Zazen is a traditional Zen meditation which involves long hours of silent sitting and slow walking. As the mind slows down and becomes quieter and quieter, each thought can be watched with awareness and the gaps between the thoughts become longer and longer.

One simply sits and watches as alertly as possible. When thoughts or external distractions arise, one simply is aware of what is happening but does not explore it. The aim is to be absolutely alert and not let anything pass you without being aware of it.

Osho says, “Relax. In relaxation — when there is nothing to be watched and nobody as a watcher, when you are not divided into a duality — there arises a different quality of witnessing. It is not a watching, it is just passive awareness; passive, I say — remember. It has nothing aggressive in it. Watching is very aggressive: effort is needed, you have to be tense. But be non-tense, relaxed. Just be there. In that consciousness when you are simply there, sitting doing nothing, the spring comes and the grass grows by itself.”

While Zazen actually means “sitting silently doing nothing”, initially some effort is usually needed. If you relaxed from the beginning, nothing could bring you back to yourself, so in the beginning there is an effort. Sitting meditations are alternated with walking meditations and all daily activities during this period are done with slow, silent awareness.

The group is fully residential, and allows for no reading or writing for its entire duration and silence is maintained throughout.

Zazen is very pure. You are just sitting.

Also, Explore Osho’s other Meditative Therapies: Mystic Rose Group and Born Again Group