Sitting With Ourselves: The Heart of Zen Practice

This sitting—being with ourselves and wondering who we are—is the heart of Zen practice. Teachers can guide us, but ultimately, we have to sit there with ourselves. We have to sit and wonder.

I often say with ourselves, but who is it that we’re sitting with? The moment we use this kind of language, suddenly there seems to be more than one person. I’m sitting with myself. So who is “myself,” and who is “I”?

At its core, Zen practice returns again and again to this fundamental inquiry: What? Who? These questions are central in Zen. What is truth? Is it my idea? My opinion? Something I believe?

It’s actually not my job to tell you what truth is. You have to find it for yourself. You have to experience it directly. Books, talks, and teachings can be helpful—they can point the way—but they are not it. Each one of us must discover it on our own.

— Zen Master Bon Soeng