Defining Zen is not so easy. It is a practice that includes concentration, mindfulness, compassion, ethics, and inquiry into the deepest self. Zen practice is different for every person. It is rarely what people expect it to be.
A student asked Zen Master Yunmen,“What is Buddha?”
Yunmen said, “Dried shit stick.”
Zen Koan
Zazen (sitting meditation) is central to zen practice, yet Zen is not limited to meditation on a cushion— or stool, or chair. Zen is a practice for every day life.
“it always has a personal frame. For some the barrier is ‘Who am I really?’ … For others it is ‘What is death?’ … For me it was ‘What am I doing here?’ … For many students it is Sakyamuni’s question, ‘Why should there be suffering in the world?’ ”
Robert Aitken Roshi
More about Zen practice:
Melbourne Zen Group 