Zen meditation connecting to the higher mind. Meditation Technique for Beginners

We will tell you about the meditation technique of Zen Buddhism. As you know, meditation in Zen Buddhism is the basis for progress in practice. Zen meditation techniques for beginners.

One of the masters, when asked what Zen is, answered that it is to drink tea and eat rice.

Indeed, the Buddha also said that the main condition for meditation is proper eating.

Zen Buddhism Meditation

In fact, we should always meditate. especially when we eat. Sages chew food that they have taken into their mouths more than 100 times, if they chew less than 30 times, then it is absolutely no good, what kind of Zen meditation is there! The topic of nutrition in Zen is the main one, and we will definitely talk about it more.

“People are sleeping. When they die, they wake up” /hadith/

Although, according to Zen Master Dae Kwang, “…any person achieves enlightenment at least 470 times a day…”, these are only brief moments that he immediately forgets about.

The term "enlightenment" is not entirely correct. It would be more correct to use the word "awakening", since all people are already fully enlightened, but they are so deeply asleep that they are not aware of it.

We are all the time in an illusory, invented world, only for a moment emerging into reality when circumstances force us to do so.

Our attention constantly wanders between the past and the future, almost never stopping at the present. But there is no past - it is already gone and exists only in our thoughts! There is no future - it has not yet come and exists only in our imagination. Moreover, the past has never been and the future will never be. There has always been and will be only “now”.

Zen Meditation Techniques

Only this moment is reality. Everything else is a dream. So the Zen meditation technique is to stay in reality. Zen Master Seung Sahn put it very succinctly and clearly: “What are you doing right now? Just do it!"

However, it is easy to say “do it!”, it is difficult, very, very difficult to be here and now to do it.

We are hindered by the inertia of thinking. Involuntarily, we begin to think about something extraneous, and we find ourselves in our thoughts already very far from what we are doing.

In order to only “just do it”, do some work, talk, even think about what you need, you need to learn not to think. The accumulated inertia of thinking can be extinguished only by a certain practice. Therefore, in Zen (and not only in Zen) there is a formal practice that (if it is constantly done) gradually weakens the inertia.

There are more and more gaps when the mind is clear, although thinking has stopped. If you kept the question “What am I?” in the “backyards” of consciousness, then in one of these moments of inner silence and clarity you will comprehend your true Self, your true nature.

Zen Meditation Techniques for Beginners

As soon as this happens, the owner will return to the house, who will be able to order his servant-reason to be silent or think in a certain direction, without being distracted by extraneous things. The basis of practice (not only in Buddhism) is meditation.

The technique of meditation, even in different schools of Zen Buddhism, is slightly different. So in Japan (the Soto and Rinzai schools) the emphasis is on posture and breathing, while in the Choge school (Korean tradition) the focus is on the state of mind. .

You can read about how to sit in Zen meditation in the excellent article by Sekida Katsuki "Zen Practice". There are even illustrations. Therefore, let's talk about how the mind should “sit” during meditation.

Meditation zen buddhism technique

First of all, do not fight with your thoughts, do not try to stop them or influence them in any way, so you will stop your thoughts with your other thoughts. Thoughts come and go like clouds in the sky. If you do not pay attention to them, they will gradually dry up and the mind will become pure. It's like cloudy water in a glass.

If the glass is not touched, the turbidity will settle and the water will clear. Thoughts feed on our attention to them. As soon as we evaluate any of them (on the scale of “bad-good”, “like-dislike”, “want-don't want”), it instantly takes all our attention, and, having saddled it, we are carried away somewhere very far from the meditation hall.

During Zen meditation, we do not close our eyes, because when we close our eyes, the creative thinking(pictures will follow). To make the flow of automatic thinking less distracting, close your eyes so that only slits remain. Pay attention to all the sculptures and illustrations of the Buddha's eyes are almost closed.

If during meditation you begin to overcome sleep, then open your eyes wider.

