protracted way, your ears should align with your shoulders and your nose with your belly button. Pushing your jaw back only will not make it. To be able to achieve a correct posture, gently but firmly push your jaw back and up, as if drawing a half "U" letter with it.
Arms and hands
With the lower base and the upper body set, let your shoulders rest back and down relaxed at each side of the body. Do not rest forearms nor wrists or hands on your thighs. Bend elbows and place the back of the fingers of your left hand on top of the fingers of your right hand. That is the cosmic mudra. Both thumb tips touch each other lightly. The result is the shape of a rough rectangle or oval. Place centre of the oval around three fingers below your belly button. In doing so, you will notice that your hands, arms and shoulders will form a coarse circle.
When forming the oval, make sure the thumbs touch each other slightly. This gesture has been desbribed as if holding a rice paper between them. Thus, if one presses too strongly, the delicate paper will tear up; if one holds too sfotly the paper will fall down. This light touching also helps to show and monitor one's internal state: stress and negative emotions tend to result in thumbs making a peak or soreness in the tips. When one is too relaxed, drifting, or sleepy, thumbs tend to make a valley or simply detach from each other.
Sight
Zen is experiencing reality. As such, closing of eyes is discouraged, but so it is needless visual distraction. Eyes should remain semiopened. An effective way to do this deceivingly simple task is to close your eyes and look as down as possible before feeling you are forcing your eye muscles. Roughly this is achieved placing the sight at about 45 degrees. Open your eyes slowly and only enough to allow you awareness of the immidiate surroundings. In Soto lineage, practitioners normally sit facing a wall, at about 1 metre of distance (Rinzai lineage normally do facing toward the room). Once you semiopen your eyes your sight should be at the base of the wall. Do not concentrate in any imperfection or texture of the wall. Your objective is to rest your sight somewhere, not to look at something.
Breathing
Posture is the first element of attention in Zazen; the second is breathing. You are expected to do abdominal breating as opposed to chest breathing (like that of pregnant women and weight-lifters).
Inhale normally and naturally as you do when walking, reading, or washing your dishes. Now, when you exhale, do it slowly and prolongue it. If you find yourself panting, this means you are prolonguing it too much. While exhaling push down softly on your guts; Deshimaru sensei described this sensation/action as if making the mooing of a cow (you do it silently). An important point is not to concentrate in the physiology of the breathing nor to do any type of imaging (for example, imagining sky blue air coming in and dark blue going out). Limit yourself to be aware of your breathing in the way described above.
your spine, and resume your concentration in your breathing. Guess what, it is very likely you will 'leave the room' again, and again, and again. And for each of those times that you lost your concentration, once you realize it, you check your posture and resume your concentration in your breathing. You can envision it as a train that derails and you put it back in its tracks over and over, and over again...
Thoughts
While you are sat concrentrated in your posture and breathing, your mind will keep its activity, erratic, noisy, non stop. Dreams, fears, wishes, emotions, all come in thoughts of different shapes and sizes: some come isolated like that orphan cloud in a clear sky; others come like a dark loaded storm. The result is that you end up either remembering and reliving or projecting and imagining; all but staying in the present. When those thoughts come, let them go. Do not engage with them. Acknowledge their existence and let them pass.
Inevitably, we get engaged with some thoughts...and off we go. As soon as you realize you have "left the room", check your posture, make sure your lower base is solid, straitghen
Special Cases
On a chair
Some practiioners experience unbearable discomfort practicing Zazen in any of the sitting positions described above (for example, due to surgery or injury in knees). These practitioners can practice Zazen assisted by a chair. A correct posture is achieved by observing the same elements of attention pointed above: straight spine, shoulders relaxed, back and low, and hands forming the cosmic mudra. Sight remains low and eyes semiopen. It is important not to recline nor to lean or to rest on the chair back rest. Back is detached frothe back rest, and straight up. It is better to sit on the half front of the chair pad; the pad should not be fluffy. The soles of the feet are flat on the ground. Petite and short-legged practitioners can rest their soles flat on a zafu, if needed.
Lying down on the floor
On occasion, a practitioner will not be able to remain sitted for a prolongued amount of time either in one of the positions described above or on a chair (for example due to back or hip surgery or injury). The practitioner can practice Zazen lying down on the floor. The surface should be comfortable enough to provide isolation from hard floor, but not fluffy. Legs are bent some 45-60 degrees, feet soles are flat on the ground, arms rest relaxed on the sdie of the body. Important, legs remain parallel to each other; this helps to monitor too much relaxation or sleepiness expressed by widening of the space between legs. Sight remains fixed on the ceiling.
