Osho Zazen Group is a residential immersion in the essence of Zen’s zazen—silent sitting and slow, mindful walking. As activity calms and the mind grows quiet, thoughts are seen clearly, without pursuit or judgment, and the gaps between them lengthen. In this uncluttered space, awareness becomes steady, simple, and luminous.
Rooted in the Zen tradition of Japan (with origins in Chinese Chan), Zazen literally means “sitting, doing nothing.” Osho emphasizes that while the heart of zazen is effortless presence, in the beginning a gentle effort helps gather scattered energies. With periods of sitting alternated with slow walking, and all daily activities done in silence and deliberate slowness, the practice ripens from alert watching into a soft, passive awareness—just being here, and allowing life to unfold by itself.
Phase Instructions
Enter Silence: Establish the Container
From the start of the retreat, commit to silence. Refrain from reading or writing for the entire duration. Treat the whole retreat space—rooms, paths, dining areas—as a field of meditation. Move slowly, speak not at all, and let every transition (standing up, sitting down, opening a door) be deliberate and unhurried.
Sitting Practice: Alert, Non-Exploratory Watching
Sit comfortably yet upright and still. Let the breath be natural. Keep the body relaxed and the attention bright. As thoughts or external distractions arise, simply notice them. Do not analyze, follow, or suppress anything—register what is happening and let it pass. The aim is absolute alertness: nothing is allowed to pass unnoticed. In the beginning, make a gentle effort to remain present; when you drift, return to simple sitting and clear awareness.
Walking Practice: Slow, Continuous Awareness
Alternate the sitting with periods of very slow walking. Place one foot, then the other, feeling each micro-movement. Keep the same quality of watchfulness you had while sitting—steady, quiet, and nonjudgmental. Let breathing and steps find their own rhythm. If the mind starts to wander, return attention to the immediacy of contact, weight, and movement.
Daily Life as Meditation: Slow, Silent Awareness
Between formal periods, do all daily activities—washing, eating, tidying—in silence and with unbroken awareness. Move slowly. Sense the texture, temperature, and posture of each action. Keep attention simple and direct; do not multitask or reach for stimulation. Remember: the whole day is the meditation.
Deepening: From Effortful Watching to Passive Awareness
As the mind settles and the gaps between thoughts widen, allow the doing to soften. Let the earlier effortful watching dissolve into a relaxed, non-tense presence—awareness without a watcher. Simply be there, sitting and breathing, letting experience come and go by itself, like grass growing when spring arrives.
Continuity: Maintain the Cycle Throughout the Retreat
Continue alternating sitting and slow walking as guided by the facilitator, sustaining silence and non-reading/non-writing throughout. Hold to the same alertness in every context—formal practice, transitions, and daily tasks—allowing a seamless field of awareness to unfold over the entire residential period.
Core Benefits
- Calming of activity
- Quieting of the mind
- Clear observation of thoughts
- Increased awareness
- Effortless presence
What Osho Said About This Technique
Question: BELOVED OSHO, ON ONE OCCASION, JOSHU SAID TO HIS MONKS: I HAVE SINGLE-HEARTEDLY PRACTICED ZAZEN IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE FOR THIRTY YEARS. IF YOU WANT TO REALIZE ENLIGHTENMENT, YOU SHOULD REALIZE THE ESSENCE OF BUDDHISM, DOING ZAZEN. IN THE COURSE OF THREE, FIVE, TWENTY OR THIRTY YEARS, IF YOU FAIL TO GRASP THE WAY, YOU MAY CUT OFF MY HEAD AND MAKE IT INTO A LADLE TO DRAW URINE WITH. JOSHU IS ALSO REPORTED TO HAVE SAID: THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ARE ONLY SEEKERS AFTER BUDDHA, BUT NOT A SINGLE ONE IS A TRUE MAN OF TAO. BEFORE THE EXISTENCE OF THE WORLD THE SELF-NATURE REMAINS INTACT. NOW THAT YOU HAVE SEEN THIS OLD MONK, YOU ARE NO LONGER SOMEONE ELSE, BUT A MASTER OF YOURSELF. WHAT'S THE USE OF SEEKING ANOTHER IN THE EXTERIOR? ONCE A MONK ASKED JOSHU: "WHAT IS YOUR FAMILY'S TRADITION?Read the full discourse →
Osho, why have you called this series of discourses: "walking in zen, sitting in zen"?
