July 16, 2026

The Mind That Settles Itself

Think of not-thinking. How do you think of not-thinking? Nonthinking. This is the essential art of zazen.

Dogen wrote this passage in the thirteenth century in Fukanzazengi, a short manual on zazen composed soon after he returned from years of Zen study in China. He is describing what happens in the mind during sitting meditation once the usual chatter of thinking and the effort of suppressing thought both fall away. Nonthinking is neither grasping at a thought nor pushing it away, but letting the mind rest in a state before either move begins. In the Eastern Wisdom tradition this is how stillness works: the mind is like muddy water, and truth only becomes visible once the stirring stops on its own. Zazen is the concrete method Dogen offers for practicing this settling, sitting upright and letting the mind find its own quiet without forcing it.

A principle of Eastern Wisdom: Stillness →