To sit zazen is to meditate on the nature of existence.

For a shamanic practitioner, meditating on the nature of existence means working to get in touch with all the aspects and layers of reality. Zen teaches that the ultimate nature of reality is illusion, with reality being thing/no-thing beyond ordinary comprehension, available through the discipline of zazen. You sit zazen so that you can see the distinction between the shadows on the cave wall of your mind and the things which cast the shadows. (See what I did there? Plato reference. You’re welcome.)

For Zen Buddhists, zazen is a seated meditation, usually.

Sometimes Zen Buddhists walk to meditate, but by and large when you go to your sangha or community to sit zazen you’re going to be literally sitting down. The pillows used in zazen are called a zafu and zabuton. The zafu is a round, flatish, buckwheat filled…