Shikantaza, often translated as “just sitting,” is the central meditation of the Sōtō Zen tradition and is characterized by a radically simple yet demanding stance: sitting upright in alert presence without choosing any particular object, technique, or goal. Rather than concentrating on the breath, a mantra, a visualization, or a kōan, awareness is allowed to remain open and inclusive of whatever arises—sensations, thoughts, emotions, and sounds—without grasping, rejecting, or attempting to modify them. This practice rests on the view that the very act of sitting in this way is already the expression of Buddha-nature, so the meditation is not treated as a tool to get somewhere else. Thoughts and feelings are permitted to come and go naturally, like clouds passing through a clear sky, while alertness and uprightness are gently maintained.

In contrast to concentration practices such as śamatha, which deliberately narrow attention onto a single object to cultivate one-pointedness and calm, shikantaza does not fix the mind on anything in particular and instead sustains a broad, relaxed, yet clear awareness. Compared with insight methods like vipassanā or many forms of mindfulness that employ systematic noting, labeling, or analysis of experience, shikantaza refrains from such deliberate investigation, trusting that insight unfolds from simple, sustained presence without analytical commentary. It also differs from kōan practice, especially associated with Rinzai Zen, where a paradoxical phrase or story becomes the central focus to provoke a breakthrough; in shikantaza there is no such mental problem to work on, only the unadorned fact of sitting. Likewise, guided or highly structured meditations that proceed through stages—body scans, visualizations, or set phrases—stand in contrast to this essentially unstructured form, in which establishing posture and remaining awake and present are regarded as complete in themselves.

What most deeply distinguishes shikantaza from many other methods is its non-striving spirit: meditation is not undertaken to attain a special state, to acquire calmness, or to engineer enlightenment as a future event. The sitting itself is regarded as whole and complete in each moment, rather than a preliminary step toward some later realization. In this sense, shikantaza embodies a way of being in which practice and awakening are not two separate things but a single, seamless activity expressed as “just sitting,” with nothing to add and nothing to remove.