zazen
/zɑːˈzɛn/
zazen noun: a form of seated meditation in Zen Buddhism.
Noun
zazen (usually uncountable, plural zazens)
- A form of seated meditation in Zen Buddhism.
- If Professor Jaynes had extended his studies of introspection into zazen or yogic forms of meditation, he would understand that the ego is just such a construction that is extended over the gaps in time from moment to moment.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 269
- They had sent out scouts to try and locate the original cave where the practice of Zazen was first initiated.1985, Lawrence Durrell, Quinx, page 1226
- Synonyms:
- Zen meditation
zazen meaning in Indonesian and Vietnamese
zazen in Indonesian
- form of meditation
- zazen
zazen in Vietnamese
- form of meditation
- tọa thiền
Examples of zazen in a sentence
- In the practice of Zen there is an exercise called zazen—similar, I think, to the Theravedic practice of vipassana.1992, Donna Tartt, The Secret History:
- For everyone—everyone—who first takes it up, zazen is tedious and awful...2003, Brad Warner, Hardcore Zen, page 92:
Synonyms of zazen
- Zen meditation
Forms of zazen
| plural | zazens |
|---|
Origin of zazen
Borrowed from Japanese 坐(ざ)禅(ぜん) (zazen), from 坐(ざ) (za, “sitting”) + 禅(ぜん) (zen, “meditation”).
Words that rhyme with zazen
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about zazen
- What does zazen mean?
- Zazen means a form of seated meditation in Zen Buddhism.
- What is zazen in Indonesian?
- Zazen in Indonesian is zazen. See Zazen meaning in Indonesian.
- How do you use zazen in a sentence?
- In the practice of Zen there is an exercise called zazen—similar, I think, to the Theravedic practice of vipassana.
- What part of speech is zazen?
- Zazen is a noun.
- How do you pronounce zazen?
- Zazen is pronounced /zɑːˈzɛn/.
- What is the plural of zazen?
- The plural of zazen is zazens.
Words near zazen in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: zazen (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-zazen.wav.
Cite this entry: “zazen.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/zazen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.