Zen glossary

Burmese sitting, ビルマ坐 way of sitting in which both feet are released forward resting on the mat; can be helpful if your legs hurt considerably after sitting for a long period

Chôshin, 調心 inner posture — one of the three main elements of zazen (besides bodily posture and breathing)

Chôshin, 調身 bodily posture — one of the three main elements of zazen (besides breathing and inner posture)

Chôsoku, 調息 breathing — one of the three main elements of zazen (besides bodily posture and inner posture)

Daigo-tettei, 大悟徹底 great enlightenment, thoroughly penetrated (down to the bottom) — the completion of enlightenment is usually expressed this way

Daijô-zen, 大乗禅 Great Vehicle Zen — one of the five categories of zazen (see goshuzen); corresponds to Enlightenment Zen in this Introduction

Dharma, 法 Indian and Buddhist term for doctrine, law, or truth; it also means “(a phenomenal) thing”

Dokusan, 独参 literally: going alone (to the master) — personal guidance by a master

Dokuza, 独坐 sitting alone

Ga-zen, 臥禅 Zen lying down

Gasshô, 合掌 gesture in and outside of the zendô as a sign of respect — the palms of both hands are brought together so that the tips of the middle fingers are level with the tip of the nose

Gogo no shugyô, 悟後の修行 practice which a Zen student consciously goes through after the initial experience of enlightenment

Gôma-za, 降魔坐 the demon-controlling sitting — order of interlacing the legs, known as the standard form, in which the left leg rests on top of the right leg

Goshuzen, 五種禅 five kinds of zazen — the ancient Zen Master Keihô Shûmitsu (圭峰宗密, 780–841) divided zazen into five categories: gedô-zen (Non-Buddhist Zen), bompu-zen (Ordinary Zen), shôjô-zen (Small Vehicle Zen), daijô-zen (Great Vehicle Zen), and saijôjô-zen (Supreme Vehicle Zen); as far as the content is concerned, the last three are noteworthy; this Introduction proposes a different type of categorizing in which shôgo-zen and shidô-zen correspond to the last two kinds of zazen by Master Shûmitsu

Ha, 破 break — the second one of the three principles (shu, ha, ri), taught in the world of art and martial arts outside of Zen in Japan; the stage of “bursting” into your own dimension

Hai, 拝 prostration — ritual gesture of the highest respect and gratitude; often “threefold prostration” (named sampai, 三拝, san: three, pai = hai: prostration)

Hanka-fuza, 半跏趺坐 half-lotus sitting — type of sitting in which (only) one foot is placed under the thigh of the other leg, thereby avoiding the complete crossing of the legs

Hokkaijôin,法界定印 formal hand posture in zazen —  you place the back of your right hand on one leg, while the back of your left hand comes to rest on the right hand; the tips of the thumbs, supporting each other, are directed toward your chin to form a gentle hill

Hokkû, 法空 emptiness of objective things — the material and objective world as a whole is empty and without substance; counterpart to ninkû

Inkin, 引磬 small hand bell used e. g. as primary cue for communal threefold prostration

Isuza, 椅子坐 chair sitting or stool sitting — type of sitting adopted when you have trouble sitting on a zafu or bench due to age or physical difficulties

Ittchû, 一炷 one sitting unit — originally the length of time it takes to burn an incense stick; 25 to 30 minutes, the time recommended as one sitting unit

Jikidô, 直堂 person responsible for time management etc. in the Zen hall

Jôriki, 定力 power/powers of samadhi — the jô in jôriki means absorption, the riki means power or powers; jôriki signifies certain spiritual qualities arising as the result of repeated experience of the samadhi state

Jôriki-zen, 定力禅 zazen practice, which tries to (only) strengthen jôriki

Kanki-issoku, 欠気一息 deep breathing immediately before starting zazen

Kanshoba, 喚鐘場 waiting place for dokusan

Kekka-fuza, 結跏趺坐 full-lotus sitting — type of sitting with crossed legs; in the standard form the right foot is placed on the left thigh and the left foot on the right thigh, but it can be done the other way around

Kenshô, 見性 seeing one’s own nature — experiencing our own deepest Essence, experiencing the true or the original Self, often called Enlightenment, satori, shogo, etc.

Kesshu, 結手 alternative hand posture (besides hokkaijôin) in zazen — the left hand clasps the four fingers of the right hand; very popular among Rinzai followers

Kikai-tanden, 気海丹田 lower abdomen — traditionally considered to be the center of bodily-spiritual energy

Kinhin, 経行 Zen in walking or walking meditation (hokô-zen, 歩行禅, or kinhin, 経行) — practiced between periods of sitting

Kisshô-za, 吉祥坐 auspicious sitting — the full-lotus sitting in which the left foot is placed on the right thigh and the right foot on the left thigh; the common way of sitting for almost all Buddha statues

Kôan, 公案 saying, usually formed as a “chreia,” mostly concerning by a well-known Zen master, almost always paradoxical in content; kôans are used by Zen teachers in order to bring the student to enlightenment or to deepen their enlightenment

Kyôsaku / Keisaku, 警策 warning stick — refers to the stick or to the strikes given with the stick; strikes are delivered to the shoulders of the student for the purpose of encouragement or for soothing stiff shoulders

Kyûhai, 九拝 a highly formal sequence of nine prostrations (as in the case of a shôken)

