About Zen — What is Practice?
Sitting Regularly is Simple and Wholly Beneficial
The first time I sat on a cushion on the floor, folded my legs, arranged my hands, and counted my breaths, I felt I had found my place, so to speak. Later, when I did my first long retreat, what Zen calls sesshin, and sat for long periods over the course of days, it felt natural. After a few years of sitting somewhat regularly, I committed myself to sitting every day. That became my practice. I’ve done it for a long time, and it suits me perfectly, you might say.
But what is Zen practice? Do we have to sit every day? Can we sit every now and then? Can we sit once a week, once a month? And what is it that we are practicing? Is Zen practice merely sitting in zazen or is more involved?
In this publication, About Zen, I have tried to make a case, for a person who is new to the idea of meditation and is motivated to try it, that meditating is simple. And, mechanically, it is simple. We sit and count our breaths up to ten, over and over. As far as the act of sitting goes, that is the long and short of it. Anyone can try it and sustain it. Merely sitting.
Of course, there is much more involved in Zen. If we are interested in Zen and we are going to do it in a serious way, we need to find a teacher and ultimately a community.
That does not take away the chance for anyone to try sitting and see if it works. It is simple, basic, always available, and for my money, wholly beneficial all around.