There are many methods (“crutches”) that help at first not to fly away in thoughts during meditation. You can read the mantra. You can follow your breath by counting your exhalations. One, two, three... to ten. Then again up to ten, and again up to ten, and so on. As soon as you start counting “eleven, twelve…”, then you are already sleeping.

Another very good way to keep the mind focused and calm:
Our hands during Zen meditation are closed in mudra at a point two fingers below the navel. It is the center of our physical body, the center of primary energy and the center of intuition.

If you focus on this point, then after a while you can “hear” (feel) a pulse beat there. At first, just watch it, and when it becomes clearer,

While your mind is busy chanting a mantra, counting your breaths, or tracking your pulse, notice that you are aware of what the mind is doing, watch its activity. Where are you following from? Who is watching if your mind is busy? Who you are? IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!

Zen Buddhism is a classical branch of ancient Eastern Buddhism. The meditation technique practiced in this direction is called zazen, which is the most popular all over the world. Zen meditation is used to get rid of unnecessary experiences, train volitional qualities, develop awareness not only by Buddhists, but also by completely unbelieving atheists. The fact is that the benefits of meditation are scientifically proven.

Hello. My name is Andrew. I am 30 years old. It's been a few years now since Zen meditation entered my life, and since then everything has been so good! I was able to overcome most of my addictions: I got rid of alcoholism, smoking, pathological passion for coffee. There was simply no need for these drugs as I learned to relax in other ways.

As I later read, meditation develops willpower. And indeed. After six months of meditation, my laziness went away, I began to work more. I created a website that I have been developing for several years now, I began to earn more, life's difficulties distract me much less. Found good girl, although before that he was afraid to communicate with the opposite sex. Not surprising, given that meditation calms the amygdala and reduces fear. I really learned to manage myself even in the most difficult moments of life.

And he began to actively engage in sports. And yes, this is an additional source of endorphins, which goes well with meditation. If the latter gives relaxation, then sport activates the psyche. It is much easier to think after it. I also got rid of excess weight. In general, the effect is beneficial. Today we will take a closer look at how zazen meditation works, thanks to which Andrei was able to change his life so dramatically. It only takes a couple of minutes to train. So sit back, read on, and meditate.

Peculiarities

The scientific name for meditation is mindfulness practice. This is what refined techniques, devoid of religious meaning, are called. In fact, all positive effects are preserved. We will also use this term in the future. The positive effects of mindfulness practice can be seen from the story above, but let's look at them in more detail:

1. Removal of stress. Meditating can be difficult at first, and the process can even be unnerving. The reason is simple - you have not learned to focus for a long time. As you develop these skills, you will enjoy the process. But everything must come with time.
2. The development of willpower. Willpower is the ability to keep attention on a goal for a long time. For example, we can all start a diet. And finish? Why? Because we are distracted from the desire to lose weight on cakes, sweets and other sweets. Zazen meditation trains the mindfulness of the goal.
3. Developing emotional intelligence and the ability to manage your emotions. To manage is to arbitrarily change the emotional state to one that is appropriate in a given situation. Main principle emotional intelligence - awareness, that is, the ability to directly experience emotions "here and now." During zazen meditation, this is exactly what you do for 10, 20, 40 or more minutes.
4. Decreases frequency and intensity panic attacks and relieves anxiety and anxiety. And here the practice of mindfulness is used as a psychotherapeutic technique.
5. Increases work capacity. After a long meditation session, it becomes much easier to concentrate, and a person does more in less time.
6. Gets rid of addictions. One of the main causes of addiction is the inability to relax in eco-friendly ways. Therefore, people relieve stress with the help of alcohol and cigarettes. The practice of mindfulness in itself is wonderfully relaxing, and a regular practitioner simply does not need psychoactive substances to relax.

Zazen meditation has a multifaceted positive impact on various aspects of human life. And it will take a very long time to paint all the advantages that can be enjoyed in the long term. So just get started.

Who is/is not suitable for zazen meditation?

