Meditation - Seiza

Japanese: 静坐 - せいざ

It means sitting upright with a unified mind for a certain period of time, and as can be seen in "I Am a Cat," "It seems that Confucians also have their own methods for sitting in silence," the new Confucianism (Taoism) that emerged in the Song Dynasty of China placed great importance on this as a method of cultivating the mind. According to Taoists, the mind fluctuates between stillness (unmanifested) and movement (manifested), but in order to deal with the hectic reality and not lose the subjectivity of the mind, it is essential to cultivate the mind's true nature in times of stillness. This inclusion of the moving realm in its scope is a crucial difference from zazen as taught by Zen masters.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

ある一定時間，精神を統一して端坐することをいうが，《吾輩は猫である》に〈儒家にも静坐の工夫と云ふのがある相（そう）だ〉と見えるように，中国宋代に興った新しい儒学(道学)では心の修養法として重視された。道学者によれば，心は静(未発（みはつ）)と動(已発（いはつ）)の間を揺れ動くが，めまぐるしい現実に対処して心の主体性を喪失しないためには，心の静時におけるその本性の涵養が必須であるとされる。このように現実の動の場を射程に入れたところに，禅家のいう坐禅と決定的な相違がある。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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