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Forms for Beginning and Ending
A Round of Zazen
Beginning a Round of Zazen
After you are settled into posture, turn the clock over and place it where you can see it. If you are
sitting with other students it should not be within their line of vision.
We use a set of kaishaku (wooden blocks) to signal the beginning of the sitting round and
a series of three strikes on a gong to accompany the forms used, but if you are sitting at home and
do not have these instruments, use the forms without the signals.
Pick up the kaishaku (wooden blocks) using one hand and then transfer them to both
hands so that they are held quite close to your face with the tops of the kaishaku held level with
the tip of your nose. If there are other students who have not yet settled into posture, wait until
they do so. The room should be completely still before you strike the kaishaku.
Strike the kaishaku once. Transfer them to one hand, and place them on the cushion.
They should not clack together as you do this.
Strike the gong once. Bow forward, keeping your neck and back straight, and exhale
audibly through the mouth.
Strike the gong a second time at the bottom of the bow and straighten (to what you think
straight is) while inhaling audibly through the mouth.
Strike the gong a third time. Exhale audibly through the mouth as you settle into balance
point which is perhaps 1/8th or 1/16th of an inch back from what you think straight is. This is
considered to be an optimal posture for sitting in Zazen. Through long experience of sitting, it has
been found that when the bodymind relaxes, it will tend to move back just a little and so we
assume this posture from the beginning.
At this point, glance at the clock and calculate when you will need to end the sitting
round. Your rounds should be 30 minutes in length unless you are listening to a teisho tape that
takes more than 30 minutes to finish. In that case, continue sitting until the tape is finished. If the
tape is shorter than 30 minutes, continue sitting to finish the half-hour round.
Ending a Round of Zazen
At the end of your sitting round, pick up the striker and strike the gong once, leaving your free
hand in the Dharmadhattu mudra. Bow forward and exhale; straighten, and place the striker in the
gong or next to it. Place the clock face down on the cushion next to the kaishaku (wooden
clappers). Place both hands in the mudra once again, and pause for a moment. Then move into
seiza (a kneeling posture).
Once in seiza place your hands in your lap in a mudra that is the opposite of shashu. The
shashu posture involves forming your right hand into a circles and tucking your left thumb into
the centre of the circle with the rest of the fingers wrapping around the back of the right hand.
The mudra used when sitting in seiza involves forming your left hand into a circle, tucking the
right thumb into it and wrapping the rest of the fingers around the back of the left hand. The
hands are held on the lap with the wrists turned so that the palms face the ceiling. (If you look
down at the mudra you would see the thumb and fingers of the left hand.
Pause briefly in seiza, hands held in the mudra, and then begin taking care of your zafu
(cushion) and zabuton (mat).
Care of Zafu and Zabuton
Lift the zafu by its strap, placing it on its side, positioned between you and the wall. Place your
inside hand (the hand closest to the wall) on top of the strap, running along the length of the
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