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<p>IN the ashram, the Zazen Meditation group sits for one hour and newcomers are encouraged to count the outbreaths for the first five or ten minutes to help bring about the relaxation of &#39;choiceless awareness&#39;. You can sit anywhere, but whatsoever you are looking at should not be too exciting. For example things should not be moving too much. They become a distraction. You can watch the trees -that is not a problem because they are not moving and the scene remains constant. You can watch the sky or just sit in the comer watching the wall.The second thing is, don&#39;t look at anything in particular just emptiness, because the eyes are there and one has to look at something, but you are not looking at anything in particular. Don&#39;t focus or concentrate on anything just a diffuse image. That relaxes very much. And the third thing, relax your breathing. Don&#39;t do it, let it happen. Let it be natural and that will relax even more. The fourth thing is, let your body remain as immobile as possible. First find a good posture you can sit on a pillow or mattress or whatsoever you feel, but once you settle, remain immobile, because if the body does not move, the mind automatically falls silent. In a moving body, the mind also continues to move, because body-mind are not two things. They are one ... it is one energy.</p>
