To give you a little background, the word “Zen” is the Japanese word, for the Chinese word, ‘Chan‘ which is a translation of the Indian, sanskrit word – “Dyana“; and they all mean = MEDITATION.
Therefore, the word ‘Zazen‘ which is composed of the Japanese words “Za” = meaning sitting; & “Zen” = meaning meditation; – simply means SITTING MEDITATION.
One practices Zazen because they want to awaken their inner potential & allow it to come forth in their lives. For, the purpose of Zazen is to help us cultivate single-pointedness of mind so that we can see into, awaken to, or discover our True-Nature; or what Zen, & many other Buddhist’s call, our “Buddha-Nature“. And so, the Zazen technique falls under the category of Insight/Mindfulness meditation.
Now, we might often think of the Body, Mind, & Breath as being 3 different & distinct things. But, what Zazen teaches us is – they are not. In fact, the Zazen technique brings them together so that we recognize them as one reality.
And so, the first things we are need to pay attention to is:
1. THE BODY or BODY POSTURE:
(I will just mention that if you ever go to a Zendo you will be taught & expected to bow to the place (cushion/chair) where you are going to sit, as well as, the other meditators in the Hall. Traditionally, this is done as a sign of reverence for the practice which you are about to partake in.)
Now, although a lot of attention is give to the body posture in Zazen, like all forms of meditation, comfort is the most important. (You can read my article “How to Sit For Meditation“, in which I mention the popular sitting positions in much more detail; and for the practice of Zazen any of them are acceptable.)
So, if you can’t sit full-lotus, or if you find any of the other positions uncomfortable, there is nothing wrong with practicing Zazen in a chair.
After you find a comfortable sitting position, the next thing is to be aware that you are keeping the spine straight. Now, this does not mean stiff or tense. Once you sit & align the spine, the head & shoulders will just rest comfortably at the top of your vertebrae; and the spine with naturally keep them up. If you practice yoga, you my have heard the advice to imagine you have a string coming out the top of your head & that you are being pulled-up by the string. In Zen, they often tell you to imagine that your head is pushing up the ceiling or holding up the sky.
Your nose should be aligned over your navel & ears parallel with the shoulders. But again, once you get straight – you should not be stiff or using tension to retain this position.
Hands are traditionally held in what is called ‘Cosmic Mudra’. 
In this position, the forearms are resting on the thighs, the right hand is under the navel, left hand is on top of the right (just the fingers are overlapping), and the thumbs are lightly touching. In this position you should be forming and oval with your hands. This Mudra is held because, according to tradition, it helps to turn the attention inward.
SIDE NOTE: (There are different Zen sects/schools & sometimes you might see the positions reversed. There are schools which say right hand should be on top of left; others say left hand on top of right; and some say it doesn’t matter. Therefore, unless you are going to study the practice further through a specific school, I recommend you just do what you are drawn to & feels comfortable for you.)
You may practice Zazen with your eyes closed; however, traditionally you are taught that your eyes should be slightly open (about 1/2 – 3/4 of the way shut) and the gaze should be downward on the floor about 2-3ft out in front of you. You shouldn’t be looking at the floor. Your gaze should be unfocused. It may help to think that you are looking through the floor.
Mouth should be closed; as all breathing will be through the nose. It may help you, especially if you salivate a lot, to keep your tongue lightly pressed against the upper palate.
That takes care of all the preparation & the body posture. And the reason Zen practitioners pay so much attention to the posture is because the way we hold our body creates a state of consciousness.
So, the next thing is:
2. THE BREATH:
As mentioned above, in Zazen, all breathing will happen through the nose. You are not going to force your breath; but instead, just allow your breathing to be RELAXED & NATURAL.
You are going to sit with attention, & place your awareness, on the breath. To help keep your awareness on the breath it may be useful to try to ‘feel’ the breath; notice the coolness of every inhalation & warmth of every exhalation. Or perhaps you feel the tactile sensation of the breath as it passes in * out of the nostrils or hits the back of your throat.
For, beginners it might also be helpful to count each breath. So your inhalation would be 1; exhalation 2; inhalation 3; exhalation 4, etc… But, once you reach 10, you will return & start your counting from 1 again.
You keep the counting to short segments of “10” because you don’t want to “zone out” in Zazen. You want to be attentive & aware of the breath; because where the breath goes, the mind goes.
The only rule is that whenever the mind wanders; whenever you are off in thought; whenever you lose track of the count; the moment you notice you are no longer on the breath; you simply bring yourself back to the breath; and if you are counting, don’t worry about where you were, when you bring yourself back to the breath you just start again from 1.
The key point –by keeping the mind on the breath we are spending our time in the present moment.
And so, now we come to:
3. THE MIND:
What you will probably notice as you first begin to practice Zazen is that the mind is rarely in the present moment. It is most often living in either in thoughts of the past or the future.
The second thing you will notice is that as you try to keep your attention & awareness on the breath, the mind doesn’t stay there for long. It is immediately, and/or frequently, off in thoughts. So, what you are doing by continually bringing the mind back to the breath is retraining your mind. You are slowly building up mental concentration & focus (this mental concentration is called Joriki in Zazen). And by building mental concentration, & sharp focus, the mind becomes like a laser; and you start to generate what is called single-pointedness of mind (having a concentrated, still-pointed mind while keeping the attention present is called ‘samadhi‘). This ultimately awakens one to the realization of one’s self & the true nature of reality (In Zen philosophy, this seeing into one’s true nature is called ‘Kensho‘).
So, putting it all together. You just have to get comfortable, then allow your breathing to be relaxed & regular as you breath through your nose. And just sit with attention & awareness of the breath. Whenever your mind wanders (and it will wander) just bring yourself back to the breath. Don’t get upset when you find yourself off in thought. Don’t get frustrated when you have wandered. The mind is just doing what it has always done. So, be gentle with yourself. Eventually, you will find that you are staying with the breath longer. It just takes some time to retrain the mind.
There is much more I can speak about, and a few other advanced exercises & tools that are taught in Zazen, but I don’t want to overload you with too much too soon. This is definitely a great place to start for anyone interested in the practice; because, this simple Zazen technique will help you to come home to the present moment & experience life more fully.
Good luck! And remember the key to becoming a good meditator is just to – practice, practice, practice!
May your days always be filled with love, happiness, & peace,
~ Anthony Profeta
