Zen Meditation Instructions (cartoon)

ZenToons; Zen Mountain Monastery (zmm.org); Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Sit up straight but not so rigidly that it's a strain (Daniel Lopez de Medrano/zentoons.com).

Calm down. Sit up. calm down.

Zazen [sitting] is the form of meditation at the very heart of Zen practice.

In fact, Zen [ch'an, jhana, dhyana] is known as the “meditation school” of Buddhism. Basically, zazen is the study of the self.

The great Master Dogen said, “To study the Buddha Way is to study the self, to study the self is to forget the self, and to forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things.”

To be enlightened by the ten thousand things is to recognize the unity of the self and the ten thousand things. Upon his own enlightenment, the Buddha was in seated meditation.

• Learn Zen meditation in Los Angeles (FREE, Nov. 14)

Zen practice returns to the same seated meditation again and again. For 2,600 years that meditation has continued, from generation to generation. It’s the most important thing [the practice] that has been passed on.

The Buddha was born on Afghan's Silk Road

It spread from India [and Afghanistan] to China, to Japan, to other parts of Asia, and then finally to the West. It’s a very simple practice. It’s very easy to describe and very easy to follow. But like all other practices, we have to engage it on a consistent basis if we want to discover its power and depth.

We tend to see body, breath, and mind separately. But in zazen they come together as one reality. The first thing to pay attention to is the position of the body in zazen. The body has a way of communicating outwardly to the world and inwardly to oneself.

Watch this short video on three ways to sit: zafu, chair, or seiza (monasterystore.org).

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Empty the mind (Piraro/Bizarro.com)

How you position your body has a lot to do with what happens with your mind and your breath. The most effective positioning of the body for the practice of zazen is the stable, symmetrical position of the seated Buddha. Sitting on the floor is recommended because it is grounded.

We use a zafu (video) — a small meditation pillow — to raise the behind just a little, so that the knees can touch the ground. With your bottom on the pillow and two knees touching the ground, you form a tripod base that is natural, grounded and stable. More

• To receive beginning instruction in zazen at the monastery, come to the Sunday Morning Program or Wednesday Evening Zazen. All weekend retreats, including the Introduction to Zen Training Weekend, also include beginning meditation instruction for newcomers.