In-Person Zazen

Virtual Zazen

“The Sixth Patriarch, Hui-neng, said: “To sit means to gain absolute freedom and to be mentally unperturbed in all outward circumstances, be they good or otherwise.” 1 In other words, sitting is just letting what comes up come up, then letting it fall away again, neither playing with thoughts nor trying to eliminate them. The very attempt to eliminate them would just be another form of conceptualization. Let them come up and let them go. We have many devices to help us do this, or rather to help us let this happen. You can concentrate on your breathing, on the letter A or the word mu, on anything. Concentrating on one thing eventually develops the samadhi of no-separation. Without such concentration, it’s almost impossible not to be distracted by thoughts”— Infinite Circle: Teachings in Zen by Bernie Glassman