Points To Remember For Zazen
Whatever position you choose, sitting in a chair, full lotus, half-lotus, Burmese, or kneeling with a cushion or bench, choose a posture you can hold comfortably for 30 minutes.
Once seated, roll your hips slightly forward, allowing your belly to relax and your breath to move freely.
Center your spine by gently swaying from left to right in decreasing arcs.
Push your head toward the ceiling, straightening and extending your spine and aligning your head. Then relax and drop your shoulders.
Your head should not tilt forward or backward or lean to the side. Ears over your shoulders, nose in line with the navel.
Eyes are lowered at a 45-degree angle, looking about three feet in front of you without focusing the gaze. If there is a wall there, look as if you were seeing through the wall.
Lips and teeth should be closed, tip of tongue against roof of your mouth behind the front teeth. Swallow and suck the saliva from your mouth, creating a vacuum.
Place your hands in cosmic mudra, active hand holding the passive one, palms up, tips of the thumbs lightly touching, forming a wide oval. Hands should rest on lap, thighs, or lower abdomen, where they do not create a stress on your arms.
The whole point is to find an alert, energetic posture that will allow you to sit very still. Check yourself each time you sit, forming the habit of careful attentiveness to your body position before zazen.
Breathe in through the nose, letting the air fill your lower abdomen as if it were a balloon, then gently release with a slow, deep out-breath … in and out, in and out.
Count one on the in-breath, two on the out-breath. Three, and four, and up to ten. Then begin at one again. Allow the counting to serve as a guide only, and when you stray from the counting, and get carried away with your thoughts, just notice that, and begin counting from one again.
ENJOY! A great teacher once said that zazen is the gate of peace and compassion.
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