There is no person who would not like Zen meditation. But there are plenty of those who could significantly improve their lives. Mindfulness is suitable for anyone who would like to start self-development. As you know, without strong-willed efforts it is impossible to seriously change your life. If you want to lose weight, you need to go in for sports, and for this you need to force yourself. If you want to become richer, you need to learn how to properly handle your finances, and sometimes it is very difficult to restrain yourself from momentary spending. And so with everything. So Zen meditation is for everyone.

Step by Step Instructions for Zazen Meditation

Consider, step by step, how Zen meditation works. The technique for carrying out the following:

1. Take a comfortable position. In general, it is customary to meditate in the lotus or half-lotus position, but you can practice sitting, standing, while walking. Some relax lying down, but in this case, there is a high probability of falling asleep, which is undesirable for us. It is necessary to be between sleep and vigor, in this case, the connection between the subconscious and consciousness is maximally ensured. The main thing is that you are comfortable. There is one drawback in the lotus position - you still need to get used to it. At first, it can be very painful, and this will make it difficult to relax. If you are practicing mindfulness as a psychotherapeutic technique, then you can neglect the lotus position.
2. Watch your breath. The essence of any meditative technique is passive concentration on one object. That is, you do not need to try to focus by force. Third-party thoughts appear - good, no, also good. But what you need to do is to return to the starting point every time you catch yourself thinking about something else. Calm, no stress. Remember, we are relaxing. Count as follows: inhale - "one", exhale - "two", inhale - "three". The goal is to count to 10 without ever thinking about anything else. Remember, the goal is only conditional, if you can’t achieve it, it’s okay.

In fact, there are two main points, everything else is just details. We take a comfortable position and passively concentrate (without effort) on breathing. The technique of zazen meditation is very simple. The main thing is not to strive for any result. Be in the process, here and now.

conclusions

You are a great fellow for striving for self-development. The more such people will be in the country, the better it will be to live in it. Be sure to read more articles on this topic. We have a lot of them. Remember mindfulness is good, but there are other things you need to do to achieve your goals.

In any case, Zen meditation - efficient technique that will help improve your life. How much to practice? We recommend gradually increasing the amount of time allocated for practice. The key here is to be systematic. You can start with 5 minutes a day. Once you get a foothold on this result (no willpower is required for this), you can increase it to 10 minutes. Yes, it takes more time to get better results. But not everyone has the willpower to immediately meditate for an hour a day. And everyone can allocate 5 minutes. For a beginner, even that much time can be a daunting task. Therefore, we start small, but systematically. A drop constantly dripping on one point punches a hole in the stone.

Sitting Buddha is the position of disinterested sitting, formerly called Dhyana, Chan, then Zen. In the Western version of Zen that we practice, all Japanese words are deliberately omitted to make room for a European vocabulary that is more understandable and adapted to our time.
When the Japanese monks brought Chan from China, they called it Zen, and the position of the Buddha became zazen.
Monk Sando Kaisen Krystashek decided to cut off the Japanese tradition, which was too ritualized and formalized, and keep only the essence of the Buddha's teaching: the Buddha's seat. He has been teaching his master Mokudo Taisen Deshimaru for over 25 years in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Russia all the way to Vladivostok near Japan.
From now on, the Buddha Sitting will grow under a new name to flourish in the future. With its help, the essence of the teachings of the Patriarchs will be accurately conveyed.
Also, Master Nyojo's Shikantaza, which means "only sit", is replaced by "disinterested attitude". The sutras and texts are recited and sung in the native languages ​​of each country, not in Japanese or Sanskrit.
"Sitting Buddha" is what allows the body and mind to disappear.

“In reality, don't try to wait for anything but what is.
Awakening means to wake up to the fact that we are deeply lost.
There was no illusion in the past, so there is no awakening in the present."

How to Meditate Properly

Zazen practice is the secret of Zen.

The heart of Zen is zazen.

Even though Buddhism has taken many different forms today, the posture in which the Buddha attained an understanding of the true nature of the mind remains unchanged. It was passed down through seven generations in India, seven generations in China and seven generations in Japan, then was brought to Europe. Thanks to the method of transmission of the teaching, based not on the reading of texts, but on the mutual exchange between the student and the master, this position has been preserved in its original form.

