I started zazen meditation

I read an introductory book and started zazen meditation, but I can't concentrate on my breathing.
Something comes to mind before I count to 10. I've been using incense sticks for about 15 minutes, but it feels like it's been a long time.
However, there are times when I indulge in thoughts while watching the incense sticks run out.
Even so, it calms my mind rather than not doing zazen meditation, so I'd like to make it a habit, but could you teach me tips for continuing and how to improve?

3 Zen Responses

Use zazen sessions at a nearby temple

Hello.

It's a good thing that they want to make zazen a habit.

Zazen feels like a long time, doesn't it? I can't help but think about it. I try not to get involved in zazen. In other words, “indulging in thoughts” is not zazen meditation.

The best way to continue zazen meditation is to go to a zazen meeting at a nearby temple.
At home, the phone is ringing, there are visitors, and it's hard to relax.
In that respect, if you go away from home, there's no such thing. Feelings also change. There are also the eyes of the people participating together, so I don't have to say “I can't concentrate today, so let's stop” along the way. Also, if you are with other meditators, it's easier to continue, and it's also encouraging. The chief priest can also teach you tips for zazen meditation.

If it is a temple of the Soto sect, which is one of the Zen sects, you can search below.
http://www.sotozen-navi.com/index.cfm
We are also doing activities like this.
http://www.sotozen-net.or.jp/asakatsuzen

I have no choice but to try

Zazen isn't about concentrating or counting breaths. Neither Buddha nor Dogen Zenji said that ^ ^

You don't have to be able to cross your legs; you're just in the way you are right now, just the way you are when you're sitting. I don't even think or follow my thoughts. It won't grab it.

It's a teaching that makes you notice a reality that you can't grasp. We know it with our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and our five senses. They don't even stare or observe. That's why I don't focus on breathing.

Then I realize that the truth is only now, and that there is nothing I thought I was.

Therein lies salvation.

What is difficult to convey in letters is the best way to actually listen to the story at a zazen session. It would be nice if you could notice that this is not a teaching to think and understand.

Open a human store and close

A famous Zen master said it.

“Zazen is the act of opening and closing a human store”

As for life, the store is open, but the act of thinking and interpreting as a human being is in a state of rest.

Human ideas that interpret and give value have suppressed the naturalness and freedom of life. So, what frees them up and makes them notice the connection with nature is zazen. If you explore zazen with that kind of “direction,” I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

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