Shikantaza

Shikantaza (只管打坐) is a Japanese translation of a Chinese term for zazen introduced by Rujing, a monk of the Caodong school of Zen Buddhism. In Japan, it is associated with the Soto school.

Etymology

The term shikantaza is attributed to Dōgen's teacher Tiantong Rujing (1162-1228), and it literally means, "nothing but (shikan) precisely (da) sitting (za)." In other words, Dōgen means, "doing only zazen whole-heartedly" or "single-minded sitting."

Shikantaza is the Sino-Japanese reading of the Chinese words zhị̌guǎn 只管 "by all means; merely, simply; only concerned with" and dǎzuò 打坐 "[Buddhism/Daoism] sit in meditation". The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism translates shikan or zhǐguǎn 只管 as "to focus exclusively on", taza or dǎzuò 打坐 as "to squat, sit down cross-legged", which corresponds with Sanskrit utkuṭuka-stha, and translates shikan taza from zhǐguǎn dǎzuò 只管打坐 (or qíguǎn dǎzuò 祇管打坐 with qí "earth god; local god") as "meditation of just sitting", explained as the "Zen form of meditation chiefly associated with the Sōtō school, which places emphasis on emptying the mind, in contrast to the kōan method".