“True zazen lies in sitting quietly in the right position. This is not some special state, this is the normal state of a human being: silent and calm, without excitement. Zazen means to still the mind and to concentrate the mind and body. In zazen there is no goal, no striving to get anything, no special effort or imagination. It is not knowledge to be grasped by the mind. It is only practice, practice which is the true gateway to happiness, peace and freedom.”
Taisen Deshimaru Roshi

While practicing, do not strive to achieve anything. Without a goal, just concentrate on the zazen position, on the breath and state of mind.

Position

Sitting on a zafu (traditional round cushion), we cross our legs in a lotus or half lotus position, or fold them under ourselves in a seiza (kneeling position). The knees should touch the floor, creating, together with the buttocks on the zafu, a stable position of three points of support.

Full lotus:

The knees rest on the floor, the foot of the left leg is located on the right thigh, the foot of the right leg is on the left thigh. The feet are turned with the soles up.

Half lotus:

A simplified pose, there is only one foot on the thigh, the lower leg of the second leg lies on the floor. You can further simplify the position and put the foot not on the thigh, but on the calf or on the floor (Burmese position). You can swap legs.

body position

The pelvis is tilted forward so that the abdomen sags naturally. There should be nothing that pinches the stomach, such as a belt or tight pants.

The spine is bent in the lower lumbar region, and the top of the head stretches to the sky. The head is perpendicular to the floor, the back of the neck is relaxed and straight. The nose is in the same plane as the navel. Ears - in the same plane with the shoulders. The shoulders are relaxed and lowered, the stomach is also relaxed.

The mouth is closed - we breathe through the nose - the jaws are relaxed. The tip of the tongue rests against the upper palate, near the front teeth. The eyes are open and lowered at an angle of 45 degrees. The gaze is motionless, calm, but not focused on anything.

Hand position

The forearms rest on the hips at the bottom of the abdomen, the palms are turned up. The fingers of the left hand lie on the fingers of the right, the thumbs touching at the tips. The palms seem to be holding a large egg. The inner ribs of the palms lightly touch the abdomen in the area 3-4 cm below the navel. Usually for this you need to put something under your palms. The arms should not be tense, should neither hang in the air nor fall down, pulling the shoulders behind them.

When you have gained a stable upright position, start breathing slowly and deeply. Your position is upright and balanced. Maintain it throughout zazen without moving.

“Zazen means to touch the cosmos through single body through our body. Everything that exists and I am one body.”

“The zazen I am talking about is not the art of meditation. This is nothing but the path to peace and happiness, the practice-realization of perfect Awakening. When you can understand her heart, you will become like a dragon entering the water and a tiger entering the mountains.”
Master Dogen, Fukanzazengi

Breath

Breathing in zazen is crucial. First of all, you need to establish a slow, strong and natural rhythm.

Concentrate primarily on the exhalation, which should be calm, long and deep. As you exhale, exert free, relaxed, downward expanding pressure on your lower internal organs without drawing in the stomach. Inhalation should be natural, automatic, spontaneous. When the lungs are almost empty, they quickly refill with air.

Concentration on the exhalation creates tremendous energy in the lower abdomen. energy center body is not in the head and not in the upper body, but in the main groups of nerves located in the area from the solar plexus to the lower abdomen. All martial arts traditionally based on such breathing. Powerful body-mind actions occur during exhalation. During inhalation, a person is especially weak and vulnerable.

Air contains the energy of the universal life force and it is received by our lungs and every cell of our body. We usually breathe about 15 times a minute, shallowly, using only a small part of our lungs capacity. Deep full breath Zen captures not only the level of the chest and diaphragm, but also affects the organs of the lower abdomen, massaging the internal organs well and stimulating the circulation of blood and other fluids in the body.

With regular practice of zazen, such breathing gradually becomes habitual in Everyday life and in a dream. The more receptive you become to the universal vitality through zen breathing in zazen, the more your energy increases.

state of mind

The right state of mind comes naturally from deep concentration on the body and breath during zazen.

