Zazen

thumb|upright=1.25|Asanas in varied contexts. Left to right, top to bottom: Chakrasana|Eka Pada Chakrasana; [[Ardha Matsyendrasana; Padmasana; Navasana; Pincha Mayurasana; Dhanurasana; Natarajasana; Vrkshasana ]]

thumb|Kodo Sawaki practicing zazen

traditional Japanese doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism

In Zen Buddhism, is the practice of "just sitting." It is Dōgen's Japanese translation of the Chinese phrase zhǐguǎn dǎzuò (). The phrase was used by Dōgen's teacher Rujing, a monk of the Caodong school of Chan Buddhism, to refer to the meditation practice called "silent illumination" (mozhao, ), or "serene reflection," famously taught by the Caodong master Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157).

Walking Meditation in Zen Buddhism

thumb|right|A typical Kapok fibre|kapok-filled zafu

A sesshin (接心, or also 摂心/攝心 literally "touching the heart-mind") is a period of intensive meditation (zazen) retreat in a Japanese Zen monastery, or in a Zen monastery or Zen center that belongs to one of the Japanese Zen traditions outside of Japan. thumb|Outside of the meditation hall of a traditional zen monastery in Japanthumb|Inside of the meditation hall of a traditional zen monastery in Japan (Bairin-ji (Kurume)|Bairin-ji)

thumb|A Keisaku with calligraphy

thumb|Zendō of Tōfuku-ji, Kyoto () or is a Japanese meditation hall. In Zen Buddhism, the zen-dō is a spiritual dōjō where zazen (sitting meditation) is practiced. A full-sized Zen Buddhist temple will typically have at least one zen-dō as well as a hon-dō ("main hall", but sometimes translated as "Buddha hall"), which is used for ceremonial purposes, plus a variety of other buildings with different functions. However, any place where people go to practice Zen can be referred to as a zen-dō.

essay by Dōgen describing the practice of zazen