Zazen meditation (Zen)

Zazen meditation involves a variety of training techniques designed to guide the individual to experience a turning point termed satori (separately described) which is a major shift in the method of experiencing oneself in relation to the world, and which is an important step on the way to enlightenment. Satori is considered to be a condition which is always present and is not the product of some particular technique, a sudden flash of true wisdom or intuition when discursive thought is left behind. The main aim of zazen is to help the individual to let go of mind and body; not to rest the mind but rather to establish a base, a foundation, or a centre for it.

This is a strenuous task of consciousness, whatever technique is adopted. The precise techniques used vary with the school and mentor. Generally the individual sets aside a portion of each day for sitting motionless and engaging in some concentration exercise. The object of concentration varies considerably and may be changed as the individual progresses. The aim is to suspend the ordinary flow of thoughts without falling into a stupor. The achievement of undistracted concentration is the first means of coming to grips with the purely conceptual mode of experience.

Importance may be attached to the precise posture adopted; for example, the eyes are kept partly open to avoid sleep or stupor. Concentration may be specially focused on breathing, particularly as a means of developing concentration. Since the bodily state is indicative of the condition of the whole person, the correct harmonization of body and breath leads to the right state of mind.

Various techniques are used for quietening the mind. The individual may concentrate on a koan, a statement which is impossible to comprehend rationally but meaningful to a person who has experienced satori. The individual therefore attempts to penetrate to its meaning and to the state of mind which it expresses. This technique seems to deepen the intellectual crisis preceding satori and to produce a deeper and more vivid experience. The attempt to solve the koan becomes almost a surrogate for the individual's struggle to solve his own life.

Once the ability to concentrate has been developed a condition of relaxation and self-immersion is achieved. This is accompanied by the emergence of internal distractions which may arouse anxiety. This is followed by a stage in which nothing definite is thought, planned, striven for, desired or expected. The condition is focused in no particular direction and is accompanied by a sense of calm stillness, energy, vitality, invulnerability and potency. This state of mind is traditionally described by analogy to a mirror, which reflects many things, yet is itself unchanged by them. In this condition receptivity to previously excluded experience is increased, together with the ability to deal with it in a detached, non-anxious manner. The liberation experienced as a result of the practice is referred to in Japanese as [gedatsu]

and the awareness of emptiness as [satori]

.

Various dangers and obstacles are associated with the practice of zazen. These include: a condition of depression or a kind of melancholy accompanied by sleepiness, possibly deepening into a non-conscious state; a condition of attention to the many thoughts and ideas running through the mind; indulgence in a sense of elation, ecstasy or quietism; unconscious projection of emerging material and loss of awareness of its subjective origin - [makyo]

; or concern with paranormal psychic functions. Only after all these have been mastered does satori follow as joy emanating from a mind which has transcended all relative joys and sorrows.

Clearly, as with any practice in the spiritual field, the intention of the practitioner affects the experience which arises. In this context, Zen practice has been classified into five categories by Kuei-feng Tsung-mi (780-841). These are: (i) [Bonpu Zen]

, practised by the unenlightened person for non-religious motives; (ii) [Gedo Zen]

, the "outside way" practised by non-Buddhists for religious reasons or by Buddhists for non-religious reasons (for example, to attain supernatural powers); (iii) [Shojo Zen]

, Hinayana, the "small vehicle" way, practised with a view to becoming an Arhat rather than a Bodhisattva and thus centred on the self rather than on the welfare of all; (iv) [Daijo Zen]

, Mahayana or "great vehicle" way, the branch of Buddhism from which Zen derives; and (v) [Saijojo Zen]

, the "supremely excellent vehicle", where the practice is in itself the realization of [bussho]

, the buddha-nature immanent in all. The lower categories may lead to [mushinjo]

, a trance-like state characterized by emptiness of mind and the cutting off of sense perceptions, but only the higher categories (daijo - great vehicle and saijojo - supremely excellent vehicle) lead to [satori]

. However, the esoteric branch of Zen would argue that all religions derive from Zen in that Zen can be understood as the inexpressible root of which all religions are an expression. Therefore the higher categories are actually open to practitioners of shojo (small vehicle) Buddhism and of other religions whose intentions are pure.