Makyô, 魔境 non-existent sensory phenomena that can occur during zazen

Mempeki, 面壁 (sitting) facing the wall — zazen has always been performed in this way; today, it is practiced differently only in the Rinzai School in which the people always sit facing each other

Monjin, 問訊 gasshô with teizu (bow) — the more polite form of greeting; it is performed, e. g., whenever entering or leaving a zendô, facing the altar

Mujôkan, 無常感 impermanence — refers to a strong feeling of hopeless despair on account of the sheer meaninglessness or fragility of being

Ninkû, 人空 emptiness of self — there is “no self”, which means, that your Self is completely empty; counterpart to hokkû

Ri, 離 go away, leave — the last one of the three principles (shu, ha, ri) taught in the world of art and martial arts outside of Zen in Japan; it means to be independent and to leave your teacher

Rin'i-monjin, 隣位問訊 greeting your neighbors — a monjin greeting to the neighbors on both sides of your seat, followed by taiza-monjin; a necessary ritual before you start your zazen sitting

Rinzai School, 臨済宗 one of the main schools of Zen in Japan, which arrived there from China in the 12th century; the Rinzai School is characterized, e. g., by its work with kôans

Ritsu-zen, 立禅 standing Zen

Saijôjô-zen, 最上乗禅 Supreme Vehicle Zen — the highest of the five categories of zazen (see goshuzen), it is equivalent to the „Zen of the Supreme Way“

Samadhi, 三昧、定 absorption — deep state of absorption during zazen in which the consciousness is radically unified; phonetically transcribed as zammai (三昧), freely translated as jô (定)

Sanbô Zen, 三宝禅 Zen school, officially recognized lay community of Zen in Japan since 1954

Sanzen, 参禅 formal Zen practice with one’s own masterr

Satori, 悟り see kensho

Sayû-yôshin, 左右揺振 left-right swaying — at the beginning of the zazen session, you sway your body from side to side a few times and gradually decrease the swaying until it stops; at the end of the session (before getting up) the same movement is performed (in the reverse order: the swaying gradually gets bigger), which is necessary to protect your back

Seiza-isuza, 正座椅子坐 bench sitting — type of sitting in which you sit on a small personal bench of some sort

Sesshin, 接心・摂心 a practice in which a group of people focus on zazen for several days under the guidance of a teacher; the core form of practice for zazen

Shashu-tôkyô, 叉手当胸 hand and arm posture during the walking meditation in order to keep inner concentration

Shidô-zen, 至道禅 Zen of the Supreme Way, which encompasses shôgo-zen and transcends it

Shihanka-fuza, 四半跏趺坐 quarter-lotus position — type of sitting in which one foot is placed on the calf of the other leg without reaching the thigh

Shijô, 止静  (communal) sitting in silence — begins with the jikidô ringing the bell or inkin three times

Shikan-taza, 只管打坐 just sitting — the highest form of the inner posture in zazen, in which you radically surrender everything to pure presence; the kind of zazen Master Dogen emphasized most

Shôgo-zen, 証悟禅 Enlightenment Zen — the zazen that you practice in order to attain enlightenment

Shôjô-zen, 小乗禅 Small Vehicle Zen — one of the five categories of zazen (see goshuzen), in which you set the goal of arriving at the radical state of samadhi

Shôken, 相見 literally: seeing each other (for the first time) — the formal opportunity to enter into a master-disciple relationship, accompanied by a certain ritual

Shu, 守 keep — the first one of the three principles (shu, ha, ri) taught in the world of art and martial arts outside of Zen in Japan; it means to learn and keep / guard

Sôtô School, 曹洞宗 one of the main currents of Zen in Japan, which arrived there from China with Master Dogen in the 13th century; it emphasizes pure “just sitting” (shikan-taza)

Susoku-kan, 数息観 breath counting

Taiza-monjin, 対座問訊 greeting the other side — after the rin’i-monjin greeting, the people sitting on the opposite side of the zendô are greeted with monjin immediately before you start sitting in zazen

Taku, 柝 wooden clappers which, when struck against each other, announce the next step, such as the imminent beginning of zazen, the beginning and the end of kinhin, etc.

Teisho, 提唱 dharma talk — a presentation of the core matter of Zen by the leader of the Zen group

Teizu, 低頭 bow

Tongo, 頓悟 sudden enlightenment — the kind of the authentic experience of enlightenment

Waza, 和坐 Japanese sitting — type of sitting in which you kneel and then bring the buttocks down onto the soles of your feet, your knees are a hand’s width apart, the soles of the feet overlap

Zafu, 坐蒲 round cushion upon which you sit in zazen

Zammai, 三昧 absorption, phonetical transcription of samadhi (Sanskrit) — your consciousness becomes fully unified in deep inner absorption

Zazen, 坐禅 means sitting Zen (za, 坐: sitting)

Zazengi, 坐禅儀 Introduction to Zazen — a book Master Chôro Sôsaku wrote in China in about 1102–1106, the standard teaching for the present-day Rinzai School in Japan

Zazenkai, 坐禅会 zazen meeting — event for sitting in a group

Zen, 禅 abbreviation of the Japanese word zenna (禅那; in Chinese: channa) — originally a sound rendering of dhyâna (Sanskrit) using Chinese characters which means meditative absorption within yourself

Zendô, 禅堂 Zen hall

Zengo, 漸悟 gradual enlightenment — the lasting period in which enlightenment is completed through more than one sudden experience

Zuisoku-Kan, 随息観 breath following — probably the most classical way of meditation