Shodo Harada Roshi’s way of presenting meditation is firmly rooted in rigorous Rinzai Zen, with zazen as the unshakable center of gravity. He emphasizes silent seated meditation with careful attention to posture, breath, and wholehearted effort, often describing practice as a matter of giving oneself completely to each breath and each moment. This sitting is not aimed at cultivating special experiences but at directly realizing one’s true nature, cutting through self-centered preoccupation and conceptual elaboration. In this sense, meditation is not a technique for self-improvement so much as a radical simplification: sit, breathe, be fully present, and allow the habitual patterns of ego to fall away.

Within this framework, Harada Roshi is known for intensive, even austere, training environments. Sesshin—periods of many hours of zazen each day—play a central role, supported by strict discipline and a monastic style of daily life. The spirit he encourages is one of total exertion, a one-pointed resolve that does not bend to comfort or preference. This disciplined container is not an end in itself, but a means to develop deep concentration (joriki) and the capacity to stay present regardless of inner or outer conditions.

His teaching also draws on classic Rinzai methods such as koan practice, used to break through conceptual thinking and invite direct, intuitive insight. Alongside this, he frequently directs attention to the hara, the lower belly, as the physical and energetic center of grounded awareness. Gathering the mind in the hara stabilizes practice, supports non-reactivity, and helps practitioners embody their realization rather than keeping it at the level of ideas. The combination of koan work and hara-centered concentration gives his approach both sharpness and rootedness.

For Harada Roshi, meditation does not end when one stands up from the cushion; it must permeate every facet of life. The same undivided awareness cultivated in zazen is to be carried into walking, working, eating, speaking, and especially into samu, physical work undertaken as practice. Every action becomes an opportunity to observe the arising of self-concern, to let it go, and to respond from a mind that is both clear and compassionate. In this way, mindfulness is not a casual attentiveness but a disciplined, continuous engagement with reality, intended to manifest as responsibility and care for all beings.