During zazen, the conscious flow of thoughts from the cerebral cortex is significantly reduced and the thinking brain calms down. Blood flows to the deeper layers of the brain, the thalamus and hypothalamus, and this brain-body becomes more active and developed. When the deep brain becomes more active, nervous system relaxes. Being receptive and attentive in every cell of your body, you learn to think with the body, unconsciously.

During zazen, thoughts, conscious and subconscious, naturally and constantly rise to the surface of our mind. Don't try to stop it. But at the same time, don't get involved in the thought process and don't let your thoughts take you away from concentration on posture and breathing. Just let your thoughts float by like clouds in the sky, without resisting them or becoming attached to them. The shadows pass and dissolve. Images rise from the subconscious and disappear.

The mind becomes deeply calm. We come to the deep unconscious, beyond thinking, to the consciousness of hishiryo, true purity.

(The text is based on quotations from Sando Kaisen's Zazen Satori)

Zen meditation is the meditation technique of the Buddha. It is one of the most widespread meditations in the world and is the heart of the Buddhist teachings.

For Zen meditation we need:

• meditation pillow;
• loose and comfortable clothing;
• alarm clock or stopwatch.

Benefits of the Zen Meditation Technique:

• teaches good concentration and focus;
• opens wide opportunities for self-knowledge;
• gives peace, compassion and joy;
• improves health;
• increases willpower;
• allows you to increase internal energy.

Cautions for Zen Meditation Technique Practitioners—There are practically no warnings when practicing Zen. It is necessary to mention only one thing - this is an emotional storm. There are periods of time (after a few days or weeks of practice) when all suppression of emotion begins to rise to the surface, into our consciousness. It makes no sense to try to fight them, it is better to give them the opportunity to freely exit so that our subconscious is cleansed. The result is peace, joy and clarity in life.

Zen Meditation Technique:

• find a quiet and peaceful place. Put down the meditation cushion and take your usual posture on it;
• set the alarm so that it goes off after 20 minutes;
• now straighten and stretch up your spine, pull your chin up a little;
• swing several times from side to side to take a stable position;
• your eyes are half open, your gaze is unfocused and looks ahead of you at the floor. You should be looking down at a 45 degree angle and about 2-3 feet long. If you feel more comfortable meditating with your eyes closed, you can close them.
• put your hands on your knees and do cosmic mudra - place your right hand on your knee with your palm up. Put the fingers of the left palm on top of the right, connect the thumbs of both hands together, forming an oval arch;
• close your mouth, swallow your saliva, creating a slight vacuum, and press your tongue against the hard palate. After that, there should be no more movement. You must be, as it were, frozen in time;
• take 5 deep and slow breaths through your nose;
• now bring all your attention to your breath. Spend a few minutes watching it until it becomes even and relaxed;
• from that moment you start counting your breath. You count your inhale as one, exhale as two, and keep counting your breaths until you reach ten. Then you start counting backwards. If at some point you go astray, then calmly, without irritation, start again from one.

Intermediate Zen Meditation Technique: Follow all the steps of the basic zen meditation technique except the last one. Here, a full inhalation and exhalation are counted as a unit, that is, you will need to take 10 full cycles inhalation and exhalation to count to ten and also 10 complete respiratory cycles are taken to return to one. Increase the meditation time to 30-40 minutes.

Advanced Zen Meditation Technique: Follow all the steps of the basic zen meditation technique except the last one. Here you do not need to count the breath, but allow the breath to simply “be”. Don't try to get to this step too quickly, first learn how to concentrate well. The meditation time can be extended up to one hour.

The Secret of Zen Meditation: The secret of Zen does not lie in being aware of the in-breath or the out-breath. It lies in between these processes. It is in this place that all the secrets of the universe are revealed, but do not try to force this pause, just continue zen and it will happen naturally.

Zazen - meditation interested scientists who are members of the American Psychological Association on the subject of almost total absence pain in those who practice Zen Buddhism.

The researchers concluded that in Zen Buddhists, the cerebral cortex in areas responsible for the perception of pain becomes thicker. This is what makes them less susceptible to pain.

