Zendo is the space where Zazen is performed.
Zazen means “simply to sit,” but this “simply” is all Zen realization.
The space in zendo, the objects and gestures must be as simple and clear as possible.
In zendo we manifest a certain humility that is, in fact, a humility towards our higher self, the Supreme Self, to which we relate.
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So…
Before entering the zendo, take off your shoes and put them in the right place.
He always enters the zendo with the left.
Before you sit down to meditate, place your hands with your palms together as if for prayer, a few inches in front of your chest, with your arms parallel to the ground – a position of the hands called gassho in Zen Buddhism – and bow down to the altar, which can only be a scented stick lit on a table in the room. Gassho is often used with a bow, to greet others and show them respect. This pose is similar to the mudra namaste in yoga meditation.
When you pass through the room to get to your seat, change your direction of travel at right angles. It does not go in serpentines, does not cross directly in front of the altar and not diagonally. When you’re in the zendo, always move and turn clockwise. Of course, don’t bother anyone who meditates.
Put your hands back into the gassho position and bow to your seat and to the meditators on either side of you, who will respond with the gassho bow.
Turn clockwise towards the other people in the room, bow towards them in gassho. They will answer you the same.
Sit on the zafu (a special cushion you sit on when you meditate) or on a meditation bench. Any of these can be placed on a thick carpet or on a mattress called a zabuton.
Turn clockwise towards the wall to meditate in the Soto style. Turn your face away from the wall and meditate with your eyes towards the center of the room in the Rianzi style.
Sit down and start meditating!
When you’re done, get up, bow again, and leave the room following the same movements as when you entered.
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Zen is one of the most beautiful and direct paths in the beam of methods for experiencing spirituality in the middle of life and, in our opinion, has a deep connection with the Direct Way of the Heart.
Leo Radutz
AdAnima Academic Society