Sitting in silence
is a way
to enter
a state of mind
in which we rest
in the space of the unconditioned.
~ Silvia Ostertag
Zazen—silent sitting—is an invitation to ‘rest in the space of the unconditioned.’ This ‘space’ is another name for present moment experience, undivided attention, or what is sometimes called ‘choiceless awareness.’ In other words, awareness without judgment
.
How do we arrive in this space? As one master put it, “Think not-thinking” or “non-thinking.”
This is not a prescription for stopping thought altogether. Instead, it points to the practice in Zazen of allowing thoughts to come and go without attaching to them and without pushing them away.
What if there is nothing to stick to, no need to add another bead to the chain? What if thinking happens but no one is doing anything? What then?