7 days of zen meditation : from boredom to colour vision

From November 25 to December 1, 2019, I sat and meditated, twice a day, for about an hour each session. Why did I do this? First of all out of pure curiosity. I wanted to experience for myself how assiduous spiritual practice — even over a short period of time — can change the way we perceive things and behave. Secondly, because I felt the desire and need to regain an inner balance that was somewhat lost. This article details my experience and the (unexpected!) discoveries that the “doing nothing” of meditation can lead to.

I followed, as much as possible, the meditation sessions at the Zen Buddhism Centre in Strasbourg. This means that my practice was linked to a school of Buddhism, namely Zen and, more precisely, Sōtō Zen. The particularity of Sōtō Zen is that it focuses on the practice of zazen (sitting meditation, za = to sit ; zen = meditation). Sessions at the center could include, depending on the day and time, traditional breakfast, sutra chants, prostrations (sanpai) and/or walking meditation (kinhin). This is all part of Zen.

The spiritual exercises of Zen are very codified and ritualized. Learning at the Strasbourg Centre is done through an initiation session and by observation. Before going back to the experience itself, here is how a typical zazen (sitting meditation) session takes place in the Buddhism I have…