Concept · Library

Concept · Buddhism (Zen, Sōtō) · 13th century to present

Shikantaza: just sitting

Also known as just sitting · zazen · shikantaza · zen sitting

Needs editorial reviewIntermediateTraditional teaching

Presented as what a tradition teaches, attributed to that tradition.

The sitting practice of the Sōtō Zen tradition, taught by Dōgen as nothing but sitting, without an object of concentration and without a goal to be achieved by sitting. It is presented in the tradition as the practice itself rather than a technique for an outcome, which changes how progress and difficulty are understood.

Entries in this library keep the tradition label and the editorial state the source gave them. A record marked as awaiting scholarly review is offered as a lead to study, not as settled teaching.