I learnt from the podcast “Zazen as a religious act” by Zen Studies Podcast that since meditation is often viewed as a method to be employed to get results, such as settling our body down and engaging our mind and cultivating an open, non-dual state of mind, awakened to Reality, and so on, people may sometimes strive too hard to get the desired results through meditation.
On the other hand, Zazen is proposed not so much as a means to achieve something, whether peace or health or insights, but more as a religious act, our deepest response to the wonders and challenges of life.
Putting aside all the past baggage of the word “religion”, William James stated that “religion, whatever it is, is a man’s total reaction upon life”.
I understand Zazen to be an essential practice that is associated with mindfulness instead of conditioning in our response to life, where there is no grasping or pushing away from anything while we sit still and face Reality and perceive clearly in honesty and humility without judgment.
Like the speaker said, Zazen is an enactment of love, wonder and curiosity, and the realisation may not always be in the form of conscious awakening as it can be more profound, which is the transcendental quality of Zazen.
I also learnt that Zen doesn’t recognise any authority outside of our true self, and Zazen is about adopting the attitude of discovering the life within the self that is connecting to all things.
As a total response to life, practising and embodying Zazen in the uniqueness of ourselves may be different for different people in different situations.
For some, it may be in the form of righteous anger in a natural response to witnessing injustice; for some others, it may be a sincere response to the sufferings of loved ones; and for others, it may inspire them to appreciate their own practice more and prioritise sitting in their own life, or it can be our sincere response to the mysteries, challenges and wonders of life itself.
Real Rest is the Best 