Joshua Grant of the University of Montreal and colleagues studied the brains of a group of 35 people, 17 of whom regularly practiced Zen meditation. They applied a hot plate to the calves of the participants in the experiment, measuring the temperature, which caused moderate pain. Then, using the methods of structural magnetic resonance imaging, scientists assessed the brain structures responsible for the perception of pain.

In all meditators, sensitivity to pain was significantly lower, and the thickness of the cortex of the bilateral gyrus of the hippocampus and other areas associated with the perception of pain was greater than in the control group, writes www.rian.ru.

“People seem to thicken certain areas of the cerebral cortex when they practice Zen meditation, and this seems to explain their decreased sensitivity to pain. We found an association between cortical thickness and pain sensitivity, which supports our previous study on pain management with Zen meditation," Grant said.

Meditation practices could also be useful in preventing age-related gray matter decline or potentially in repairing brain matter in disorders such as stroke, the scientists say.

Zazen - meditation requires, on the one hand, the utmost concentration of consciousness, on the other hand, the ability not to think about any specific problem. “Just sit” and, not paying attention to any thing in particular, perceive everything around you as a whole, to the smallest detail, knowing about their presence in the same way as you know about the presence of your own ears, without seeing them.

“The perfect man uses his mind like a mirror: he lacks nothing and rejects nothing. Accepts but does not hold

Instead of trying to clear or empty the mind, one should simply let it go, because the mind is not something that can be mastered. Letting go of the mind is the same as letting go of the flow of thoughts and impressions that come and go "into the mind". There is no need to suppress them, or hold them back, or interfere with their course. Exactly at zazen meditation the action of the Taoist "wu-xin" - "no-mind" is practiced.

Zen is a trend in Buddhism of the Mahayana tradition that originated in China and spread to Far East(Vietnam, China, Korea, Japan). In a narrower sense, Zen is understood as the direction of Japanese Buddhism, brought to Japan from China in the 12th century.

At present, the word Zen denotes the actual teaching and practice of Zen; the tradition in which these teachings and practices are transmitted is Zen Buddhism, the Zen school.

Another official name for the Zen tradition is Buddha's Heart (Chinese: Fo Xin); can also be translated as the Mind of the Buddha.

It is generally accepted that Zen spread in China in the 5th century AD. e. The Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma (in the Chinese tradition - Putidamo or simply Damo, in the Japanese - Daruma), is considered to have brought this teaching of the Buddha to China, often called the successor of 27 Indian Patriarchs of Buddhism, who later became the first Patriarch of Zen (Chan).

Bodhidharma settled in the Shaolin Monastery, which is considered today the cradle of Chinese Chan Buddhism. During the VI-VIII centuries, Zen spread to the territory of Korea, and then to Japan. Subsequently, over the centuries, the teaching was passed from patriarch to patriarch, gaining more and more adherents. Currently widespread in the West ( Western Europe, North America).

It is believed that Zen cannot be taught. One can only suggest the way to achieve personal enlightenment.

More precisely, there is no such thing as enlightenment to be possessed. Therefore, Zen masters ("masters") often say not "to achieve enlightenment", but "to see one's own nature." (Enlightenment is not a state. It is a way of seeing.)

In addition, the path to the vision of one's own nature is different for everyone, since everyone is in their own conditions, with their own baggage of experience and ideas. That is why it is said that in Zen there is no definite path, there is no one definite entrance. These words should also help the practitioner not to replace his awareness with the mechanical execution of some practice or idea.

It is believed that the Zen teacher must see his own nature, because then he can correctly see the state of the "student" and give him the appropriate instructions or push for him. On different stages practitioners can give different, “opposite” advice to the “student”, for example: “meditate to calm the mind; try harder";

“don’t try to achieve enlightenment, but just let go of everything that happens”…

According to general Buddhist ideas, there are three root poisons from which all suffering and delusion arise:

Ignorance of one's nature (cloudiness of mind, dullness, confusion, restlessness),

Aversion (to "unpleasant", the idea of ​​something as an independent "evil", generally hard views),

Attachment (to the pleasant - unquenchable thirst, clinging) ...

