Learn the Art of ‘Nothing’ with Zazen Meditation

Photo courtesy of Flint Sparks

“Just sitting” or “sitting Zen” is the English translation of the word “Zazen.” Zazen meditation comes from the Buddhist tradition and allows for the transformation of the mind in a simple, seated posture.

Molokai residents have an opportunity to experience Zazen meditation at weekly classes by Koko Kawauchi Johnson and monthly instruction from Flint Sparks at the Guzeiji Soto Mission in Kaunakakai.

“The temple is a pu’uhonua,” explained Johnson, who is from Japan, and introduced weekly classes to a small but growing group of participants back in January. “Anybody can come and we’ll be open for everybody.”

The primary principle of this Japanese meditation technique is establishing a comfortability and eventual fulfillment with nothingness, according to longtime Zazen teacher Sparks.

“It’s a sort of nothing that doesn’t wait for a reward at the end,” explained Sparks, who offers monthly meditation sessions at Molokai’s Guzeiji Soto Mission to supplement the weekly classes taught by Johnson. Essentially, it’s the practice of allowing thoughts, images and words to pass by without consciously interacting with them, he explained.

For Sparks, Zazen is an especially effective tool for dealing with difficult life moments. As a psychologist with a specialty in behavioral medicine, he worked for years with hospital patients in cancer care units.

“I was working with people who were dying,” Sparks explained. “There’s a certain kind of question they were bringing to me. Some were certainly psychological, but some were questions of the soul, deeper things or spiritual questions.”

These questions led Sparks to Buddhism and then to Zazen. It’s the simple nature of Zazen and its alternative approach to achieving a state of relaxation that practitioners find attractive, he explained.

“We sit for 20 to 30 minutes,” said Sparks. “Almost invariably people will say ‘can we go for longer?’”

For Johnson, Zazen likewise provides mental health benefits.

“I’m offering this because so many young men are killing themselves,” Johnson stated.

She explained that Zazen can help practitioners cultivate a safe space within themselves.

“You can just be yourself, be quiet and safe,” she said.

Molokai residents can try Zazen in their own homes, according to Sparks, by sitting in a garden or a place overlooking the ocean and being open and ready to see what arrives.

Molokai residents who wish to join the weekly Sunday Zazen practice should first participate in an orientation, which takes place the first Thursday of every month. For more information, contact Johnson at (808) 498-8351.