Zen carries some words from Japanese and from its long history. None of
them are barriers, and you will pick them up naturally. Here are the ones
you are most likely to meet.
Zazen
Seated meditation, the heart of the practice. The word means simply sitting Zen.
Zendo
The room or hall where we sit together.
Zafu and zabuton
The zafu is the firm round cushion you sit on, and the zabuton is the flat padded mat beneath it that cushions the knees and ankles.
Kinhin
Slow, formal walking meditation, practiced between periods of sitting, carrying the same attention from the cushion into gentle movement.
Shikantaza
The Soto practice of just sitting, taught by Dogen. Sitting with no goal beyond the sitting itself, which is understood to be complete as it is.
Sangha
The community of people who practice together. One of the three treasures of Buddhism, alongside the Buddha and the teaching, and the reason we sit in one another’s company rather than alone.
Dana
Generosity, the ancient practice by which Zen is supported. Teaching and community are offered freely and sustained freely, each holding the other up.
Sesshin
An extended silent retreat, often several days long, given over almost entirely to zazen. The word suggests gathering or touching the heart-mind.
Zazenkai
A shorter day or half-day of intensive sitting, a gentler cousin of sesshin.
Gassho
The simple bow made with the palms together, an everyday gesture of respect and gratitude in the zendo.
Cosmic mudra
The resting position of the hands in zazen, one palm cradled in the other with the thumb tips lightly meeting to form an oval.
Dokusan, or practice discussion
A private meeting between a student and a teacher to talk over one’s practice. It belongs to a center with a teacher, and is part of what we hope to grow toward.
Soto
One of the two great schools of Japanese Zen, founded by Dogen and known for its emphasis on just sitting. The tradition we practice in.
Dogen
Eihei Dogen, the thirteenth-century Japanese master who founded the Soto school and whose writings remain among the deepest in all of Zen.
Suzuki Roshi
Shunryu Suzuki, the priest who brought this Soto lineage to America in 1959 and founded the San Francisco Zen Center. Roshi is a title of respect for a senior teacher.
Lineage
The unbroken line of teachers through which the practice is handed down, person to person, back to the Buddha.
Sutra
A traditional teaching or scripture, sometimes chanted together as part of practice.
