Zen means 'just sitting'. But as soon as you simply sit down, you notice how difficult that is. Not because in Zen you sit on a round cushion with your legs crossed or in half lotus, or on a wooden bench with your knees folded beneath you, but because you suddenly become aware of yourself.<\/p>\n
Dogen, a Zen master from the 13th century, wrote: 'To study the Buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self.'
\nThat 'forgetting the self' is very practical. In daily life we are often so busy with ourselves that we forget we are making coffee. Or, instead of listening to the person we're talking to, we are already making a shopping list for later. We are so caught up in ourselves that we don't hear the birds singing. By simply sitting, you practise doing just one thing: whatever you are doing, with full attention for that moment.<\/p>\n