The following article by Rev. Fujita Issho published in Insight Journal

 is very helpful in describing zazen: 

Zazen Is Not the Same as Meditation (buddhistinquiry.org)

​

Suggested readings:

Dainin Katagiri. The Light That Shines Through Infinity, edited by Andrea Martin. Shambhala Press, Boulder 2017.

​

Shundo Aoyama. Zen Seeds: Reflections of a Female Priest, Translated by Patricia Dai-En Bennage. Kosei Publishing, Tokyo 1990.

​

Shunryu Suzuki. Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Zen Talks on the Sandokai, edited by Mel Weitzman and Michael Wenger. Univ. of California Press 1999.

​

Barbara O'Brien. The Circle of the Way: A Concise History of Zen, Shambhala Press, Boulder 2019.

​

Shunryu Suzuki. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind: Informal talks on Zen meditation and practice, edited by Trudy Dixon, Weatherhill, New York, Tokyo 1970.

​

Dainin Katagiri. You have to say something: manifesting Zen insight, edited by Steve Hagen. Shambhala Press, Boston 1998.

​

Kosho Uchiyama and Shohaku Okumura. The Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo, edited by Molly Delight Whitehead.  Wisdom Publications, Boston 2014.

​

Norman Fischer. The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path, Shambhala Press, Boulder 2019.

​

Kosho Uchiyama. Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice, translated and edited by Tom Wright, Jisho Warner, and Shohaku Okumura.  Wisdom Publications, Boston 2004.

​

Kosho Uchiyama. How to Cook Your Life: From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment. Dogen’s classic Instructions for the Zen Cook. Shambhala, Boston and London 2005.

​

Dainin Katagiri. Returning to Silence: Zen Practice in Daily Life, edited by Yuko Conniff and Willa Hathaway. Shambhala, Boston and London 1988.

​

Charlotte Joko Beck. Nothing Special: Living Zen, edited by Steve Smith.  Harper, San Francisco 1993.

​

Shunryu Suzuki. Not Always So: practicing the true spirit of Zen, edited by Edward Espe Brown. Quill Publishing 2002.

​

Jakusho Kwong. No Beginning, No End: The Intimate Heart of Zen, edited by Peter Levin. Shambhala Publications, Boulder 2010.

​

Jikyo Cheryl Wolfer, editor. The Eightfold Path, Temple Ground Press, Olympia 2016.

 

Kosho Uchiyama. Deepest Practice, Deepest Wisdom:  Three Fascicles form Shobogenzo with Commentaries, translated by Daitsu Tom Wright and Shohaku Okumura.  Wisdom Publications 2018.

​

Zen Teachings in Challenging Times, Introduction by Patricia Dai-En Bennage.  Temple Ground Press, Olympia 2018.

​

Shohaku Okumura. Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts, edited by Dave Ellison. Wisdom Publications, Boston 2012.

​

Taigen Dan Leighton. Zen Questions: Zazen, Dogen, and the Spirit of Creative Inquiry, Wisdom Publications, Boston 2011.

​

Shohaku Okumura. Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen’s Shobogenzo. Wisdom Publications, Boston 2010.

​

Jikyo Cheryl Wolfer, ed. Seeds of Virtue, Seeds of Change: A Collection of Zen Teachings. Temple Ground Press, Olympia 2014.

​

Steve Hagen. Buddhism Plain & Simple: The Practice of Being Aware, Right Now, Every Day. Broadway Books, New York 1997.

​

Charlotte Joko Beck. Everyday Zen: Love & Work, edited by Steve Smith.  Harper San Francisco, 1989.