Therefore, awakening is promoted by:

calming the mind

Liberation from hard views

Liberation from attachments.

The two main types of regular Zen practice are sitting meditation and simple physical labor. They are aimed at calming and unifying the mind. When the self-churning ceases, "the haze settles", ignorance and restlessness decrease. A clearer mind can more easily see its nature.

At a certain stage, when the practitioner has calmed the mind, a good mentor - seeing the "obstruction" in the practitioner's mind, such as hard views or attachment - can help to get rid of it. (Thus, the path of the Zen practitioner is both the opening of "one's" wisdom and not the closing off of "their" wisdom. Rather, it is the removal of the false barrier between "my" wisdom and the "alien".)

Many Zen masters claim that the practice may be "gradual" or "sudden", but the awakening itself is always sudden - or rather, not gradual. It is simply discarding the superfluous and seeing what is. Since it is just a drop, it cannot be said that it is somehow achieved. Or that there are "disciples" and "mentors" in it. The mentors can impart Dharma teachings - that is, the ideas and methods of Zen. Dharma Mind, that is, the essence of enlightenment, is already present. She doesn't need any achievements.

Thus, the practice and teaching of Zen aims at the aforementioned calming the mind, releasing rigid views, and letting go of attachments. This facilitates the vision of one's own nature, which itself is beyond all practice and all paths.

Zen Buddhism denies the superiority of the intellect over pure experience, considering the latter, together with intuition, to be faithful helpers.

It is believed that compared to practical training "from heart to heart" - even the instructions of the Buddha himself play in Zen Buddhism minor role. For modern students - in addition to transmission from heart to heart, listening, reading, reflection are also necessary. The direct methods of pointing in Zen are more effective than reading books, but they do not imply complete abandonment of reading either.

For training, the master can use any method, but the most widespread practices are zazen (sitting meditation) and koan (a parable-riddle that does not have a logically substantiated answer).

Zen is dominated by instantaneous, sudden awakening, which can sometimes be brought about by specific techniques. The most famous of them is the koan. This is a kind of paradox, absurd for ordinary reason, which, having become an object of contemplation, stimulates awakening, as it were.

Dialogues (mondo) and self-questioning (huatou) are close to koans:

Some mentors have stimulated awakening by suddenly shouting at the student, or even by hitting the head with a stick. But the main practice was sitting meditation - zazen.

Along with traditional sitting meditation, many branches of Zen have practiced both walking and working meditation. And all Zen monks must have practiced physical labor, which was necessary during intense mental stress in the process of meditation. The connection of Chan with the tradition of martial arts is also well known (starting from the first Chan monastery - Shaolin).

In this way, Zen became a system for training the mind (through meditation), the spirit (through daily practice), and the body (through kung fu and qigong).

Zen Teaching Method - Strong emotional impact on the student, as well as experiencing all sorts of paradoxes. From a European point of view, this approach is sometimes simply cruel. It can only be understood within the framework of the Buddhist doctrine of indifference to life and death as such. The methods of educating students in Zen Buddhism are widely borrowed from almost all types of martial arts of the East and had a profound influence on the development of the samurai ethics in Japan.

Meditation, contemplation, occupies an important place in Zen Buddhism. Despite the differences in the approach to achieving satori in different schools of Zen, all of them assign a major role to meditation.

Zen does not accept extreme asceticism: human desires should not be suppressed. In fact, everyday activities, what you like to do, can become meditation - but with one condition: to be fully present in what you are doing. And under no circumstances should you be distracted from this - whether it's work, a glass of beer, making love or sleeping until dinner.

Any hobby can become a way to comprehend your true nature. It turns life itself in every manifestation into a work of art. “An artist lives in every person from the very beginning - an “artist of life” - and this artist does not need any additional things: his arms and legs are brushes, and the whole universe is a canvas on which he paints his life.” Each person is an artist of his own life and each has his own. The key is in the human soul.