Olympia Zen Center

Styles of meditation vary. The Soto Zen Way of meditation, called zazen, is not “guided.” Instructions for zazen, zen sitting, are points of posture, and its monologue is entering silence. Zazen is not a reliance on techniques which favor various emotional states. Zazen is not spoken nor is zazen grasping after desirable emotional states. Zazen is not what you think is you being mindful. Zazen is not what you think.

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There is no script, podcast, webinar, book, or workshop to spare the ego from this work. The inescapable point of zazen is met when no one tells you what to think, when the body is free to recall its own language, which is instinctive and intuitive. And the assurance of Zen masters who maintained and continue this discipline is this: through the practice of and devotion to zazen, the instinct of clarity called samadhi will rise of itself uninhibited beyond ego.

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Practitioners who sit with us for some time, engage with the teacher, and continue to practice with the community may study to receive the Buddha's Precepts, formally becoming a Soto Zen Buddhist, and sewing a small robe called a Rakusu which is worn during meditation and for ceremonies.