Zen Meditation: What Is It, Benefits, Techniques, And More

To all the meditation lovers in the house, cheer up because, in this blog, I have got an interesting meditation technique from Buddhist psychology. It’s quite old but the efficacy of this meditation is definitely going to amaze you. In this blog, we are going to talk about Zen Meditation.

Introduction to Zen Meditation

Zazen is the other word given to Zen Meditation. Zen Meditation or zazen meditation is a technique used in meditation. Its roots belong to Buddhist psychology. The only objective of Zen Meditation is the regulation of concentration and attention.

The mantra or objective of Zen meditation can be referred to as “thinking about not thinking.” During Zen meditation, practitioners sit in a lotus position (sits with their legs crossed) to gain attention or focus inward.

Zen meditation practitioners believe that this position can only be accomplished by counting the breaths from 1 to 10. Meanwhile, some of the practitioners do not believe in counting.

More about Zen Meditation

Zen meditation is also referred to as “open-monitoring meditation” wherein the practitioners use the monitoring skills. According to science, these monitoring skills are converted into a reflexive awareness state which helps stay attentive without focusing on any specific thing or object.

Zen meditation is performed to gain mindfulness (it is somewhat similar to mindfulness techniques). The reason being, Zen meditation is all about gaining focus on the presence of the mind. Meanwhile, mindfulness is all about focusing on a specific object to gain full awareness. Zen meditation only includes focus gain by general awareness.

It is more different from compassion meditation or loving-kindness meditation wherein practitioners work on the cultivation of compassion. It is far different from mantra meditation as well, as mantra meditation revolves around the recitation of mantra to increase awareness. To put it in a nutshell, Zen meditation includes an increase in awareness of the self-referential and physical procedures.

Working Process of Zen Meditation

Practitioners of Zen meditation believe that this meditation technique helps in expanding their deliberate scope for incorporating the flow of perceptions, emotions, subjective awareness, and thoughts. If you wish you can also keep your eyes semi-open. Zen meditation does not encourage closing eyes.

The basic aim of this meditation is to dismiss thoughts from the mind and importantly think about nothing. With time and practice, people generally learn to keep their minds focused, and after some time they are also able to tap into their unconscious minds as the goal is to become more self-aware and gain insight into self.

Benefits of Zen Meditation

Research shows that Zen meditation has lots of benefits in terms of cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual health. And, yes it is widely accepted that meditation is a robust stress reliever tool. Just like other meditation techniques, Zen meditation also offers various and same benefits.

However, I was not able to find any specific benefit of Zen meditation. It just helps in drug abuse treatment. Moreover, it also shows some positive effects on the brain. Rest, benefits are similar to other meditation techniques such as:

• Gaining a new perspective
• Helps in increasing attention and focus
• Increases self-awareness
• Helps in stress management
• Helps in being mindful
• Reduces negative thoughts and emotions
• Increases creative and imagination power
• Increases tolerance and patience
• Reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression
• Reduces physical chronic pain

How Zen Meditation is used for Drug Abuse Treatment?

Zen Meditation is used for the treatment of drug abuse in Taiwan because of the following reasons:

• Zen meditation slows down the respiration and heart rate
• Zen meditation helps in the improvement of the autonomic nervous system (ANS)
• Zen meditation also impacts brain-heart interactions positively.
• Zen meditation helps in mood improvement.
• Zen meditation helps people overcome addiction and improves self-control.
• Zen meditation helps in the recovery process and whole-body detox.

How and where to learn Zen Meditation?

There are online videos, audio programs, books, and online learning programs specially designed to learn Zen meditation. Moreover, you can also look for a Zen meditation classes nearby. It takes a weekend to a month to learn Zen meditation completely.

Additionally, if you are planning to visit China, you can learn this practice in any Buddhist temple. Learning this type of meditation totally depends on your needs, budget, and interest.

Efficacy of Zen Meditation

When it comes to learning meditation, it is always important to learn about its benefits and suitability. Research related to Zen meditation shows that it totally depends on the type of personal preference. Therefore, if you are interested in learning this meditation, it might provide you good results.

I hope this blog helps you to understand everything you wanted to know about Zen Meditation. Comment down and share your views on Zen meditation. For more such content, connect with us on all social media platforms.

Thanks for reading!