Shikantaza – The Practice of 'Just Sitting': Ultimate Slowing Down and its Effect on Experiencing.

The Slow Movement brought with itself a focus on the speed of our living, and a desire to slow down our daily activities, including movement activities. Also, in the time of the current pandemic, many people were forced to experience a certain slowing down. One question raised in the context of a slow life is the limit of slowness: what is the limit of slowness in human movement? And: is it desirable to slow down to the maximum possible? The aim of this paper is to show the limit of slowing down, which is described as 'stopping', based on meditative practices from the Far East, especially the Zen practice of 'just sitting' (shikantaza—只管打坐). This may seem radical, since 'stopping' one's pragmatic activity and thinking may seem odd and worthless: empty, boring and death-like. However, from the Zen point of view the 'stopping' is not some static expression of our existence, but rather brings about a new kind of experiencing and a new quality of movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]