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Dōgen often stressed the critical importance of zazen, or sitting meditation as the central practice of Buddhism. He considered zazen to be identical to studying Zen. This is pointed out clearly in the first sentence of the 1243 instruction manual "Zazen-gi" (坐禪儀; "Principles of Zazen"): "Studying Zen ... is zazen". [24]
Zazen is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The generalized Japanese term for meditation is 瞑想 ( meisō ); however, zazen has been used informally to include all forms of seated Buddhist meditation.
According to Steven F. Hick, mindfulness practice involves both formal and informal meditation practices, and nonmeditation-based exercises. [108] Formal mindfulness, or meditation, is the practice of sustaining attention on body, breath or sensations, or whatever arises in each moment. [108]
The essay primarily serves to introduce zazen 坐禅, [6] or seated meditation, to Japanese Buddhists, very few of whom would have been exposed to the practice. According to Gudo Nishijima, one of the many translators of the text into English, Dōgen often used bendō to mean the practice of zazen specifically, despite the fact that ben (辨) literally means pursuit and dō (道) means way or ...
Nishijima was the author of several books in Japanese and English. He was also a notable translator of Buddhist texts : working with student and Dharma heir Mike Chodo Cross, Nishijima compiled one of three complete English versions of Dōgen 's ninety-five-fascicle Kana Shobogenzo ; he also translated Dogen's Shinji Shōbōgenzō .
The Zazen shin lays what Dōgen sees as the vital importance of Zazen (Japanese: 坐禅, lit. “Sitting meditation”) to his school of Buddhism. [3] Dōgen emphasises in Zazen shin that Zazen is not a way to become the Buddha, but rather a practice used by the enlightened to focus on the present. [4]
Unlike other books of the Shōbōgenzō, it is not as much a commentary on classical Chinese Chan literature as it is a guide for the practice of zazen. The title comes from earlier Chinese texts of the same name and purpose, with a well known example found in the Chanyuan qinggui , from which Dōgen quotes extensively.
The original exchange between Rujing and his disciples indicates a clear meaning of the teaching: that high-flung ceremony and study are unnecessary and irrelevant, that zazen, dhyana, and similar meditation practice of whatever kind (whether sitting, resting, breathing, gazing at a scene, walking, or simply engaging in silence) should be ...