Guide to Meditation

Kwan Um Zen, founded by Zen Master Seung Sahn, has detailed and illustrated instructions on the varieties of seated meditation:
https://kwanumzen.org/how-to-practice-sitting-meditation

An introductory video on Zen Meditation Instruction (How to Meditate)

The goal of Buddhist practice is to fully awaken (bodhi) and eliminate our suffering. In the Bodhisattva path, the goal expands to eliminate the suffering of all sentient creatures. In Zen, we do this through meditation practices in which we “look into our own minds and become Buddhas.” In our Korean-influenced Zen tradition, the goal of meditation is “sudden awakening, gradual cultivation,” a sudden awakening experience followed by cultivation of that experience until it suffuses our existence. The most rapid practice to achieve this is often hwadu, aided by kung-an [koan] and just-sitting (AKA silent illumination/shikentaza). Normally, hwadu and kung-an practice greatly benefit from a teacher for guidance and confirmation. (If you’re looking for a teacher, ask us.)

However, there are many varieties of meditation, and ultimately almost all of life can become meditation, such as in the powerful mindfulness practice as taught by Thich Nhat Hanh. The Tibetan Buddhist tradition has a very useful meditation practice called lojong, where one trains the mind towards compassion using slogans. But sitting meditation is perhaps the most common and a great way to begin. Feel free to vary the instructions below to maintain stability and attention without physical tension. It’s the mind that meditates, but mind and body are one.

The Body:

Sit in on a cushion, meditation bench, or a chair with your back erect but not tense. An erect posture, belly forward, buttocks back might help prevent neck, back, or shoulder soreness. On a cushion, common sitting forms include full lotus, half lotus, Burmese-style, and straddling cushions while resting on your knees (seiza in Japanese).
Tuck your chin in slightly. (Imagine a string at the crown of your head pulling your head gently upwards—that’s the feeling.)
Either place your hands palm down on your thighs or rest your right hand open in your lap, place your left hand on top of it, and gently press your thumbs together (the “cosmic mudra”).
Lower or close your eyes.
Rest the tongue against the upper palate.

The Mind
There are dozens of traditional meditation techniques within Buddhism. The traditional method of Zen is to “look into your own mind and become a buddha.” Yes, but what do we actually do during sitting meditation? Here are some mental activities meditators might use to get started.

Mindfulness-of-breathing / Ānāpānasati. Concentrate on your breathing, either where you feel the breath enter the nostrils or the rising and falling of your abdomen. Don’t force or control your breathing, just concentrate on it. If your mind wanders, when you “wake up” and realize your mind has wandered, just return the focus to your breathing and don’t worry about it. Minds love to wander, but they can be trained to calm abiding and focused concentration. This is also a mindfulness technique that can be practiced while performing most activities, from washing dishes to driving.
Tracing-back-your-thoughts. As you concentrate and observe your mind, you might gradually notice that you don’t think thoughts so much as thoughts think you. Thoughts emerge somehow, arise and pass away, and mind-wandering is one part of our minds immersing itself into the stream of thought from another part of our minds. That “you” who notices will disappear from time to time as thoughts emerge. If you catch yourself mind-wandering, try to trace the origin of the last thought, and the thought before that, and before that. What was the first thought in that stream? Eventually, you may find that you “catch” those emerging thoughts earlier and earlier and your mind wanders less.
Just-sitting / Silent Illumination / Shikantaza. A classic form of Zen meditation, and more difficult than it seems. Just sit, trying to maintain awareness of everything without concentrating on anything. Chan Master Sheng Yen describes the silent illumination method: “In silent illumination, ‘just sitting’ is only the first step. While you maintain the sitting posture, you should also try to establish the ‘silent’ state of the mind. Eventually you reach a point where the mind does not move and yet is very clear. That unmoving mind is ‘silent,’ and that clarity of mind is ‘illumination.’ This is the meaning of ‘silent illumination.’” Here’s a further description from Zen Master John Daido Loori’s article Thinking Non-Thinking: “When you’re doing shikantaza you don’t try to focus on anything specifically, or to make thoughts go away. You simply allow everything to be just the way it is. Thoughts come, thoughts go, and you simply watch them, you keep your awareness on them. It takes a lot of energy and persistence to sit shikantaza, to not get caught up in daydreaming. But little by little, thoughts begin to slow down, and finally they cease to arise. When the thought disappears, the thinker disappears.”
Loving-kindness (metta) meditation. Beginning with yourself, then moving on to someone you love, then to a neutral person, then to a person you find difficult, then to all beings, try to generate feelings of loving-kindness towards yourself and others. There are many scripts available to guide you. The script below is borrowed from contemplativemind.org.

Loving-Kindness Meditation Script

Breathing in and out from the heart center, begin by generating this kind feeling toward yourself. Feel any areas of mental blockage or numbness, self-judgment, self-hatred. Then drop beneath that to the place where we care for ourselves, where we want strength and health and safety for ourselves. Continuing to breathe in and out, use either these traditional phrases or ones you choose yourself. Say or think them several times.

May I be free from inner and outer harm and danger. May I be safe and protected.
May I be free of mental suffering or distress.
May I be happy.
May I be free of physical pain and suffering.
May I be healthy and strong.
May I be able to live in this world happily, peacefully, joyfully, with ease.

Next, move to a person who most invites the feeling of pure unconditional loving kindness, the love that does not depend on getting anything back. The first person is usually someone we consider a mentor, a benefactor, an elder. It might be a parent, grandparent, teacher, someone toward whom it takes no effort to feel respect and reverence, someone who immediately elicits the feeling of care. Repeat the phrases for this person: “May she be safe and protected…”

After feeling strong unconditional love for the benefactor, move to a person you regard as a dear friend and repeat the phrases again, breathing in and out of your heart center.

Now move to a neutral person, someone for whom you feel neither strong like nor dislike. As you repeat the phrases, allow yourself to feel tenderness, loving care for their welfare.

Now move to someone you have difficulty with–hostile feelings, resentments. Repeat the phrases for this person. If you have difficulty doing this, you can say before the phrases, “To the best of my ability I wish that you be….” If you begin to feel ill will toward this person, return to the benefactor and let the loving kindness arise again. Then return to this person.

Let the phrases spread through your whole body, mind, and heart.

After the difficult person, radiate loving kindness out to all beings. Stay in touch with the ember of warm, tender loving-kindness at the center of your being, and begin to visualize or engender a felt sense of all living beings. The traditional phrases are these:

May all beings be safe, happy, healthy, live joyously…
May all living beings be safe, happy, healthy, live joyously…
May all breathing beings be safe, happy, healthy, live joyously…
May all individuals be safe, happy, healthy, live joyously…
May all beings in existence be safe, happy, healthy, live joyously…