Concentration is not meditation, concentration is an effort of the mind to focus itself. It has certain purposes of its own. It is a method in science -- useful, but it is not meditation. Contemplation is a little vague, more abstract. In concentration, the object is more visible; in contemplation, the object is abstract. You concentrate on a flame of light; you contemplate on love. And in Christianity, contemplation and meditation have become synonymous. Meditation should be given a new meaning, a new fragrance -- the fragrance of Zen. Concentration is of the mind, meditation is not of the mind at all, and contemplation is just in between, in a limbo. It is something of the mind and something of the no-mind, a mixture; a state where mind and no-mind meet, the boundary. One has to reach to the absolute state of awareness: that is Zen. You cannot do it…Read the full discourse →
Question: BELOVED OSHO, AN INDIAN DISCIPLE OF ENO, KUTTA SANZO, ON PASSING THROUGH A VILLAGE FOUND A MONK DOING ZAZEN IN A SMALL HUT HE HAD BUILT. SANZO ASKED, "WHAT'S THE IDEA OF SITTING HERE ALL BY YOURSELF?" THE MONK ANSWERED, "I'M MEDITATING." SANZO SAID, "WHAT IS THIS `HE' WHO IS MEDITATING? WHAT ARE YOU MEDITATING ON?" THE MONK SAID, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GETTING AT." SANZO SAID, "WHY DON'T YOU LOOK AT YOURSELF, AND QUIETEN YOURSELF?" THE MONK STILL LOOKED BLANK. SANZO THEN ASKED HIM, "WHAT SCHOOL ARE YOU OF?" "JINSHU'S," SAID THE MONK. SANZO SAID, "EVEN THE LOWEST HERETICS IN THE INDIA I COME FROM DON'T FALL AS LOW AS THAT! JUST TO SIT EMPTILY AND AIMLESSLY -- WHAT CAN IT PROFIT YOU?" ONE DAY, YAKUSAN WAS DOING ZAZEN. SEKITO ASKED HIM, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" "NOT A THING," REPLIED YAKUSAN. "AREN'T YOU SITTING BLANKLY?" SAID SEKITO.Read the full discourse →
Beloved Osho, in uruguay, evening has come. A small group of friends listen as silence speaks. Beloved master, what is the essence of zen?
Dhyan is the process of coming to yourself: leaving the body out, leaving the mind out, leaving the heart out, leaving everything out -- eliminating everything by "I am not this" -- until you come to a point where there is nothing to be eliminated. And the strangest experience is that when you have eliminated everything, you are also not there as the old person you used to be, the old ego, the old "I." It was the combination of all that you have eliminated. Slowly, slowly, without knowing, you have destroyed your ego. Now there is only pure consciousness, just light, eternal light. Dhyan was taken by the Buddhists to China, but in China a great transformation took place because China was under the great impact of Lao Tzu, and his whole teaching was "let-go." Gautam Buddha fights to enter into his own being; at the ultimate point he…Read the full discourse →
Osho, what is zen?
Sagar, IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO ANSWER because Zen is not a philosophy, it is not a doctrine. It is an experience, an experience of your own interiority, of your own subjectivity -- not an objective experience. If it were some object outside you, there would be a possibility of describing it, of analyzing it, of defining it. It is indefinable by its very nature; it is not within the grasp of intellect. It is an experience of dropping out of your mind, disappearing from your mind into your being, slipping out of the mind and entering into your being. The mind is a false entity; your being is your real face, your original face. The mind is created by the society, hence there are different kinds of minds -- Hindu mind, Christian mind, Jewish mind -- but the being is one; it is neither Christian nor Hindu nor Mohammedan.…Read the full discourse →
Common Questions
The essence is silent sitting and slow, mindful walking to calm activity and quiet the mind.
By engaging in periods of sitting alternated with slow walking, and doing all daily activities in silence and deliberate slowness.
Zazen literally means 'sitting, doing nothing.'