Within the Sōtō Zen tradition shaped by Eihei Dōgen, meditation—zazen—occupies a central and defining place. It is not regarded as a mere technique or a preparatory step toward some later awakening, but as the very manifestation of enlightenment itself. Dōgen speaks of practice and realization as a single, indivisible reality, so that the act of sitting is already the activity of Buddha-nature. From this perspective, meditation is not a tool to acquire something lacking, but the enactment of what is already fundamentally present.

The characteristic form of this meditation is shikantaza, often rendered as “just sitting.” In this practice, one sits upright and alert, without clinging to any particular object of concentration, goal, or special state of mind. Thoughts, sensations, and emotions are allowed to arise and pass without grasping or rejection, in a posture of open, non-striving awareness. This “objectless” sitting is understood as the direct expression of Buddha-nature, rather than a method for producing enlightenment at some later time.

Dōgen also emphasizes the intimate unity of body and mind within zazen. Attention to posture and breathing is not a secondary detail but a way in which the inherent clarity of Buddha-nature becomes evident. In this sense, the physical act of sitting is inseparable from the spiritual realization it embodies. Zazen thus becomes the living form of awakening, rather than a conceptual reflection upon it.

Finally, the role of meditation in Sōtō Zen is not confined to the meditation hall. The clarity and non-grasping awareness cultivated in shikantaza are meant to permeate all activities—eating, working, speaking, and resting—so that the entirety of daily life becomes continuous practice. Meditation, then, is both the heart of the path and the pattern for how existence itself is lived: an ongoing expression of original enlightenment in each moment.