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What Is Shikantaza? 'Just Sitting' Explained

Shikantaza (只管打坐) is often translated “just sitting” or “nothing but precisely sitting.” It is the quiet core of Soto Zen — and the mature form of wall staring.

Not concentrating on anything

Unlike practices that fix attention on a single object, shikantaza is objectless. You aren’t trying to achieve a state or empty the mind — you are simply sitting, upright and awake, letting everything come and go without grasping. It sounds easy and is surprisingly deep.

Where the wall comes in

In Soto Zen, practitioners face the wall (a custom called menpeki) precisely because a bare wall supports this open, receptive sitting — there’s nothing to concentrate on. Read the history in Bodhidharma and the origins of Zen.

To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. — Dogen

New to it? Begin with Zen meditation for beginners and the step-by-step guide.